trailer question

[78sanger]

im getting some scratches around the front eye hook. i dont like the way the boat is locked onto the trailer. if i remove the bar, the rear of the boat is going to bounce during trailering. does anyone have any pics of how there boat is tied down?
tired of fixing scratches!
thanks

[67weimann]

WTF do you mean? You have a floater bar in the front and want to remove it? If you do, what the hell will hold your boat on the trailer?
I don't tie the back of mine down...only the front.:D
This thread is worthless witout pics...

[W.O.T]

I only have the front of mine secured with the floater bar. I used to run a strap over the pump from the trailer but it actually ruined my bowl. Stripped the threads out from bouncing on the trailer. My jack handle on the front of the trailer will actually scrape the bottom of my bow if the boat is not on the trailer correctly.

[Jetaholic]

Mine has a rubber bow stop and a winch on the front. On the back I had the guy who built it weld tie down points on it so that I could tie the back of the boat down via transom eyes to the trailer.

[YeLLowBoaT]

scrap the back down reguardless of what you have in the front.
If you have a floater bar in front, once you have it hooked on the bow eye. Rung a ratchet scrap down from that bar to frame and put a little tention on it... it will stop it from rattleing.

[502 JET]

I have seen cases were boats have bounced and slid and the bar had inverted f-ing up the bottom. As suggested above you should run a tie down from the bow eye around trailer to keep this from happening.
I'm almost positive its a law in most states that you have straps on the rear of the boat when trailering.

[Muldoon]

Happened to mine. gouged up the hull around the eye. The eye is now loose too. I now run a strap through the eye onto the trailer.

[78sanger]

thanks for the suggestions. however i removed the floater bar and used a simple winch system. just not sure how im going to keep the rear tied down. im just a little worried about putting transom hooks in. im afraid they will pull out of 28 year old fiberglass.

[jh4rt]

Not as clean as having eye's in the transom, but it works.
http://shop.easternmarine.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=catalog.prodInfo&productID=5311&categoryID=230

[78sanger]

thanks jh4rt but thats not for me. im a little bit meticulous about this boat. i definitely dont want to scratch any more paint. looks on the trailer are just as important as when you fire it up at a crowded boat launch! hahaha! we all know what thats like.
little kids at the launch, just want to go tubing on there dads 4-winns. here we come dropping it in the lake with a set of bassett headers.

[YeLLowBoaT]

Some guys run one over the pump... I'm not sure if thats a good idea, but its got to be better then nothing.

[jh4rt]

thanks jh4rt but thats not for me. im a little bit meticulous about this boat. i definitely dont want to scratch any more paint. looks on the trailer are just as important as when you fire it up at a crowded boat launch! hahaha! we all know what thats like.
little kids at the launch, just want to go tubing on there dads 4-winns. here we come dropping it in the lake with a set of bassett headers.
I don't have any pictures of it, but will take some soon.
I mounted two stainless eye bolts back near the bend of the trailer. Then, built a nice harness out of some yacht braid with a hook in the center. The hook goes in the bow-eye from the stern. I then built a winch stand and mounted the winch. I can now retrieve the boat myself without getting wet (important because I test a lot at Casitas, where you can't touch the water.) So, pull up close to the trailer, pull the winch out from the bow (btw: truck rear tires just touching the water), then hook the rear "strap", the winch, crank it up and go.
On the stern, I do have two eyes, and have made some really custom tie-downs for back there. (no hanging straps, etc.)
I would suggest putting the eye's in. The trick to doing it in the older fiberglass is two-fold. First, you really need to have some nice backing plates. There are lots of ways to have them, a strip of aluminum, etc... My preference would be some marine plywood; soaked in epoxy, and then glassed onto the transom. When you drill the holes, drill them slightly oversize and coat them (heavily) with epoxy to prevent any water from seeping in the end-grain of the plywood. Then ream them to fit (as net as possible). Finally, apply some dolphinite and tighten them up.
Simple right?
Hope this helps. I will try to get/post some pics of my installation.
BTW: I know what you are saying about the trailer. At some point, someone dropped my tubular ellis trailer in the salt-water, and it is a bit rusted in places, which embarrasses me a bit, but I'm working it out a little at a time.

[78sanger]

thanks for the help! sounds simple enough. i would never have thought about the epoxy on the wood before i installed the hooks.
i would still like to see those pics of the trailer rigging

[jh4rt]

thanks for the help! sounds simple enough. i would never have thought about the epoxy on the wood before i installed the hooks.
i would still like to see those pics of the trailer rigging
I'll get some pics and post them up this weekend.
-j