Loading C-22 on trailer

davidf · Jul 24, 2011

Sounds like your ramp must be pretty steep.

Have you tried backing in less or more? Pick a day when the ramp's not busy and try different depths. For me it works best when I have the trailer in the minimum amount possible. But every ramp is different.

Whatever I do, the bow eye is usually a couple inches away from the bow guard when I pull it out so I always have to do the "macgregor bump". Once you get on level ground, start driving forward - not too fast - and tap the brakes. The boat will scoot forward snug against the trailer support.

slosacco said:
I need some pointers on loading my C-22 on the trailer.

Seems I cant get it all the way to the trailer bow guard to have tongue weight on the truck. When loading at the ramp, the bow eye is way below the rubber trailer bow guard when positioning the boat over the trailer, when I pull out the bow raises up and stern goes down and the boat is back from the bow guard about a foot or so and have no tongue weight on the truck.

I have my trucks rear tires in the water a few inches when loading.

The trailer is a cradle, has no rollers.

Ken · Jul 24, 2011

Front Center roller

We solved this problem by adding a front center roller, as the boat comes forward on the trailer the bow must travel up and over this roller. The roller also offers a more bow support once the boats loaded on the trailer. If you have a forward frame support added this front roller will be pretty easy. Here's a picture of the roller on a trailer I once owned.

r.oril · Jul 24, 2011

I also put a new bow roller on the trailer for my 26D. Floated the boat up to the roller and cranked her on up to the bow stop. I have very little movement as I came out of the water with a full ballast tank..

Bilbo · Jul 24, 2011

Another issue may be the location of the winch vs. the bow stop.
Pics may be helpful here.

jfrench · Jul 24, 2011

I launch on a steep ramp and have exactly the same issue. I fix it as decribed above. I leave the marina with the boat a foot or so back from the bow stop and with the stern strap loosened a little. When I get onto level, paved road, I get moving about five mph and hit the brake. Sometimes it takes a few tries. Once the boat moves forward, I snug up the bow winch, tighten the stern strap go home.

Bilbo · Jul 25, 2011

IT is possible to damage the bow eye or the winch.
For example, don't try trying to moe the boat with the winch when it's up on dry land.
I would get the carpeting installed before trying to slide the boat. It's easier on the hull that way.
Is it possible to get it about half out where the bow may be contacting the bunks and the stern is still floating, stop, winch it up snug again and then pull out further?

Also, Is the Rubbermaid sand box getting in the way?
If you need more tongue weight, you may have to move the axle further back on the trailer.

C22_Lady_OH · Jul 25, 2011

I feel your pain. I have had trouble with my prior boat an O'day 23 and my current C22. I would be very careful driving with the boat leaning like that. It looks (from my experience) that you aren't getting deep enough. You can try a stem extension like this one, http://xtend-a-hitchnorthwest.com/ or borrowing a truck with a higher bumper to increase the angle. Doing the bump could give you a huge damage bill if something goes wrong. The way it looks, the lack of tongue weight could effectively pick your rear tires up in a fast/emergency stopping situation. You will jack knife out of control. It almost happen to me sending me into the construction zone. I was hauling my O-23 on the interstate, being overly confident with my Dakota's ability. Remember safety first!

SailAway1 · Jul 25, 2011

Yep, I have the same problem too!! The first time I floated my boat onto the trailer, I couldn't get the bow close to the bow guard either. When I disconnected the hitch, there was negative tongue weight and the boat did a wheelie. The only thing that stopped the stern from hitting the ground was the rudder that was still attached and in the down position

. Thankfully, there was no damage to the rudder. I solved the tongue weight problem by moving the bow guard forward toward the hitch about 6-8 inches. Now, when I float the boat onto the trailer, there is still a gap between the bow and the guard but at least there is positive tongue weight.
Since I only tow the boat about 100 ft to park it at the marina, I really don't worry about the gap. In the fall, when I need to tow the boat to a storage facility, I will slide the bow guard firmly against the bow before towing it. Hmmm... since this seems to be a common problem, maybe I should invent an adjustable/retractable bow guard

.
Greg

DavoArts · Jul 25, 2011

Biggest two causes are having too steep of a ramp and having the winch roller below the bow eye, resulting in a downward pull from the winch up front while the stern is still floating. When you pull out of the water, the stern settles and the bow rises back from the winch (unless it's really cranked and stays put, we were pulling my 22 out like that and the winch was cranked down so that the stern was still "floating" off of the back of the bunks even when it was all the way out of the water still because there was no slack to allow the hull to properly settle on the bunks (Imagine how much force that puts when the fulcrum of the load is the front edges of the bunks into the hull, I swear it was going to crack the hull, although it didn't).

Bow rollers solve part of the issue because as you crank the winch the roller is what pushes the bow up, however, I had to cut mine off recently as the lake was so low and the ramp so steep at that point that it was impossible to get the boat to go up the bow roller at all, it just served as a stop.

The solution is not a universal one as it depends on the trailer configuration and the general angle of the ramps you use most. The position of the winch (or roller where the winch strap goes over to connect to the bow eye) will have an ideal location/height to get the proper angle of pull and lift so the boat will stop at the bow stop properly and when the transom settles into position the bow doesn't pull back from the winch.

