Hi: I just bought a used WWP 15. I hope it goes well. There are a lot of trailer boats I like and a couple I used to own....a boat with some keels and some keels you raise and lower. It seems like you need at least 2 feet or more of water to launch em. Ones like precision, compac, etc. They are really neat, but it looks like your road vehicle that is towing them is going to go in the water over their back wheels to get the boat floating. How does one get those floating?....hire a marina with cranes? I think I will be able to launch the wwp15 with my little car....at least I hope so. Any comments?
Trailer Boat Launch
- Thread starter timobrown
- Start date
You might luck out and find a steep ramp that will float the boat before the car is under water. If not there are several ways to fix the issue. Depending on your trailer a extending tongue you use just for launching and recovery can be added pretty easily.
Sam
Sam
If people launch power boats at a given ramp, that WWP15 ought to launch.
Still, I have seen some VERY shallow ramps. At one, I had issues retrieving my Harpoon 4.6, and I needed to use the hinged trailer. But that's not too common.
If your local ramp really IS that shallow, it's not difficult to make a tongue extension.
Still, I have seen some VERY shallow ramps. At one, I had issues retrieving my Harpoon 4.6, and I needed to use the hinged trailer. But that's not too common.
If your local ramp really IS that shallow, it's not difficult to make a tongue extension.
I've used a strap to launch my old Catalina 25 before, and it worked well. You just need a wheel on the front of the trailer. I used a beefy two-wheeled trailer jack until the marina re-surfaced the ramp with deep ridges. On the WWP though, it shouldn't be too difficult. The Catalina 25 with trailer and gear was probably close to 8,000 pounds. Good luck!
I started out with a Precision 18 that drafts 18" with board up. I launched it with my Mazda 5 with no issues at all. Rear tires at waters edge to completely float the boat at the local ramps. These aren't sailboat intended ramps either. You must have funky ramps?
We launched both our H25 and H28 with a Strap. As mentioned, a tongue wheel (not the jack wheel) and a 30' strap works great. for the H28, we used 2 straps (total 60') to get enough depth to float the boat off the trailer. And yes, boat 7800#, trailer about 2000# and all our stuff we totaled out at about 11000# total weight.
You learn to "steer" the trailer with the strap and of course, he tow vehicle stays totally dry.
You learn to "steer" the trailer with the strap and of course, he tow vehicle stays totally dry.
So you are holding back this 5+ ton monster on a 60' strap? Fantastic. Looped around the hitches somehow? What about the haul out - same thing? I was considering floating the submerged trailer out to the boat this year, then motoring her right up the ramp!!! Oh, is the tongue wheel to glide over the bottom easier?
If I may, which strap did you use, and where did you find the tongue wheel? Thanks!
Actually we welded a new hitch receiver to the trailer tongue, then we can use the hitch pin on both ends for a positive connection between the strap and trailer. You find these 30000# straps at your local farm supply store. DO NOT use the straps rated at 10000# they can and will fail (not a good thing).
Some of our trailers have a mount that lowers the spare tire on a separate hub, I had a special trailer tire mounted to be lowered for the tongue. We have about 50 sailboats on our lake and most of us use the strap method.
To Launch:
Back the trailer to the waters edge. Block the trailer wheels (both sides, all wheels), unhitch the trailer and lower the tongue wheel, hook the strap up on both ends, pull the tow vehicle forward until there is tension on the strap, remove the blocking from the trailer wheels, release the bow cable/strap so the boat can float free. Oh, make sure to hook up dock lines for and aft on the boat and lead these to handlers. Back the trailer into the water until the boat floats free.
Take out is similar to put in but be sure its just a matter of lining up the boat on the trailer. A little practice and its pretty easy.
The power boaters grumble a little since you are hogging the ramp but they get used to it. We only do it at the beginning and end of the season.
Some of our trailers have a mount that lowers the spare tire on a separate hub, I had a special trailer tire mounted to be lowered for the tongue. We have about 50 sailboats on our lake and most of us use the strap method.
To Launch:
Back the trailer to the waters edge. Block the trailer wheels (both sides, all wheels), unhitch the trailer and lower the tongue wheel, hook the strap up on both ends, pull the tow vehicle forward until there is tension on the strap, remove the blocking from the trailer wheels, release the bow cable/strap so the boat can float free. Oh, make sure to hook up dock lines for and aft on the boat and lead these to handlers. Back the trailer into the water until the boat floats free.
Take out is similar to put in but be sure its just a matter of lining up the boat on the trailer. A little practice and its pretty easy.
The power boaters grumble a little since you are hogging the ramp but they get used to it. We only do it at the beginning and end of the season.
Do you guys have enough submerged concrete ramp? Seems like it would a bit@h to haul a sailboat out if the trailer wheels were off of the ramp.
Ha! Thanks for the info Victor, sounds like you got it covered. I guess you need all 30 and 60 feet of strap if those keels are a couple feet high. H23.5 is a water ballast boat, you wouldn't think I'd be worried. But our ramp gets really shallow by the end of the season because the power company does a draw down after Labor Day. This year, they are dropping more aggressively for maintenance on the dam. But I can drain the ballast tank on the H23.5, either by pulling out slow - or by pumping out slow (sitting on the trailer), much to the chagrin of the power boaters. Actually, I would be there at first light. Hey - thanks again for posting the info.
Good call. There is a bit of a bevel to it, and I hope I can dump most of the 1000 lbs of water before the wheels get to the edge. I can also angle the trailer off the ramp, if necessary and get about 4" lower, but the trailer wheels will be in the squishy-smelly goo. I've hauled out a 3300lb power boat that way when I waited too long one season. Plan C is to head for the public ramp. It's steeper, but it's a zoo, even in the early light. Thanks man.
Can you say where your club got these? This sounds like the answer. Thanks.
Victor - do any of those look like this? This is sorta steep (about $250), but might be worth it.
This might be useful if you only launch and retrieve your boat once a year. With the spare in place it looks like it would take two people to rotate it from the up to the down position.Victor - do any of those look like this? This is sorta steep (about $250), but might be worth it.
It might be possible by one person. During launch, jack up the trailer, reposition the wheel and pin it, lower the trailer until the wheel is on the ground, and stow the jack. Then sorta reverse the steps for trailering.
I was thinking more of the difficulty of aligning the square tubing to get it inserted while trying to hold onto the spare tire. Even inserting the draw bar into a receiver hitch can be a pain if it's a tight fit.
You could always try this method.
Haar - bungees! Of course! The universal solution to many problems of a mechanical nature - thank you. I rank it among the most critical items aboard ship, just after Duck Tape (we just tape her down at the slip) and White Out for the cracks.You could always try this method.
That gizmo above was all I could find in the way of a "tongue wheel". You are right, not user friendly, but I did also find a jack stand with an 8" wheel, and a different spare hub/tire carrier, and a torsion axle/hub thing. I must say, all this water ballast boat trailer thinkin' hurts my s*** ballasted head.