79 ski tique trailer loading problems

Orlando76 wrote: You can power load without blowing the dirt out underneath the ramp. Sure, if you leave the bunks out of the water you're gonna have to give it the go go juice but we basically float the boat off and on with minor assistance of the engine, say no more than 850 rpm's.

Todd,
You may be considerate with the loading technique but how many out there are not? There certainly are people that do spoil it for others and in this case the reasoning behind power loading being banned at many ramps and more to come I feel.

Orlando76 wrote: Winch!?!!!? That ain't original.

Per ACBS rules, safety overrides originality. So, just go on slamming on your brakes. BTW, many ramps are now outlawing power loading due to the damage it causes. What are you going to do then?

That describes almost exactly what I have on mine. I just have to make sure I winch it up to a certain point otherwise the hull is short of the stop after the boat is pulled out.

I have a 77 tique. I know exactly what you mean. I have found 3 solutions to the problem. 1. I had the boat as light as possible and float/drive it til it sorta lines up. Then use the uprights on the trailer to make sure it is straight and not on a fender, then drive forward with your weight in the middle of the boat.

2. Fenders of the trailer need to be just under the water level.

3. No matter what, a shallow ramp are a nightmare! Unless you have a winch!

After fighting all the time to get it on the trailer (original) I added a winch, welded it on it's own stand. It's so easy now. I launch and retrieve by myself all the time. I drive the boat close. Then hook the strap. It slides up clean and easy, dead center every time, no scraping ever. So worth the effort to get a winch. With the winch if you have someone with some weight standing in the very back and centered it just flys into position.

Who ever decided power loading was a good idea must of had a very steep ramp.

Our 78 Nautique on a Nautique trailer, low boy type had rubber fitted to the boat side of both fenders, I sometimes got a rubber mark on the boat but no scratches and we drove it on every time. The rubber as I recall was 1/2 inch or so thick and fitted the exact shape of the fender. I found this old photo from the day we had our cover made.
This was our UNIQUE Nautique. The color scheme was actually done by the people that stole this boat. It was recovered and I fixed all the stuff they broke. I bought it from the insurance company after recovery. We kept the color scheme, It really looked great on the water.   If you look close you can see the rubber on the inner fender edge. This helped avoid injury to the boat while loading. Sorry I have no better pictures.

Also the background bluffs. Very nice lake!

The ramp looks like a shallow grade. Part of the problem?

Do you have same issue at a steeper ramp?

CrazyCanuck wrote: Lol, true. I was wondering if I was gonna catch it for that. That there is my maiden launch. Never even seen the boat float till this pic.

Well the boat looks absolutely beautiful.

CrazyCanuck wrote: You can see the winch and bow pad in the foreground.....

hard to tell for sure with that picture but the fenders appear to under water and by the looks of what little guide pole is sticking out of the water that trailer is way too deep for loading a boat.

Air206 wrote: One thing that the PO (Waterdog) of my old Tique did on the trailer was to add a 5-8 inch piece of wood as a guide AT THE BASE OF THE GUIDE POLE. It is only about 2 inches wide but 5-8 inches tall. They helped to center the stern chine a lot. I'll look for pics........

Steve,

Huh? That was before me. Tops if the fenders out of the water. I've only loaded the Tique under power a couple of times. Always just walked it up, the bad thing is my trunks were wet when I hopped in the truck.

I second what Peter said above.
My dad welded me a nice winch platform. Its a little bit above the bow eye, and after a bit of trial and error, I made a small black mark on the gel that when lined up with the top of the bow v-pad I have, the boat is snug once the stern drops down as it pulls out. It centers fairly well and is easy enough to nudge over while the bunks are wet.
I have that same trailer, and so far I have always used this float on method for my 78 SN.

Gump wrote: I leave the bow chain loose then hit the brakes or a friend and I can shove the boat forward and then snug it all up.

Many have done the "hit the brake" trick including myself before the trailer additions. It's certainly not the safest thing to do. Yup, a winch sure does the job plus, I've also added keel rollers to two of my trailers. They aid in bringing the bow up as well. With the hull on the keel roller and the winch pulling, the hull centers itself on the wishbone bunks.

Gump wrote: Took a while to get the hang of not being able to steer in reverse.

Oh but they do steer in reverse but, more towards port due to prop walk when in gear. Towards starboard, give it some gas, then take it out of gear and it will steer. I'm glad you got used to it. Yes, they are fun boats.

Eric,
Many including myself have had excellent results with mounting winches on their trailers. They are especially useful on ramps that are real steep. With a steep ramp, the bow of the boat will hit the bow stop but then when pulled out, the aft end of the boat will sit down on the trailer causing the bow to be aft of the trailer bow stop. With a winch mounted higher that the bow eye, it will pull the forward end of the hull up and then the bottom will be more in line with the trailer bunks.

I agree with the comments that only the tops of the trailer fenders should be out of the water.

I've found two ways that works every time for the 16's.

Either approach at an angle so the starboard chine is atop the bunk first.
Or stand or kneel in the center of the boat to keep it level.

Gary S wrote: Try only putting the trailer in and leaving the tops of the fenders out. That's one of the problems of having a painted boat,you have to be extra careful.

That didn't work out well. The trailer needs to be way in the water making sure the rear of the bunks are well under the bow of the boat. Since it's a A frame trailer which means the back of the bunks are wider toward the rear and the front of the boat is narrower than the rear of the bunks, the front of the boats sides get wedged in between the rear of the bunks scrathing sides. I just need to put the dang trailer WAY BACK in the water, and float it on till the nose of the boat hits the nose pads on the front of the trailer. Essentailly the hitch was in the water to get the rear of the bunks from hitting the sides of the boat.

TRBenj wrote: So the boat is getting scraped by the fenders? A better picture of the inside of the fenders would be helpful.

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Took a while but here's the pics. I'm not sure where it was hitting on.