Trailer warriors

My old 1960 Glaspar trailer had 12 inch tires, I used to carry 2-3 spares everywhere I went. Sometimes used 2 on a single trip up to lake-about 20 miles away.
Best ramp story, on Lake George I went too deep on ramp when retrieving (off the end of cement ramp) and ended up breaking axle off of trailer when pulling out. Luckily, the marina had an arc welder about 20 feet away in their shop, I asked to borrow it, and was back on my way to NJ in about 20 minutes. Thought I was "done for" on a Sunday night trying to get home.
 
Years ago we were heading to a lake 2 hours from home. On the way there I blew out a tire I can still hear my buddy laughing at my 2" wide white wall snow tire that I had for a spare. He thought is was funny as heck to see a snow tire on a boat trailer.
 
we visited Lake Jocassee a couple years ago....this is a medium size lake located in the foot hills of the SC mountains....the area was in a drought situation at the time, but this is a deep mountain lake so we thought the water level would be fine......well, we arrived at the lake at the primary public access ramp....the water level on that day was around 70% full pond.....this had created the longest and steepest ramp to the water i have ever seen.......the distance to the water must have been at least 200 ft. and i estimate the angle of the ramp to be around 30 - 40*.......the water level was so low the floating dock was grounded with about 20 feet from the water's edge.....the 'ramp' was not a solid concrete pad....it was two concrete strips wide enough for the tires of the tow vehicle and trailer but not much more....i was told the length of the ramp was not a problem, even with the low water level.....needless to say i was VERY intimidated by the task of launching and retrieving the boat under these circumstances.....we had to travel around 3.5 hrs to get to the lake so we were determined to get the boat in the water somehow.......we prepared the boat at the top of the ramp and i SLOWLY backed the trailer up and approached the ramp....i could not even see the ramp due to the steep angle...it took a coordinated effort between the Admiral and i which included several times i had to pull forward to correct the angle of the trailer, but we FINALLY got the boat to the water.......we got the boat unloaded from the trailer and my wife pulled the trailer up the steep hill to the parking lot....we had a great day on the lake.....even with the low water level we still saw water depths close to 300 ft.... then it was time to retrieve the boat and head home.....the Admiral had to stay with the boat on the shore while i went to get the trailer.....at least backing down the ramp without the boat on the trailer made the task somewhat easier......we got the boat loaded OK, but then the real fear hit me....i was not sure if my tow vehicle had enough power to pull my rig up the long, steep ramp to the parking lot.....this was by far the longest and steepest ramp i had attempted to climb up to that point....well i was happy to discover the tow vehicle did just fine pulling the boat/trailer up the ramp, but the 'pucker factor' was definetly there.....there were not many people on the lake that day because this was in the fall....we wanted to see the leaves turning colors so we waited until the fall to visit the lake.....if i were to have needed help getting the rig up the ramp i could have been in trouble.....

cliff
 
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Took the 300 DA 86 miles from our home in Spokane to Priest Lake in Idaho. I had the oversize load permits for Washington and Idaho and I sort of forgot to check the closed routes for over wide loads kindly published by the State of Idaho when I picked up my permit. There is only on way to get to Priest Lake and as we turned toward the lake from Priest River we passed a sign that I didn't see. My now EX-wife told me later that it said something about "no loads over 10 feet wide"! THANKS A LOT!!! The 300 DA is 11 feet wide!! As we approached the bridge that was under construction I was pretty sure I could make it and I didn't want to slow down traffic that had piled up behind me and there was no place to turn around. As I approached the bridge I realized that the center line had concrete barriers that were about 3 inches lower than the boat. The other side had 6 inches between the bridge railing that was VERY close at 20 miles per hour! The guy behind me stopped because he figured I was going to end up jammed, wedged or stuck. My wife kept leaning forward to look in the mirror which blocked MY view out the passenger side. I had to have her sit back and be a passenger. My son was hanging out the window giving me clearance numbers to let me know how close I was! When we arrived at the ramp, the guy towing the boat behind me couldn't understand how I'd gone through so quickly because he was ready to change his shorts towing a mere 8'6" trailer through the same 10 foot gap!! He stopped and we talked for a while and I finally admitted it was a "shorts" changing experience! It was tight! I now compare my route to those routes closed to oversized loads!!

