Less friction on trailer bunks?

[pmoomba]

My local ramp is a little too short for me to back in deep enough to make loading the boat without power pretty difficult. It's nigh impossible to just hand winch it, and I need quite a bit more power to get up than is comfortable. If I go in too deep there's a big drop off on one side where the trailer will become unlevel (to the point of risking being bent), so I can't really get any deeper. Anyone with a similar length boat or longer has similar issues, so everyone loads under a good amount of power which just makes the drop off worse over time.

I'd prefer not to load under power if I can help it, or at least significantly less power than is currently required. Anyone have experience on what might be a good option?

I've heard of and seen some posts about Liquid Rollers. It's supposed to work great (and would of course never go up or down the ramp while unhooked). Is a winch + boat buddy clip going to be safe bringing the boat up/down the ramp with slicker bunks? (06 obv, ~3k lbs dry/empty) Has anyone used it and had or not had any issues?

Or does anyone have experience with other options? Googling/searching brings up a few ideas from dish soap, lemon pledge, wd-40, armor all (or any other number of household lubricants), ez slide pads/slick sticks, etc. I need to do something but looking for some feedback on what will be both successful and safe. For the sake of discussion let's assume it's the only ramp in town :P

[pmoomba]

Oops meant service/repair and don't see an option to delete.

[Mikes]

We had the same problem years ago,we finally just filled the hole with big rocks then smaller rocks in the gaps. I know it sounds crazy but if you take the time to do it right it works very well.

[pmoomba]

I was talking to one of the other guys that use the ramp this weekend and they mentioned maybe trying something similar in the past and it was washed away (it's a river), or maybe someone just thought they'd wash away so they didn't try. I'll see if I can bring it up again though, but still looking for some other options just in case.

[mmandley]

We do a combo power on and winching. I hate to power the boat all the way to the stop and i have broke straps trying to muscle it up with just the winch.

We run the boat up about half way on the trailer under power. Then i connect the winch and while my driver gives it light throttle i winch it up. This splits the power and force needed and i find it works really well.

I would caution putting rolling bunks on the boat as the shear weight of the boat might cause damage to the rollers or hull. Id think SC choose the best option for a reason.

The household lubricants are decent choices for use if you go out every day but as soon as they dry they arnt going to work.

[pmoomba]

I would caution putting rolling bunks on the boat as the shear weight of the boat might cause damage to the rollers or hull. Id think SC choose the best option for a reason.

Yeah I wasn't thinking putting rollers on, liquid rollers (ie : http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...4&ci_sku=15045 ). Supposed to work great, only concern would be that they become so slick as to cause other issues like extra stress on winch/boat buddy clip since the bunks don't have the friction they used to. Maybe something that dries off would be better and just apply it before each loading.

[Hoopskier]

Here is a video of Liquid Rollers in action. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTNe5...eature=related I used to have the same jet ski and that ski around 900lbs.

If you were to use this product; I would not unstrap the boat PRIOR to going down the ramp. Don't want the boat sliding off the trailer onto the ramp. I wouldn't foresee any problems with winch holding the boat on. If concerned about being to slippry, just do half of the bunk board instead of all of them.

When I load my boat, I have to use some power. In fact since I do it by myself I have to leave the boat in gear with some power, then jump out to winch. I don't use liquid rollers, but I do back the trailer in deep then pull it back out to where I need it. That what the bunks are wet. Since it sounds like your ramp is short, maybe use a bucket, fill with lake water to wet the bunk boards, if they are dry.

[mmandley]

Thats pretty slick stuff Hoop

Im lucky we have very long ramps here in the NW where i go and i never go alone so i always have someone to drive the rig or drive the boat.

[zabooda]

You may want to try the plastic covers that go on the bunks. Our dive rescue boat had the plastic bunks but the boat slide off twice coming out of the water so we put carpet down. You should be able to slide it on in shallower water but remember to secure it before taking off.

[Hoopskier]

Also wanted to add, that depending on the angle of your ramp, a different height of hitch may help. I found that for me, getting the front (nose) of the trailer down lower, helped with loading/unloading as well. It helps getting the bow to float in the water sooner, rather then just the back.

So instead of my trailer sitting perfectly level with the tow vehilce, is actually slightly down. I'm not talking crazy low here either, like 8", just an inch or 2 depending on what you have now.