A costly day on the Ohio Saturday..and electrical issues too

[fiddlebick]

Just let me get right to it. First I destroyed my rear deck ladder on a shallow sandy beach by leaving it down while backing out. Next my whole switch panel went dead while I was 4 miles downriver with darkness coming on...had to make a dash back to the ramp. That right there was bad enough, but then the rising ohio and choppy waters made loading the big pontoon a nightmare for my wife..I am the trailer guy, she does the loading and unloading. The bunker guides on this trailer were a weak design, and sure enough they didn't hold up to a rough loading...bent a couple of them beyond repair, so that will be an afternoon constructing better guides from square tubing, but I expected that redesign to become necessary..just not this soon. I am hoping to locate the problem with the power feed to the panel this afternoon, but I have no idea yet if there is a main fuse to locate, or a more complicated issue. I do know that the door under the captain stand is so small I have to wiggle in and out a few inches at a time. I appreciate any help on this one if you have had any similar experience with power failure. Oh yeah, and the speedometer quit working earlier in the afternoon....sigh...but the beer was cold and my two grown children and their little ones all spent the day on the water with us, so I still have a smile on my face. Happy Fathers day to all!

[lakerunner]

Would be nice if your boat brand and model was listed in your signature line

You should have a master fuse at battery for acc wire

[MH Hawker]

A common spot for the main power fuse is at the battery, And this is the type of glides that work and hold up year after year. Ignore the stripes down the bunks grand son decided I needed some chalk on them lol .

[fiddlebick]

Yeah I found the main 30 amp fuse from the battery blown. We had a small inverter to power an air pump for the tube...and I believe that is what blew the fuse. Got that problem fixed. As for the guide supports, I welded up a set like the ones James pictured for my previous pontoon trailer and they never waivered. I got the tubing and wire welder to fix that as well. Also my guides are too short. I like the longer boards on your guides much better. I guarantee they will hold the boat straight when I get done with them.

[Itsabouttime]

I like the boards on guides. My trailer has rollers. Will be my goal while boat is in wet slip this summer make the change. 2x4 or 2x6 work best?

[schmeg]

Here is a good procedure for loading:
1. have wife hold bow and stern line wile standing by when you get the tow rig.
2. You back the trailer in half way, you want the last 18 or so inches of bunk travel to meet resistance when loading.
Any less and the boat will drift, any more and you'll have to use too much power.
3. one trailer is backed in, get in the boat and glide on the bunks with light throttle inputs. Wifey just keeps the stern from getting sideways
with stearn line. It shouldn't if it isn't breezy.
4. Most of all, TAKE YOUR TIME. I see more people bang up boats at my marina from people getting uptight and hurrying.
Same apples with taking off after beaching, do a "walk around" and take your time. You have a nice boat and motor BTW.

[fiddlebick]

We are going to have to get a weekday and do some practice runs at loading. Once I get the trailer fixed I should have a better bunker guide set-up to aid her. Problem now is both she and I anticipate the stress at the ramp before we get there! My brother built his guide system using 2x6 boards...just a little better in my opinion than using 2x4's. Oh, and speaking of stress, I am learning how many nuts and inconsiderates there are on a ramp when its the busy time of day or evening. Our city ramp has two parking lots for rigs, and room for 4 boats to launch at the same time. I ALWAYS prep my boat for launch..unstrap the tie downs, load wife and supplies, final check list, etc...while up in the parking lot. Thus when I enter the ramp area I am ready to back in and launch and get the heck out of the way for the next guy. But usually there is one or two boaters, coming or leaving, that use the ramp as if it were their own private driveway, and I am waiting as are others for them to move on while they take their sweet ol time . I ALWAYS load the boat and pull it to the parking lots to secure my rig. On another note, other boaters like to crowd behind my wife when she's loading up...that makes her nervous and leaves little room in case she needs to back out and realign...sigh...one last gripe for now, sightseers should not be driving down on the ramp when the rush is on to trailer up...there, I feel better now...

[ROLAND]

We are going to have to get a weekday and do some practice runs at loading. Once I get the trailer fixed I should have a better bunker guide set-up to aid her. Problem now is both she and I anticipate the stress at the ramp before we get there!

Man you are preaching to the choir.... two years ago when I bought my toon, I had the very same issues. As much as I enjoyed taking the boat out on the lake, but like you, I was stressed about loading the boat back onto the trailer even before I got the boat in the water... had many times where it took me 2, 3 and on occasion 4 times to get the boat on the trailer..... got to the point after one particularly bad day trying to load the boat i was ready to chunk it..... but the guys on this board convinced me to hang in there... said it would get better with practice and they were right...... best advice I got from the membership here was "go slow"... don't get in a hurry, and don't worry about the guy waiting behind you..... slow and easy and it will get better.... best thing I ever bought that helped me in loading my boat were some 48" pvc trailer guides...... I just line up the right side of the boat about 2 inches inside the right trailer guide and the boat just glides onto the trailer.... last year, only had 1 time where it took me more than 1 attempt to load, and that was because some guy's wake ( in a no wake zone ) kinda rocked me center just as I approached the trailer.... hang in there, it will get much easier....

Here's a pic of us loading up.... you can see the trailer guide(s) sticking up out of the water..



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Here's a better pic showing one of the guides and how they're mounted to the trailer...



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[bluecollarpilot]

Cool idea Roland

[fiddlebick]

Roland, I can't see your pics on the computer here at work, hopefully I can see them on my own computer when I get home today. Thanks for any and all tips.

[BobL]

I am not advocating drinking and driving but a split a beer with your wife BEFORE you unload the then again BEFORE you load the boat and you will be good to go. Put all this into perspective and dont stress out. Also, I am not advocating profanity but be prepared to flip off any jerks that might be pressuring you during the process. Once you get this down and you are comfortable, always remember to "pay it forward" at the ramp.