Another time we arrived to launch the boat at Coolin. The launch is across the street from the Coolin store and we arrived on a Sunday afternoon when everybody was leaving for the weekend. There were 7 boats on trailers with tow vehicles parked alternating on each side of the road to the ramp. Nobody was around to move their trailers and we were ready to launch. So, off we went and started backing down making difficult and tight turns alternating to miss each trailer and tow vehicle. About 5 minutes into this people came running out to try to "Save" their vehicle. By the time they arrived, I had successfully backed all the way through it, making one forward correction the whole way. A bunch of them came down and asked me how I was able to maneuver something so big through such a tight area and I told the other drivers I had really GREAT mirrors. What I didn't tell them and what they couldn't see was my son sitting in the boat with an FRS radio giving me clearance numbers and helping me to "see" what I couldn't see! LOL!! I know they didn't believe me, but they couldn't figure out how I had done it either!
 
Thankfully I don't have any horror stories other than a friend that wasn't so good with a trailer having to pull forward 4 times to get it straight down the ramp. I was in the boat. Not sure which is worse. Someone else in my truck w/trailer or someone else driving the boat. So the goal is this summer to master the procedure by myself.
 
CliffA said:
we visited Lake Jocassee a couple years ago....this is a medium size lake located in the foot hills of the SC mountains....the area was in a drought situation at the time, but this is a deep mountain lake so we thought the water level would be fine......well, we arrived at the lake at the primary public access ramp....the water level on that day was around 70% full pond.....this had created the longest and steepest ramp to the water i have ever seen.......the distance to the water must have been at least 200 ft. and i estimate the angle of the ramp to be around 30 - 40*.......the water level was so low the floating dock was grounded with about 20 feet from the water's edge.....the 'ramp' was not a solid concrete pad....it was two concrete strips wide enough for the tires of the tow vehicle and trailer but not much more....i was told the length of the ramp was not a problem, even with the low water level.....needless to say i was VERY intimidated by the task of launching and retrieving the boat under these circumstances.....we had to travel around 3.5 hrs to get to the lake so we were determined to get the boat in the water somehow.......we prepared the boat at the top of the ramp and i SLOWLY backed the trailer up and approached the ramp....i could not even see the ramp due to the steep angle...it took a coordinated effort between the Admiral and i which included several times i had to pull forward to correct the angle of the trailer, but we FINALLY got the boat to the water.......we got the boat unloaded from the trailer and my wife pulled the trailer up the steep hill to the parking lot....we had a great day on the lake.....even with the low water level we still saw water depths close to 300 ft.... then it was time to retrieve the boat and head home.....the Admiral had to stay with the boat on the shore while i went to get the trailer.....at least backing down the ramp without the boat on the trailer made the task somewhat easier......we got the boat loaded OK, but then the real fear hit me....i was not sure if my tow vehicle had enough power to pull my rig up the long, steep ramp to the parking lot.....this was by far the longest and steepest ramp i had attempted to climb up to that point....well i was happy to discover the tow vehicle did just fine pulling the boat/trailer up the ramp, but the 'pucker factor' was definetly there.....there were not many people on the lake that day because this was in the fall....we wanted to see the leaves turning colors so we waited until the fall to visit the lake.....if i were to have needed help getting the rig up the ramp i could have been in trouble.....

cliff
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We boat on the Keowee and ran over to Jocassee to see what the ramp looked like. It was a good 300 yards down to the water on the ramp. Jocassee was no more than a river with a public launch.
That was a bad year as even Lake Hartwell was empty.
 
So I am coming home from the lake about 8 in the evening when I feel a thumping from the trailer. I have had experience with such thumping so I immediately slow and just as I’m down to 35mph the right side tire goes. I’m about 40 miles from home on a Saturday night.
I get the thing jacked up only to find the PO had the correct size tire on the wrong rim.

While I’m sitting there a SC trooper pulls behind me and I explain my situation. He said to get everything not bolted down out of the boat and he would keep an eye on it until the n morning so I could get a tire mounted.
Next morning I get back to the boat and everything is good. I install the new tire and off we go.

About 10 miles from home I feel the thumping again. I’m just passing a weigh station when the left one blows. I was able to back down the ramp at the station and the troopers there let me keep it there until the next morning so I could buy another tire an install it.

Both tires were like brand new and split right through the treads.
 
