Sounds to me like you have the right idea. Easy gas pressure, that is the best course of action for not slipping your wheels. I, too, see a lot of yokels pushing their slim pedal through the floorboard when they are leaving the ramp, I think it is laughable when they are spinning their wheels pulling a 14 foot john boat up a dry ramp (the kind you can pull with a bicycle).
Your choice of vehicles does not meet up to my personal machismo meter, but at least your boating in a real Mac. I look silly towing around a sunfish with a full sized, 4x4 Bronco. I would rather have the real thing behind my beast, heck I can't even see my trailer in my rear view mirrors, when I get to the launch I have to put up my mast just so I can see where the boat is behind my Bronco..... I am envious of you all for now (till I can get mine).
WHen I launch the kids Island 17, I cant see the boat after it goes over the ramp hump
Sometimes, after I get the car down the hill, I see the boat has gone sideways on the ramp! The Mac can always be seen and so you see when it is beginning to go sideways and can correct.
It really is easier to launch (or at least back down the ramp!) a 26 3000# boat that you can see than a 500# boat that you cant!!
When I feel like I'm on a dicey ramp and I have a reasonable chance of slippng the wheels I usually put the tow-vehicle not in "Drive" but in "2" (second gear).
Reasoning:
Normally a car will try to start in "1" (first gear) when placed in Drive, but that sometimes applies too much leverage to the front wheels and makes tem just spin... but when you shift to "2" you reduce that leverage, while still applying power and they are less likely to spin. Use a slow but steady acccelerator pedal in "2", and you'll get slow movement while maintaing the maximum traction.
Also works well when you're trying to get out of snow.
The Isuzu Trooper when equipt with an automatic transmission has a "Winter Mode" which causes the transmission to start off in 3rd gear to avoid slipping the wheels. I expect many other vehicles have a similar mode. Or you can be clever enough to do this yourself like kmclemore.
This could be dated information, and I dont want to start a Ford vs Chevy thing, but back when I learned to drive in the 70s, Ford automatics did start in 2, while most other brands would start in 1 and then go to 2 if you put the gear selector in 2...useless for the towing scenario above of course.
Learning to drive in Buffalo NY, you learned this as a way of getting your car out of snow of course.
Maybe in the modern world everyone else figured this out. My VW doesnt have the start in 2 feature I dont think - thats the only automatic I have now.
Steve's right on that. As I recall Ford always had the start in second gear feature, I know GM did not. Not sure if it's changed even today. I know the last GM car I had ('86 Astro) didn't.
This is actually quite a complicated subject. Pulling your stuck vehicle out of the snow (a) is way different than pulling a loaded boat trailer (perhaps with the ballast tank full?) up a steep boat ramp (b).
The key is to provide just enough torque to the wheels to turn the tires, but not enough to spin them, because under normal circumstances the coefficient of rolling friction is higher than the coefficient of sliding friction.
The technique works in (a) by both keeping the engine speed low where it produces very little torque, and reducing the torque multiplication factor provided by the gears (2nd vs 1st). The key to this actually working is that it usually doesn't require a lot of torque to get a stuck vehicle unstuck.
For (b), the same technique will work as long as the load's not too heavy and the ramp's not too steep. But pulling a heavy boat up a fairly steep ramp can require a tremendous amount of torque, in some cases way more than your vehicle can deliver in second gear at low engine speed, and I'm about 99% sure your Isuzu in "winter mode" 3d gear could possibly pull a Mac even up a shallow ramp. Lugging your vehicle at high loads and low engine speeds in 2nd (or 3d) gear is very bad for both the engine and the transmission.
So my recommendation is to always try it first in low gear and as light a throttle as you can. If that works, you're done. If you can only spin the wheels, try it in second. If that doesn't work the first or second time, don't keep trying; you'll probably just damage something. Stop and seek assistance.
Each new ramp situation is unique. A technique which worked once for me after spinning the wheels was to back further down the ramp just short of dunking the axle (fresh water in this case). The boat was actually still floating; on pulling out, by the time the boat actually settled onto the trailer I already had a semi-running start and it worked. This of course would have to be balanced against the fact the deeper into the water you go, the slipperier it usually is. Front wheel drive would be quite a benefit in this case, but I've never towed with a vehicle that had it.
