Getting a Jon boat to load straight on trailer

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Scott F

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The other day I got to launch my new, jet powered, tin jon boat for the first time. Everything was great until it was time to put the boat back on the trailer. I was on a river with a pretty good amount of current. Between the current and the lack of control the jon has with the jet at low speeds, getting the jon centered was very difficult. The boat has a flat bottom with 9 ribs running front to back. The spaces between the ribs is slightly bigger than the width of the bunks. The rear guide-ons are 3.5 inches away from each side of the hull and are already adjusted as close to the hull as possible. Once I miss getting the boat on the right spot, there is no pushing it sideways to get the bunk on the correct rib. If it’s off center, the winch strap won’t pull it back to center, the strap gets off its roller too.
I’m thinking about replacing the guides with taller, more adjustable versions and adding a keel roller where there are none now.
Thinking about it, next time, I won’t back the trailer in as far as I did.
Can you tell me ways you set up your trailer to make loading your flat bottom boat easier?
 
I back in deep enough to wet the bunks than pull out to the point that just the end of the bunks are under water. It took several tries to find out where the trailer needed to be.
 
I'll be interested how this gets answered. I haven't used my boat on the river because I'm usually out by myself and don't think I could man handle mine alone. How's it do on a lake?
 
I don't have a jet, but I do load a flat bottom onto a trailer in a river with a decent current. I was taught only to get the bunks wet to the point of where the axle crosses under the bunks - the rest are out of the water - and power load each time. Approach the trailer from the downstream side and cut the wheel at the last moment to align the flat ribs with the bunks. Once you're lined up on the trailer give it gas until you're up far enough that you're not sliding back off.

I'm not sure if running the jet in the shallows is riskier than a prop - I would think it's all the same chance of sucking up crap off the bottom, you've just got more clearance - but that's just an initial thought without a multi-thousand dollar motor on the line.
 
I agree with the above advice.

Just want to add that I have had to adjust centering, I pull out just enough that stern will stay where I place it, although takes some muscle to move it.
 
I've fought this battle with every tin that I've owned.

The "Strakes" (metal protrusions that add strength to the bottom) can cause exactly the H#$# that you described.

Both of my boats are semi-V's and I have a different solution on each one.

A friend in TN. who has a flat bottom tinny, added FOUR PVC risers to his boat. Two in the back.... that I think everyone ought to have, and he added two more near the front of his trailer. The front ones push the boat back straight. Of course, you have to stick the hull pretty close to straight to utilize the four riser system.

Another possibility is what I've recently done with my 1756 Lowe. It is a Semi-V but the method may work on any tin bottom.

I added a 3500 lb remote-controlled electric winch in place of the crank style winch. I changed out the metal cable with a softer non-stretch winch line. .... When it is time to load, and before I back the trailer into the water, I pull enough winch line out to attach the cable hook to my rear riser. ( I added a simple strap loop on which to clip the hook).

I drive the boat only up as far as necessary so that I can reach the cable hook. I take the cable hook forward and clip it onto my bow hook. I use the winch's remote to feed the line until it tightens. I then let the power winch pull my boat straight and up all of the way. So far, even in heavy side winds (but not current), it has worked nearly flawlessly. On one occasion, the boat was pulled off-center by the winch. I had to push the boat off of the trailer and winch it back on straight.

Since the pulling force is dead center, the winch straightens the boat out pretty well.

My biggest fear with this system is if the battery that drives the winch were to fail. I am making a twenty-foot long extension with clips on it to allow me to use the van's battery in an emergency.

Hope this helps.
 

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Richg99, I like that step setup you have for your trailer.
 
Thanks, but it wasn't my idea originally. A guy on another fishing site has been using this system for a year or two.

As far as pulling power from the tail lights, we didn't think that the van's internal wire size was sufficient to carry the current that the 3500-lb winch was going to draw.

Another option was to pull a heavy wire from the van's battery back to the rear of the vehicle. Just the wire alone was going to cost over $100.00.