Dutch Gap boat ramp in Richmond, Va. I saw a 20' open bow with 6 (hot) women returning to the ramp. As they tied up and attempted to back the trailer down the ramp, 5 of the 6 were bragging how they don't need a man to go boating, they could handle it themselves. It took the driver MULTIPLE times to finally get the trailer into the water. The ladies loaded up (busy summer weekend afternoon by the way) taking a LONG time and receiving lots of looks from all of the men (maybe it was 'cause they were good looking and not taking forever) anyway, they finally secured the boat, drove up the ramp, and forgot to trim the outdrive. I think every guy there died laughing.

Same boat ramp, I watched a guy back down a brand new, never been in the water center console. He unhooked the bow eye strap, backed down, and didn't realize he was on rollers instead of bunks. Not a good day.

Personally had 2 of the 4 tires on my camper blow at different times in the trip when we moved from Va. to Wi.
 
After a long hot day on the Rancocas Creek, where I had to push the boat several times, because the water was so shallow, we pulled into the ramp to load her up.
I get in my C-5 Blazer and the starter is dead. The girls are in the water holding the boat against the current as there is no where to tie her up.
I bang on the starter with a hammer-like most GM starter failures-to no avail. Some guy watching me from afar in his Ford pick up truck comes over and asks "what's wrong" I tell him starter is smoked. He says he might have one, sure enough he digs around in the bed of his truck and lo and behold, he's got a GM starter in the pile of crap in his truck.
I put it in and she fires right up! all in all, a delay of about 10 minutes to get boat on trailer. I thought we were hosed! There was NOWHERE to tie her up and the truck was dead! Best part---the guy wouldn't take any money for the starter, he was glad to be rid of it.
 
SloBurn said:
After a long hot day on the Rancocas Creek, where I had to push the boat several times, because the water was so shallow, we pulled into the ramp to load her up.
I get in my C-5 Blazer and the starter is dead. The girls are in the water holding the boat against the current as there is no where to tie her up.
I bang on the starter with a hammer-like most GM starter failures-to no avail. Some guy watching me from afar in his Ford pick up truck comes over and asks "what's wrong" I tell him starter is smoked. He says he might have one, sure enough he digs around in the bed of his truck and lo and behold, he's got a GM starter in the pile of crap in his truck.
I put it in and she fires right up! all in all, a delay of about 10 minutes to get boat on trailer. I thought we were hosed! There was NOWHERE to tie her up and the truck was dead! Best part---the guy wouldn't take any money for the starter, he was glad to be rid of it.
Click to expand...

Wow, what are the chances of that!? If that were me I'd go to pick up a starter at the local auto parts store and they'd tell me they've never heard of a Ford (what I have).
 
SloBurn said:
After a long hot day on the Rancocas Creek, where I had to push the boat several times, because the water was so shallow, we pulled into the ramp to load her up.
I get in my C-5 Blazer and the starter is dead. The girls are in the water holding the boat against the current as there is no where to tie her up.
I bang on the starter with a hammer-like most GM starter failures-to no avail. Some guy watching me from afar in his Ford pick up truck comes over and asks "what's wrong" I tell him starter is smoked. He says he might have one, sure enough he digs around in the bed of his truck and lo and behold, he's got a GM starter in the pile of crap in his truck.
I put it in and she fires right up! all in all, a delay of about 10 minutes to get boat on trailer. I thought we were hosed! There was NOWHERE to tie her up and the truck was dead! Best part---the guy wouldn't take any money for the starter, he was glad to be rid of it.
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that was more than just chance....that 'guy' was actually your guardian angel.....was his name Clarence?....did you by chance hear a bell ring right after he gave you the starter?......if so that would indicate he received his 'wings' from doing this good deed..... :grin: .....anyone who has seen the movie 'it's a wonderful life' will know what i am talking about......

cliff
 
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My father used to get in the boat on land and I would back his Suburban and boat down the ramp and let Dad and the boat off of the trailer, then go park. When we got back Dad would bump the dock and I would run up and get the Suburban and the empty trailer, wait in line then back it down the ramp and winch the boat onto the trailer. Then park and let Dad out of the boat. At 14 years old. It got many looks and was a point of pride for Dad.
When I was younger the lake was very low one day. We set the boat in as normal. But getting her out while winching her out all of a sudden the truck started going backwards into the water. The lake was low and the rear wheels were in slick mud. Dad just got in the truck and stepped on the brake. He explained to me that the parking brake only holds the rear wheels while the foot brake held all 4. So my job at 10 was to hold the brake so he could finish winching the boat up. Simple stuff but a little scary for a 10 year old. Dad always knew what to do. That was comforting.
 
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