Both my current tow vehicles have 4WD. I recommend it. If you don't want to spring the extra $$ or suffer the gas mileage penalty of 4WD, at least get something with positraction.
This is a very interesting thread. Granted, I don't have much experience, but my ramp situations have been uneventful so far. Two ramps and three pull outs is all.
I am pulling it with a 2005 Kia Sedona mini-van. As for towing it down the road I havent felt there were any issues. The van has plenty of power to pull it. I have surge brakes of course so no issues stopping. It has a class II factory tow package which is rated up to 3500 pounds (again, no crowd in the van while towing, we take two vehicles if necessary).
The Kias specs are: V-6, 195 HP, and is FWD.
It sounds like my lack of issues might be due to the fact I drown the trailer (to the goal post end caps) and float the Mac on and then start to pull it out (having someone watch to make sure it loads evenly on the trailer) I get some momentum (but I am still going really slow) and it just pulls right out of the water, with full ballast. I then pause up the ramp and empty the ballast. The last place had a pretty steep ramp. The first place I pulled it out of twice had a ramp that wasnt very steep.
I believe so far it is mostly contributed to FWD (tires are on dry pavement), the slight head start up the ramp with the boat mostly floating, and me taking it ever so easy on the gas.
Now this thread has me wondering about other ramps (saltwater etc.)? I will keep you all posted as how things work out (or not).
How's this for a boast:
My old 95 4wd 2dr Chevy Blazer with 195hp & 260 lbs/ft torque (4wd engaged - low gear) pulled my M out of the water on a moderately steep ramp with full ballast, (I forgot to empty the first time). You should see that water blast out when the valve gets opened, comes out like a fire hose, it would knock you down if you stood behind it. Now I either empty the ballast before comming in or have the valve open as I pull it up the ramp.
My 191 ft lbs of torque come on pretty early at 2500 rpm in this bus..I do like how it tows and launches/retrieves the boat with or without ballast - Ive never felt 'underpowered'
I must be doing something wrong, but I always pull her out empty... never with ballast. Not sure I understand why you would want to keep the ballast in?
kmclemore wrote:I must be doing something wrong, but I always pull her out empty... never with ballast. Not sure I understand why you would want to keep the ballast in?
The reason I keep it in is for stability, I have 6 on board and when you get to the dock everyone is moving around and jumping off the boat, etc. I thought it would be safer.
Do you think it would be just as safe to empty it as long as you are going right to the dock?
Do you think it would be just as safe to empty it as long as you are going right to the dock?
..
It would be much safer for the trailer and tow vehicle because of much less weight. It would be safer for the Mac26's hull too higher in the water with less momentum in case it rubs the trailer the wrong way.
Robert wrote:It would be much safer for the trailer and tow vehicle because of much less weight. It would be safer for the Mac26's hull too higher in the water with less momentum in case it rubs the trailer the wrong way.
I can't argue with any of these points. In fact I agree with them.
With that said, however, I've often put her on the trailer with full ballast and pulled the plugs, as the last thing before pulling her out, thereby draining the tank on the way up the ramp...
Gemini wrote:The reason I keep it (ballast) in is for stability, I have 6 on board and when you get to the dock everyone is moving around and jumping off the boat, etc. I thought it would be safer.
Do you think it would be just as safe to empty it as long as you are going right to the dock?
Roger says full ballast for a crew larger than four, and the heavier boat will move less in the wind. (But once the wind get it moving, contact will have more inertia.) I'd probably keep full ballast for a crew of six, especially if they're an active bunch. Most commonly I have less than four, so I empty the tank while motoring back to the dock.
Last edited by Frank C on Wed Apr 26, 2006 1:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I would rather have the real thing behind my beast, heck I can't even see my trailer in my rear view mirrors, when I get to the launch I have to put up my mast just so I can see where the boat is behind my Bronco..... I am envious of you all for now (till I can get mine). 