Since I already owned the battery (which had powered a trolling motor on my kayak), I opted to just use it.

Since I wrote this post this morning, I made up a 20 ft extension cord with battery clips on both ends. Now, if I need to, I can just open the hood and use the van's battery in an emergency.

Be Prepared, they say.... Ha Ha
 
As far as a winch goes, I already have one but mine is attached to the boat as a heavy duty anchor winch. I have a 55lb chain anchor that holds me still in some pretty fast current. I don't know if it would pull my boat onto the trailer or not.

15d5tnr.jpg
 
Hmmmm I see potential here. Ha Ha.. (crazy creative mind working feverishly)....

My 3500 lb winch is more than is needed to pull my 1000 lb. tinny onto its bunks. My bunks are topped with 3x4 PVC Gutter downspouts so they are slipperier than carpet covered bunks.

I guess if you could add a few snatch blocks and some sort of pick-up of the winch cable affixed to your trailer, you could get dual use out of your winch.

rich
 
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preface: I only fish rivers. I'm 61 and have been doing this most of my life.​
Scott, how much experience do you have with a jet? On a river? They are a different beast to load than a prop! The response time of turning a jon is diminished greatly with a jet, whereas a prop has almost instantaneous torque to use. There is a bit of a learning curve here.

Is your trailer set up anything like Rich's? The side bunks and vertical guides would be an enormous help.

I use a prop and back the trailer to the point of the bunks being around a foot or so submerged. The trailer is angled slightly downstream and the jon's approach is also from downstream. I know that some think that power loading is verboten, but my 25 Johnson is doing nothing to the riverbed that Mother Nature hasn't done a thousand times over. I've done jets exactly this way, but you almost need to be psychic when it comes to timing your turning.


Edit to add: Friction is your friend.
 
I also fish a river where current can sometime make loading a project! Bunk guides, just having the ends of the bunks in the water, and backing the trailer in slightly downriver are the first place to start, I also have a walk board down the center for the length of the trailer which is a big help. Once I have the boat partially on the trailer and hooked up to the winch strap which I walked down the board, I can then adjust the boat by just pushing it back a bit or lifting the bow to get it lined up on the bunks and then pull it as far forward as possible and then walk back the board and winch the boat the rest of the way onto the trailer.
 
I 29 years of boating, I have never tried to drive a boat onto a trailer. I'm so used to walking it out and pushing it past the trailer and then pulling it back in and centering it on the bunks or rollers as I hook up the manual winch strap. Our boat ramp is not level when the water is low and I might have to reposition the trailer 5-10 times to hope to load the boat evenly. I was out past knee deep yesterday getting the sprint boat hooked up. There is a flat spot on our ramp and the water is at the worst height right now. Sometimes you open the truck door and you're standing in the water. The side guides really help keep a boat straight when loading in river current. I've been loading/unloading by myself all 29 years of boating. Here's my Lowe from this past Wed.
 

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Power loading was ..verboten.. on some ramps in Wisconsin.

I watched some older guys go through a lot of wading and contortions trying to get their boats onto their trailers. And that was with NO current, just lakes.
 
This is what I use for driving my boat onto the trailer. I haven't tried it in a river though. Should work.
 

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I guess I'm lucky that every ramp I've ever used (and am likely to use) has docks. Makes it a lot easier to deal with strong wind or currents. I never drove the boat onto the trailer. From the dock, I pulled it on with the bow line, winched it up and the side guides kept it centered. I do have to wade out in about 12" to 18" of water to get to the winch (I ain't balancing on a trailer tongue). I keep a pair of rubber boots in the car if I don't feel like getting wet.

I also like the tall guide-on's. I couldn't see my old trailer in my rear view mirror while backing down a ramp, but I could see the tall side guide ons.
 
Can't imagine having a trailer without PVC uprights now, after having them. Sometimes in a stiff current I will grab one of the uprights to swing the boat in the needed direction.

Last trailer had the guide bunks on the sides and they were pretty useless. On the ramp the angle put them under the water and under the boat.
 

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