Trailering Question

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joneya
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Trailering Question

#1 Post by joneya » Mon Jul 13, 2015 7:36 am

As I've mentioned in two previous posts, my husband and I are new to boating/pontooning. We recently acquired a "new to us" 2005 18' Misty Harbor pontoon. We use the boat primarily for fishing. We purchased the boat as a package deal which included a scissors style trailer so we have no choice in going with what we have. As we do not have waterfront property or rent a docking slip, we have to trailer the boat from home to water. We do not have much difficulty launching the boat, but loading it back up again is more than frustrating. I'd like to know the secret, methods and tricks to getting our toon EVENLY on the trailer. The front goes on pretty well, but the back of the boat is always off center by several inches. What are we doing wrong?

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MH Hawker
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Re: Trailering Question

#2 Post by MH Hawker » Mon Jul 13, 2015 7:55 am

nothing its how they load
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mobldj
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Re: Trailering Question

#3 Post by mobldj » Mon Jul 13, 2015 11:13 am

the trick is putting the trailer in the water the right depth so is sets on the bunks properly.the front you say is fine and the back is still floating around back there.use the front tie winch to crank it up alittle rather that float to the front stops.that might help.if not get some trailering guides for the rear sides. hope this helps.
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crookedlaker
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Re: Trailering Question

#4 Post by crookedlaker » Mon Jul 13, 2015 11:30 am

On a scissor trailer there are no bunks
it is acceptable for the boat to be off center a little bit
i just back in deep, drive boat up to front, tie off front and pull out slowly, depending on your ramp you may have to lower the
trailer but on the ramp i use i do not even have to lower trailer.
make sure you tie the boat down front and back
and go slow on the corners.
some people have problems with this type of trailer because of the narrow wheel track
go slow on corners and tie down and you will be good.
if you are towing long distance you may want to think about buying a bunk trailer.

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garygve
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Re: Trailering Question

#5 Post by garygve » Fri Jul 17, 2015 5:56 pm

On my trailer I added square tubing from the lower rear side rail of the trailer out to the sides and then welded tubing upright about 6 feet and put some PVC pipe over them so it wouldn't scratch the pontoons. I welded the next size bigger box tubing on the side rail of the trailer with a set bolt that I can tighten to adjust the width of the uprights or remove them easily if I want. I had the same problem centering the pontoon and that corrected it.
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ron nh
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Re: Trailering Question

#6 Post by ron nh » Sat Jul 18, 2015 12:41 pm

Almost everyone goes to deep. Every time I'm out with friends I go thru the same thing, leads to the same conversation. Also if you go to shallow simply hitch the winch and drag it up. will be straight every time. quick edit, people please stop power loading all the none concrete ramps are shit now.
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Littlehoe
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Re: Trailering Question

#7 Post by Littlehoe » Tue Jul 21, 2015 7:45 pm

I power load, its a bunk trailer, I put it in deep enough that the water is about at the half way mark on the fenders kinda like where it would split the two axles, then I get the nose in place and throttle and steer to get the back where it needs to be, hook up the straps and away we go.
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BobG
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Re: Trailering Question

#8 Post by BobG » Wed Jul 22, 2015 6:59 am

Littlehoe wrote:I power load,
Power Loading is actually illegal in many places. I back the trailer in far enough that if I want to, I can just walk it onto the trailer with the docking line.
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RobZ71LM7
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Re: Trailering Question

#9 Post by RobZ71LM7 » Wed Jul 22, 2015 7:54 am

Depends a lot on your ramp. Our ramps are steep and almost everyone power loads. If you back in far enough that you don't need to power load the back end is so far off the trailer it will never fall into the right position. Basically the angle is very steep.


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