When I first got my pontoon I hauled it a couple times to the lake (40 miles each way) with just the winch strap hooked up, but not tight. The pontoon shifted 2-3" rearward each direction, which sort of freaked me out a little bit.
I have started strapping down the rear now but only on one side (boat passenger side, right side as you look at it from the rear) because the ladder is in the way on the other side. Once I did hook up a long 16ft ratchet strap all the way from one lift eye to the other lift eye, which cleared the steps as it went diagonally toward the center but then I was back to using just 1 strap, and I thought it looked like hell.
On the back of the pontoon I can use 'normal' 4ft boat tie down straps to go between the lift eye and the frame hole. I am not real crazy about this because there is a chance that I could pinch the wiring, and it is a thin steel plate welded on to the end of the frame tube.
Rear Left
- IMG-20120627-01488.jpg (66.24 KiB) Viewed 5139 times
- IMG-20120627-01489.jpg (60.99 KiB) Viewed 5143 times
My trailer had a defective winch post when it was new (the trailer is a 2012 Newmans 22-24ft Bunk) and they shipped me out a new winch post, and while it is a different style than the original, in my opinion it is a better style that makes boarding easier by moving the grab handle from the center position to the sides. But I also lose the 'crotch' that used to be in between the 2 downlegs on the original, which I had been looping my straps through.
Old Winch Post
- IMG-20120626-01479.jpg (71.6 KiB) Viewed 5143 times
- IMG-20120626-01483.jpg (72.9 KiB) Viewed 5142 times
- rearaxlefasteners011a.jpg (147.95 KiB) Viewed 5142 times
- 95296_TIE_86098_PPM.jpg (16.11 KiB) Viewed 5137 times
Maybe something like the small straps in this picture where are designed to wrap around something and then have a hook through their loops? Problem is that I don't want to have to worry about losing them or having them rub through the paint..
- HD_tiedown_straps.jpg (30.25 KiB) Viewed 5131 times
-ron
