higher or lower

[Dignity]

Currently I drive my boat onto the trailer, it is an Allison Vision 195 with a long shaft 150 Yammy 4 stroke motor, I find that I do need to tilt the motor up to drive it on, not enough and the skeg hits the ramp, too much and the boat points too high in the sky. I have it pretty well sussed now but I am about to order the new trailer as the MD has given her blessing and I have 2 options, one is the same height the other is 70 mm lower.

My thought is to go with the lower profile as I think that the bow won't lift as high and generally be easier to drive on, or is my theory totally out of whack and I will suffer more, your own experience in this would be most appreciated.

[Darren Mc]

I wouldn't go the lower one if I were you. I think that would make the situation worse.
Do you use the same ramp most of the time? Some ramp's are different angles and shapes, which can make driving on tricky.
The one at the Manly Yacht club goes down at an angle then flattens off under water towards the bottom.

[Darren Mc]

My reason is if the trailer is 70 mm lower, the skeg will be closer to the ramp and you'll have to tilt it up even higher to miss the ramp. I might be wrong but that's my interpretation. Hope I helped, if not someone will surely give me a roasting soon. lol.

[Dignity]

Darren I generally use either Mooloolaba near the coast guard or the pontoon at the power boat club. My thought was that the approach angle would be lower and even though I needed to still raise the motor the overall effect would be a more even keeled drive on, seems contrary to logic but then again my daughter tells me I am not logical.

[Dignity]

I won't Darren I generally use either Mooloolaba near the coast guard or the pontoon at the power boat club. My thought was that the approach angle would be lower and even though I needed to still raise the motor the overall effect would be a more even keeled drive on, seems contrary to logic but then again my daughter tells me I am not logical.

[Darren Mc]

Would raising the roller's from the back of the trailer to change the angle of approach help at all?

[Dignity]

Darren, it is a rocker cradle, I believe the new ones have 2 positions but raising them would IMHO make the situation worse as it would force the bow into a higher attitude, I am looking at a lower bow attitude.

[Darren Mc]

Oh ok. Out of interest, do you sink the trailer or do you leave it out a bit on retrieval?

[Dignity]

I do have to sink it, but have to be careful as if too far the the cradle doesn't do the job it's meant to do, maybe the height is going to have little impact.

[Darren Mc]

My trailer is a dual axle cradle type job and i sink it until my rear wheels on my triton are about a foot from the waters edge. I then line her up, hit the trailer as soft as i can and just hold her there for a sec. At this point i check to make sure she's straight and make any adjustments with the motor. Then she just drives straight up no problems. I think the cradle is in use a little at the start, but as i drive up to the post and the stern drops a little the cradle then becomes fully involved.
That's how it feels to me anyhow.
Not saying your not sinking the trailer enough , but i know if i don't put mine in as far as i do she does point to the sky a bit and it's not as easy.

[Darren Mc]

I don't know if 70mm would make much difference.

[Dignity]

Darren, same way as you, 70 mm doesn't seem a lot but I suspect it may make a fair bit of difference, as mentioned it will not push the bow up as far, I am thinking of a lever here and I am pretty sure it would be better. I also have a pod which I think makes it worse in some respects.

[russ71]

Darren,
I had the same issue with my trailer, I lowered the rollers forward of the cradle, to where the cradle contacted the beams of the trailer, if you try it you will have to adjust the winch post, I put a jack under the boat and lowered the rollers then dropped the jack to where the cradle contacted the other part of the trailer, so now the boat doesn't to point to the sky when driving on. My trailer is a mackay trailer which is lower than other trailers and my vehicle is at least 2meters from the water when launching/retrieving, I never get my feet wet.

hope this helps

[Lucky_Phill]

Raising the trailer means you'll have to sink it further into the water to achieve the same result you are getting now.

I would just sink the trailer further into the water.

I drive on and off.

I had a Redco Sportsman for many years. I sank it to a stage that the water was covering the top of the rear trailer whels, but not the front ones. Motor tilted up so it just breaks the surface of the water. I come in at the trailer NOT at idle, but a little bit more. The boat goes up about 1/2 to 3/4's of the way, then I give it a little rev and it hits up against the stop roller, hook up and job done.

I am now running a FMS trailer and do pretty much the same thing.

The further you go into the water, the less chance you have of the prop hitting the ramp. But this comes at a cost, as this lends itself to the boat no sitting in the trailer square or even missing a roller.

Practice is what is needed........ take a fews mates down on a quiet day and spend some time figuring it all out.

Also, and you may do this..... I stand in the middle of the boat when driving on...not behind the steering wheel. This gives a much better perspective of the situation.

Good luck


LP

[Dignity]

Thanks Phill, I currently have an old Tinka but was looking at the Redco Sportsman because of it being overall lower. I have tried sinking the trailer further into the drink and as you say the boat can waver enough to cause problems. I found that the closer to the water surface that the prop was the less control I had and did find there was a sweet spot a little lower down but once again depending on the stage of the tide. I did try standing in the middle but found it more difficult so I just got my missus to stand at the wheel while the boat was on the trailer and lined up where I should be which was on the inner edge of the mudguard, since then lining up hasn't been a problem it is the depth of my motor, it seems with the pod it exacerbates the problem and I cant raise it any further, hence my enquiry whether a lower sitting frame and roller set up be better for the occasion. I haven't thought of FMS but will try them in the new year when they are probably back at work, my time is a little limited as the rego runs out on the old trailer on the 23 January which is probably still too short a time for a change over.