Loading A Boat During Generation

[sfiser]

I recently bought a Topwater river boat w/ a 20hp yamaha. I have had a bass boat for a long time but this is the first time i have had a jon boat. I was wondering whats/are they any tricks you use for loading when they are generating, I put it at cotter most of the time. The first time I had it on the river I tried to load it by coming straight in, figured out that didnt work so i got it the 2nd time by coming from downstream and cutting it into the trailer, I have done that ever since and it seems to work ok. I have a bass boat but loading that little trout boat is alot different than driving my bass boat onto the trailer. any tips would be appreciated. We had some guys load up after us and they took forever, guy couldnt seem to figure out how get it on the trailer with the current pushing him, the finally got a rope and he had his buddy pull him onto the trailer with the rope... made me feel better about only taking 2 tries to get it on the tralier the first time i put the boat in the water.

Also, are there any ramps that you guys avoid due to swift current, hard to load/unload, etc etc?

Thanks for the help

[Greasy B]

The Cotter ramp is as protected as any you'll find. You have it right by approaching from downstream and cutting it. Angling the trailer downstream will help but when the water is really cooking there is no pretty way to do it. Me and my buddies always wear waders so it's standard procedure for one of us to jump our with a rope to guide the boat. Just like boat ramp etiquette elsewhere the idea is to be quick.

[Greasy B]

The Cotter ramp is as protected as any you'll find. You have it right by approaching from downstream and cutting it. Angling the trailer downstream will help but when the water is really cooking there is no pretty way to do it. Me and my buddies always wear waders so it's standard procedure for one of us to jump out with a rope to guide the boat. Just like boat ramp etiquette elsewhere the idea is to be quick.

[Ham]

it sucks a lot harder when you have a jet. 1) Back the trailer in so that it points downstream a little 2) play with how far you need to have the trailer in the water 3) hit the trailer with some speed by waiting to the last second and cutting the nose in on the down current back edge of the trailer.

I've been putting boats on trailers since I was 8 years old. After roughly 40 years of experience with props, trying to load a boat with a jet motor made me look like a fool.

At first.

[marcusearlt]

I have a bass boat and a flat bottom jet boat and I use both on rivers and lakes. Like the guys before said, someone in the water can help and you can point your trailer downstream, I find that the stronger the current is then the more I will angle my trailer. Light current may get 15-30 degrees, heavy flows might get a 45 degrees or so. Too much of an angle and your outside wheel will be much lower than inside depending on the steepness of the boat ramp, so more angle is always the whole answer. I make sure to install bunks on my trailers if they don't already have them. When backing down I go until the bunk top just hits the water and stop there. As soon as I get a couple feet of boat on the trailer I hit the throttle and usually the boat will seat itself, at least well enough to get up the ramp and out of the way of the next in line. I can do any adjustments up on flat ground. You'll get the hang of it and when you do it'll be second nature.

[sfiser]

thanks for all the replies guys. I do appreciate it. I have had the boat out 5 times or so and its much easier now than when I first gave it a try, but still not easy or a thing of beauty.