DavoArts · Jul 25, 2011

Here is what I am talking about, as you can see, mine is a good example of a bad design (this was a regular boat trailer that was modified to fit the sailboat, the winch/bow stop are way too low, and the bow roller is inthe process of being removed because it got in the way on steep ramps, and to boot, the trailer was painted rust colored, that isn't rust...I've repainted it since

)

jfrench · Jul 25, 2011

Thanks for the web address to extend-a-hitch. I wasn't aware anyone was selling those pre-made.

watercolors II · Jul 25, 2011

Stop the slamming and banging

DavoArts is correct about the winch height, you’re faced with two problems in your recovery;

The winch MUST be level or higher with the bow eye when the boat is in it’s final resting position. You want to continue to lift the bow as you’re pulling the hull up to the bow chock not pull it down.

Ideally the bow chock should be above the bow eye so it’s not in the way. I use the bow chock as a position guide when the eyelet comes in contact with the bow chock, the hull is perfectly positioned. See attached photo.

The second problem you describe is your reluctance to back into the water. The trailer is not deep enough for you to over come all of the resistance by the hull sliding on the bunks.
Catalina Direct sells a reinforced bow eye for those who continue to try to over come this. And now I see where they offer a super heavy duty bow eye.

Two ways to solve this; Back deeper into the water or install a tongue extension on the trailer.

Placing the vehicle axle in the water, crawl under the rear of your vehicle and look at the differential case and the axles right near it. You don’t have to worry about the front axle, it doesn’t get wet. When looking at the axle you’ll see a black rubber hose, the size of your little finger coming down from the underside of the floor to a much smaller line that will run across the back side or top of the axle to each wheel, this is for your brakes, a similar black hose running down from the underside of the floor near this location is a breather hose that is high enough to allow the axle to be submerged without water entering it. If there is no hose as the one attached photo shows then the breather will need to be modified before submersing.

A Google search shows a Toyota change over to a higher location for this type of breather.

http://www.customtacos.com/tech/index.php?article=86

I think this would be far cheaper and easier than adding a tongue extension and fiddling with it!

If you have a hose running from the axle or differential up to underneath the floor or bed and just ends then you have a submersible axle and differential. If you back your vehicle in deep enough for water to enter this tube then you would have water to the wheel wells in the bed of a pickup or 1/3 the floor of a van or suv. So you can submerge your wheels deeper than the center of them, or till the water almost covers the tailgate or in my case to the center of the bumper and not deep enough to get the carpet wet in a conversion van.

A bow roller on the trailer is a great aid in boat recovery but still works the best when the trailer is deep enough in the water.

How deep, deep enough for the front edge of the bunks to be about 3 inches under!

jfrench · Jul 26, 2011

Roll-off trailer

I just have to share the observation that with so many thousands of these boats manufactured, I find it hard to understand why no one has engineered a roll-off trailer for them as is used on power boats. Even if the hull requires bunks to support it as has been cited many times, you'd think that a lever accuated bunk system could be made from stamped sheet metal that would allow you to raise and lower the bunks three or four inches by operating the lever. When you drop the bunks, the boat drops a half an inch to contact rollers. After you've retrieved the boat, lift the bunks back into place.

How about one of you guys drawing this up and becoming wealthy? I'll buy one.

Ken · Jul 26, 2011

J boats

Take a look at the J-22 - J-24 Trailers...... There is that little "oil canning" problem that comes with the rollers.

Of the three trailers I've owned none had loading problems, unless I tried to launch on a ramp with too little depth which seems to be the norm in the TN valley.

watercolors II · Jul 26, 2011

Look at your photo

Slosacco, the photo supplied really shows me how steep your launch ramp is! Most people with this problem of the bow lifting away from the bow chock is a couple inches to 6 inches, the photo of your boat looks like more than a foot in distance.

You have to try and visualize your trailer submerged on this steep angled ramp and the boat floating level on the water above it. If you’re pulling the bow down with the winch, you are sinking the bow and lifting the stern. Now the relationship of the boat and trailer is even worst than when it was floating above the trailer, the distance between the back of the trailer bunks and the stern is now even further for the stern to sit down on the bunks when pulled from the water.

If the winch is higher then you will be lifting the bow and sinking the stern thus mirroring the angle of the trailer and making this drop of the stern less.

Your photo shows the bow perfectly level with the winch. The angle of the ramp, the depth of the trailer and the pressure you applied to the bow with the winch, this is what you got. Think about it, if you slide the hull forward the bow will be higher, if the winch is higher and level and everything else is the same then the new photo should look like the old with the bow closer to the winch.

I see you’ve added to your bunks, see if you can add blocking under these new bunks to raise the stern of your boat on the trailer. With the stern higher on the trailer you will be starting to compensate more for the angle of the launch ramp. I have a friend with a Catalina 25 that looks funny because the boat is not level on the trailer but, it sure makes it easier to launch and recover.

Move that winch up before you move the bow guard.

Loading C-22 on trailer

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