Drive on trailer? Do you power load?

So, I've slowly moved up in the power boat world over the past 12 years. From a flat back canoe that sat on a flat 4' wide snowmobile trailer, to a 14' jon boat on a very basic Shorelander trailer, to my recent 14' Starcraft Deep V:


So my buddy, who has more experience with boats than I do, tells me that with the roller guides on my trailer that it's a "drive on" trailer. I tried to power load it once and it was an epic failure. Basically impossible to get that keel to be perfectly centered on the front keel roller, so I manually pull it on the trailer all the time. So my question is, would you power load this boat and trailer or not? Do you power load your tinny?

I guess I'd have to see more of the trailer and what the rollers look like. I don't have any rollers on my trailer, just a couple bunks and the keel rollers and I have never attempted to power load it. I recently added guide posts to my trailer and it helps out a ton and makes it much easier to load it manually. I think i'd have the same issue you had with getting the hull centered on the keel rollers.

I have a Tracker PT 175 package deal with their trailer, just bunks, and I "drive" the boat onto my trailer at a slow speed using the 60hp. Most of the time I "coast" the boat onto the trailer and then use the 60 to fine tune the position as needed or to get it closer to the winch as needed.

You might try putting the trailer in the water deeper using the old trial and error method, I use the fender wells on my trailer as the guide as to how deep the trailer is or should be. Usually if the top 2-3" of the fender well is visible, I'm good on my boat, yours may/will vary.

I agree with TN about backing your trailer into the water. The most important part in trailering your boat is knowing how far to put your trailer in. Once you have that down the rest is easy.

With the right depth you might even stay above a couple keel rollers, making you only having to line up with 1 or two. It's a big game of trial and error.

I've seen a lot of epic failures over the years with guys trying to drive onto their trailers. It's usually exasperated when they have an audience waiting to use the ramp...

With rollers you should be able to pull your boat onto the trailer pretty easily if the ramp isn't too steep. I think the key is having the first center 'V' roller sitting close enough to the surface that you can ride your center rib onto it and let it guide the front of the boat up the trailer. That's how I manually pull mine up onto the bunks. I added a catwalk 1/2 way to the axle and just stand on it and guide the bow onto the first roller, then once the hull is lined up with the trailer just pop the boat onto the bunks.

If you do it right your hull should never hit the side rollers unless you are dealing with excessive crosswinds or currents.

I grew up fishing the local rivers. When the water levels are up (which was very often), the current was so strong that power loading was the only option as you would never get the boat lined up with the trailer using a rope from the bank. Once you learn to power load one while dealing with strong currents and sometimes wind, loading from a lake seems simple by comparison. Others have already pointed this out, but IMO the depth of and how far you back your trailer into the water are the most important things you can do to make loading easy. Once you figure out what works best with your boat/trailer, loading will be easy and only require a small amount of throttle to put the boat all the way up to your front stop.

I know a lot of folks who swear by power loading - but there are many good reasons NOT to power load.

In some places it is illegal - I cannot re-call where in my travels I saw the signs, but posted at the ramp was a notice that there was a fine for power loading (for those who got caught obviously).

Whether it it is posted as illegal or not, power loading is hard on ramps. It causes big wash outs at the end of the ramp.

I would follow some of the suggestions above and learn all about non-power loading your boat.

Have a look at the two below links for more info:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q31Wl7Ten5o

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/water_access/powerloading.html

Mike in Newport News VA

Thanks for that link Mike, I have seen some guys power loading and it is rediculous. Some guys slam their boats up on the trailers and I can definitely see why its not good for the landing.

Powerloading only causes problems when people don't back their trailer down in the water far enough or don't load with enough momentum.

I like for my trailer to be in far enough so that with momentum my boat will glide at least halfway on to the trailer. Bump the throttle to push the boat about 3/4 onto the trailer and winch it the rest of the way. No current...heavy current...I can load my boat in a matter of seconds. Anyone can do it.

That's the problem though RiverBottom, there's people who can do it correctly buy using the motor to get it on the trailer, and winch it the rest of the way, but there are a lot of idiots out there who think they need to sit there slamming the throttle until their boat hits the winchpost. It's the same kind of people that get their boat loaded onto the trailer and then proceeed to empty their boats contents into their vehicle while still on the dock, and hold everyone else up.

FerrisBueller said:

I guess I'd have to see more of the trailer and what the rollers look like.

Click to expand...

There are just two bunks and two keel rollers.

