Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Here is my situation. My lake has a couple dnr ramps. they are in little coves but very tight small areas. the docks (4docks) are only about 20 feet long. when i unload my 18 foot bayliner i have to back the trialer in so far that the boat is basically at the end of the dock. then i hvae to push the boat out past the end of the dock to pull the trialer out without hitting teh bottom of the boat with the trailer. then pull the trailer out of the water. go back and pull the boat up to the dock to tie off. then go park the truck.
I have never launched or loaded a pontoon yet as my new sylvan 8522 tritoon is not here yet. But im pretty nervous as to how to do this with the toon. worried about how hard it will be to push it out off the end of the dock then being able to pull it back in to the dock without the rear end getting away from me.
Are toons easy enough to straighten out once i get my hands on the front of the side rail and pull it into the dock? will i need to have a line on the rear to straighten it out?
Am i really overthinking this and just nervous and worried about denting my toons or it getting away from me?

Fyi: we can not powerload or unload at any of the ramps.

I've never seen a non-power load dock. I usually just drive my boats on and off the trailer.

Otherwise, getting pontoons off a trailer manually will require a pretty deep and probably a long ramp. You'll need a 30' or longer rope to get it off the trailer and pull it back to the dock.

And practice makes perfect. Hopefully your ramp is in protected waters, without too much wind and waves.

I'd have a line on each end, even if they are both held by one person.
Once you are comfy with your boat and procedures, then you can back off and use simpler methods. Always best to err on the side of caution.
Enjoy the new boat!

I don't think I have ever seen anybody launch a pontoon without driving it off the trailer. Is there a reason you do not?

We cant power load/unload here either, for unloading I get the admiral and passengers on board in the staging area, un hook the transom straps, leave the bow strap hooked.
Then I back down the ramp, untill the boat is about 1/3 in the water
Then I stop and unhook the bow strap.
Then I get back in the tow rig, give it a good shot on the gas pedal, then as the rear tires of the tow rig are getting close to the water slam on the brakes.
this shoots the toon off the trailer and back out into the lake, the admiral then fires it up and pulls back up to the shore, while I park the tow rig.

for loading I back the trailer in so only a foot or so of the bunks are out of the water, then just head the boat for the trailer at a nice slow speed (idle), when forward movement stops i kill the motor, and I am usually only either at the bow stops or less than a foot them, I hook the winch and finish pulling it on, then the admiral pulls the boat out.

I have used a similar launch method when I am alone, I tie a rope to the toon and the winch post, after shooting the toon off the trailer, I pull the tow rig out untill the toon is pulled back to the ramp, then retrieve the toon and push it to the side of the ramp and tie it off until I finish parking the truck

You can do like I do when I'm by myself, I tie a line to the toon long enough to get to toon off the trailer plus five feet or more, I back in till it floats off, get out and push it off if you have to, then pull forward till the boat almost hits the ramp, you have the trailer out of the way, tie the boat to the dock and park the trailer.

I know you already had everything loaded on the toon before you even backed down to unload, so your ready to go,so get on the toon and have a great day.

Here is a pic i found of the boat ramp. I think I will use both a stern and bow line just to be safe as i try to figure it out. Think im just nervous as i never had a pontoon before. my little 18 foot bayliner was super easy.

Always better to be safe than sorry, but I do think you may be worrying for nothing. If you are familiar with loading and unloading boats, the pontoon will not be much different. As long as you have hold of one line to the bow of the boat you can muscle it in fairly easily.

Take it slow and you should not have any issues. Enjoy the new ride

With the motor up the draft of a pontoon boat is much less than your Bayliner so it is much easier to man handle. Just make sure you have a couple of fender guards on the dock side so you don't dent your toon.

How busy is the ramp? Can you power off the trailer, dock boat at another dock, then pull the trailer out?

The only thing to be worried about is the wind. The pontoon will catch the wind more than your old Bayliner.

There are numerous ramps in our area with no power loading or unloading hefty fines if caught. Witch is dumb when the water and or ramp is to shallow cant even launch a canoe

I assume the non power loading is so that the soil at the end of the ramp does not get blown out, causing a big hole at the end of the ramp. Not a real big issue until the water lwers even more.

STEVEBRENDA wrote:I assume the non power loading is so that the soil at the end of the ramp does not get blown out, causing a big hole at the end of the ramp. Not a real big issue until the water lwers even more.

In my area when lake levels are low I must carefully choose which ramp to use. More than once I've gone off the end of the concrete and landed in that "hole" at the end of the ramp. Luckily there are a few longer ramps in the area that are not affected by low water.