Boating loading crooked on trailer

[1shooter]

Originally Posted by REW

Congratulations,
I am glad that your problem is solved.
REW

I cant tell you how many times at the boat landing I had to get wet pushing the boat one way while someone cranked the boat up.

[Catch'nRelease]

Originally Posted by 1shooter

I cant tell you how many times at the boat landing I had to get wet pushing the boat one way while someone cranked the boat up.

Same here...my boat seems to load level only when I add weight to the port side (either by hanging on it or sitting in the boat on that side) while someone else is doing the cranking. If I'm by myself it's next to impossible to get it to load straight, even if I purposely add weight (anchors, tackle, coolers, etc.) to the port side. The main issue, I think, is that all three batteries, plus the livewells, when full, add more weight to starboard than port.

[KRAMER2000]

A friend of mine had the same problem. He handled it by loading the boat and pulling it out of the water, then he straped it down on the low side and backed it back into the water. The tension on the strap pulled the boat back to level as he pulled it out again. Worked like a charm. Hope this helps.

[Catch'nRelease]

Originally Posted by KRAMER2000

A friend of mine had the same problem. He handled it by loading the boat and pulling it out of the water, then he straped it down on the low side and backed it back into the water. The tension on the strap pulled the boat back to level as he pulled it out again. Worked like a charm. Hope this helps.

Sounds promising...but wouldn't strapping down the low side keep that side low when really what you want is that side to rise a little higher when backing it back in?

[KRAMER2000]

That is why you strap it on the low side, so the strap pull it up.

[Hot Runr Guy]

Originally Posted by KRAMER2000

That is why you strap it on the low side, so the strap pull it up.

HUH? I'm confused too. How does strapping it down on the "low" side pull it up to level????

HRG

[perchjerker]

Originally Posted by Hot Runr Guy

HUH? I'm confused too. How does strapping it down on the "low" side pull it up to level????

HRG

boy those nice fenders arent doing him any good lol

[Waterboy12]

Originally Posted by KRAMER2000

A friend of mine had the same problem. He handled it by loading the boat and pulling it out of the water, then he straped it down on the low side and backed it back into the water. The tension on the strap pulled the boat back to level as he pulled it out again. Worked like a charm. Hope this helps.

With a season ticket at an unlevel ramp, I have been trying to find an easy solution to this all summer long. I tried Kramer's friend's idea yesterday, thinking the strap might pull the boat to the center. It had no effect. The boat just wants to go to the portside trailer guide.

I then backed in again to the point where the boat was floating, and had the wife stick a life jacket between the boat and the portside trailer guide. That worked fine.

I'm now going to cover a 2X4 with carpet, and rig it so I can hang it from the trailer guide when pulling out at uneven launches and launches with currents. That'll get it close enough to where it should slide into place at the first bump on the way off the ramp. Necessity is the mother of invention, they say.

[GBS]

Have followed all the threads for years about crooked loading with a roller trailer. Mine would, although not terribly. Just enough to irritate me. Tried the loading usuals - not going in too deep with the trailer, using the ramp that was the most level, etc. FINALLY took a tape measure, wrench, and rubber mallet with me to the ramp this summer. It was a slow day. After unloading, before going out fishing, I measured from the outside center of the roller arms perpendicular to the frame (easy on mine, I just followed the frame member to the outer edge). There really is nothing else to adjust on this particular brand. One roller assembly was in exactly 24" from the frame outer edge. The other was 24 3/16". Loosened the U-bolts a bit, and used the mallet to tap the assembly out until it was exactly 24" like the other. Tightened everything down. It took only minutes.
Boat now goes perfectly straight every time! Straight on the ramps where there is a significant side tilt of the trailer to the right or left. Straight even on the St. Croix river, where the current is pushing the back end while I winch the front, it now goes on straight. Amazing what a little bit of being out of alignment will do.
Still have to not go too deep, or the boat floats over the rollers, leading to it settling down crooked when pulled out, but that is operator error and not a mechanical issue!