Ranchero50 said:

I added a catwalk 1/2 way to the axle and just stand on it and guide the bow onto the first roller, then once the hull is lined up with the trailer just pop the boat onto the bunks.

Click to expand...

Yeah, this trailer has some expanded metal grating for a catwalk too.

NewportNewsMike said:

I know a lot of folks who swear by power loading - but there are many good reasons NOT to power load.

Click to expand...

In NH I have never seen anything prohibiting power loading, but yes, I am aware of the potential damage. A lot of the "ramps" I use are actually not ramps at all, just pavement up to the shorebank and then you are in the sand/dirt/muck. I would always opt to hand load the boat on those ramps, and even cement ramps, but my buddy swears the load guides make the trailer a drive-on and he shakes his head at me whenever I am struggling to line up the boat by hand (which isn't often, it's usually a simple process).

I'll keep loading it by hand, just was curious what you guys would typically do with loading my boat and trailer setup.

I'd give it a try and see how you feel about it. If it makes it easier for you then why not? If you find yourself struggling with it then I see no reason to power load.

I would. And yes. We have a river where I just get the bunks in the water and slide right up. Little power and I ha e to use the winch for about 1' to finish the loading.

I drive my 14 ft semi v on everytime.

I have two bunks and two guide rollers,as in first pic. I back the tips of the bunks to contact the water, slowly approach, line up, then throttle.

I have a problem with those that power loading under moderate to high power on the short/shallow ramps on the tidal waters around here. Those ramps become a pain to use at low tide because of the holes and humps that are created. Was with my buddy early one morning at low tide when his trailer went off the edge of a ramp into a big hole created by power loading. The hole was deep enough that the trailer frame was sitting on the ramp. It was WAY too cold to get in the water, so he heavily bent up both leaf spring assemblies trying to pop the wheels back up on the ramp. At another ramp, we got to enjoy paddle-poling our way through an extended swath of 8" of water due to power loading. Not a big deal in a tinny, but it definitely would have been annoying with a big heavy fiberglass boat.

Thankfully I don't have these kind of ramp problem at my local electric-only ramps.

I usually power load. However, when I'm commercial shellfishing, I generally have about 8-15 bushels of oysters in the boat, which weighs anywhere between 500 to 800 lbs, and most of it being toward the bow, in which case, I power load AND winch. Particularly because of the angle of the ramp near low tide. At least for the ramp I use.

On the upper part at high tide, the angle is more steep, and the boat runs up onto the trailer correctly. But near the low tide mark, the angle is not as steep, and if you back to the correct depth, then the bow hits too low on the winch post. So, you have to back in a little less, so the bow rides up correctly. But with the trailer not as deep, the motor doesn't have enough a$$ to push the boat and a load of oysters up onto the trailer. And I don't have enough a$$ to winch that kind of weight, not to mention putting that level of strain on the winch strap.

So, I run the boat onto the trailer as far as possible, then, leave it in gear at mid-throttle, carefully make my way to the bow, hop out, hook up the winch strap and start cranking. Once it's up to the bow stop, then I climb back in the boat, and shut off the engine.

It's a PITA, but it's what works best for dealing with that particular goat. :shock:

Because, as I always say "with each new day in life, there's a new goat. And each goat comes with its own specific detailed set of instructions on how it is to be 'herded' (actually, I use another word) LOL

I power load and am trying to teach my wife how to do so.
I always back the trailer in as deep as I can to make sure the bunks are dripping wet, then pull forward until the fenders are just above the water. Of course the tides, ramp angle, etc. make a difference, but I can almost idle all of the way up to the winch.

I dislike lazy power loaders. Just crank your boat up and stop stirring up the bottom. There shouldn't be any problem with alignment if you do it right

If ramps were properly designed, power loading wouldn't cause issues. But, when they construct ramps, they often don't go out far enough with the coffer dam in order to make the foot of the ramp extend farther out.

So, if the foot of the ramp doesn't extend very far beyond where the trailer is backed, when someone power loads, it blows out a big hole at the foot of the ramp, which someone can back into and mess up their trailer. Or worse, repeated scouring leads to under-mining of the ramp footing, which can lead to cracking under the weight, then having chunks of the ramp shear off.

The ramp I frequently use is oyster shells on the higher portion, but at low tide, it's muddy. As soon as a boat is loaded onto a trailer, it sinks to the axle. So, when you haul out, you're pretty much drag-lining a new hole every time. LOL