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I guess I am lucky, for the outlandish fees they charge at my local ramp $30/day $350/season they have a golf cart to take you to and from your parking slot, several strong young people to handle lines and help you get it back aboard the trailer - but I too use the winch if the water is not deep enough to just float it into place. I think I will try the bump this year.

I'm guilty of this.
I learned by watching others and it seemed like a good idea. Got the boat right up on the trailer. I'd leave it in gear until I got the hook on. I never thought about damage to the ramp I was doing.

I won't do it anymore and will try to educate others.

Went down to the marina this weekend and the water was very low so I examined the ramp below the concrete. It looked fine and probably because it's hard bottom and full of gravel. But I can see how power loading is a bad thing.

I live in Neptune Beach outside of jacksonville and launch out of the Jax beach boat ramp. There is a marine patrol station at the ramp where I have frequently seen the officers power loading.

Wouldn't gunning the engine to get the boat off the trailer create a similar effect? Granted, you need less power to pull away from the trailer than shove it all the way up, but even so. I try to get off the ramp as fast as possible, in reverse, to make room for others who might want to launch. Driving in reverse requires additional power for better control. So the propeller wash would still be damaging.


Even in areas with No Wake signs posted, many inconsiderate people still make a show of power.

We saw a great example of what power loading can do to a ramp,when we were retrieving our boats after the 4th of July trip. One of the trailers wheels went off the ramp and the trailer dissapeared! Dropped straight down,till it was well underwater. That made for an interesting afternoon trying to get the trailer back onto the ramp.
And we watched the powerboats pulling out,wailing on the power to get onto the trailer,because they didn't want the shiny chrome trailer wheels to get all that icky river water on them. The trailers were barely in the water. And all the time they were doing this,there's the sign 20 feet away"No Power Loading".
The easiest way to avoid power loading is to put the trailer deeper in the water. Seems like a lot of people are afraid to do this,and it makes for unneeded aggravation. Of course really shallow angle ramps can be a problem.

I agree about putting the trailer as far in as possible. I like to put the rear wheels of the tow vehicle at the waters edge, yes I get my feet wet but the boat is floating at that point. I know it is hard on the axils and lights but I have not towed more than 1/2 mile when I launch locally and I am in fresh water - dam# now I loaded Cat's gun regarding us wimpy lake sailers.

The craziest example of "power loading" that I've witnessed was at Crandon Park Marina on Key Biscayne a few years ago. This is a beautiful Dade County facility with at least a half-dozen long, gently-sloping, double-wide concrete ramps. As we awaited our turn in our little Larson I/O, some guy was loading his 30+foot, tri-motor, babe platform onto its trailer, which was being towed by a 2wd F150. It was low tide, so he had to back the truck onto the slimy part of the ramp. Once the boat was on the trailer, there was nothing but wheelspin. After lots of noise & tire smoke, his solution was to back up until the truck was close to taking on water - then have his buddy lower the outboards and use the 750hp on the boat to push the truck, boat & trailer up the ramp. BOY are those Yamahas LOUD when the props come out of water

The effort was successful, in that the truck was pushed far enough up the ramp to be able to get traction, albeit nearly sideways at that point, and no bystanders, other boats, or vehicles were struck. Fortunately, the Marine Police were close at hand, and it looked like they were still writing citations when we pulled away.

I find that it takes two to successfully 'puppet' the boat onto the trailer if there's a brisk crosswind. To help, I back the trailer about 1/3 or 1/2 of the required way, then secure the winch to the eye, and then back out under the boat, winching it up as we go.

This takes a while. I avoid weekends when there's a lot of sport fishermen waiting, it's bad enough holding up the commercial guys during the week.

Launching, I back down to where the tow tires hit the water and slam on the brakes. Zoom, off goes the Mac. If it has too much speed, it will drag you into the water. I use enough painter to get a wrap around a close by piling to break its inertia, and try not to lose a finger or two over it.

That animation is great and very informative. A lot of larger power boats power on at the ramps I use, often with high revs and heaps of prop wash. Next time I'm there I'll take a closer look at the erosion issue.
I used to power my 26M off the trailer (following the Mac promotional vid) but found its actually much quicker to just push it off then guide it in to to dock with lines. Same for retrieval. I walk it into the trailer with lines; followed by a few quick turns on the winch and its on and ready to go.
Much better control and far less risk of damaging the hull than powering it on.

parrothead wrote:his solution was to back up until the truck was close to taking on water - then have his buddy lower the outboards and use the 750hp on the boat to push the truck, boat & trailer up the ramp. BOY are those Yamahas LOUD when the props come out of water

The effort was successful, in that the truck was pushed far enough up the ramp to be able to get traction, albeit nearly sideways at that point, and no bystanders, other boats, or vehicles were struck. Fortunately, the Marine Police were close at hand, and it looked like they were still writing citations when we pulled away.

LOL. Oh man that's funny.

Goes to show you that the best entertainment can be found watching the boat ramp. It's also why I hate the boat ramp. Spectators are there to see all your mistakes. Last year I stepped on the slimy part of the ramp and slid right into the drink. Fortunately nobody was there to see, but it was a cold damp ride home. Lesson: Bring a change of clothes.

Boat ramps are like a trip up to our Cape York, get in early set up camp with your video camera at the creek crossings (ramps) and watch the fun, funny home video's for years.
How not to be the victim of someone elses video, stay a bit longer and watch all the possible mistakes so you don't repeat them.

Cool just learned something new. Its a good day.