My 22 angler sits on a roller EZ loader. There is a double roller bow stop, an electric winch, a short safety chain, 4' side centering guides, a 2" rear ratcheting hold down strap that goes over the rear end and two rear tow eye ratchet straps that hold the boat forward on the trailer.
Wednesday on the way down from a mountain lake I hit a pothole and the boat bounced and almost felt as if the trailer was swaying out of control. I regained control and continued on slowly, it still felt awkward so I pulled over at the first safe pull out. The first thing I noticed is that the 2 inch over strap had snapped. I tied it off and proceeded back to the truck. It was only the big black stripes on the side of the boat that alerted me to the fact the front end had jumped up off the bow stop and the entire boat had moved forward almost 30". Going back to the rear, sure enough, the rear rollers were completely off the boat and up under the motors and in the front the safety chain clamp had broken, though the winch cable was in tact.
With a couple shackles and chain I was able to secure it enough to limp back slowly to the lake, refloat the boat and straighten things out enough to be able to get home. Except for a couple fairly significant (but repairable) gel coat gouges and a broken strap and clamp there was not any significant property damage, only aging of the heart.
I think the electric winch wire gave enough slippage in the cable to allow the front to jump off the bow stop.
But the lessons learned from what could have been really ugly are:
1.) If it doesn't feel right, stop as soon as you safely can and do a detailed observation and re-examination until you know the cause.
2.)Have plenty of emergency stuff with you, chain, chocks, cable ties, flares, etc.
Though I dearly love the ease of launching from a roller trailer, I think my next trailer may very well have bunks and maybe a manual winch. In the interim, I will certainly shorten my safety chain , beef up the connectors and put another ratchet strap hold down from the bow eye to the trailer to stop any jumping.
Other suggestions appreciated.
Chris
Wednesday on the way down from a mountain lake I hit a pothole and the boat bounced and almost felt as if the trailer was swaying out of control. I regained control and continued on slowly, it still felt awkward so I pulled over at the first safe pull out. The first thing I noticed is that the 2 inch over strap had snapped. I tied it off and proceeded back to the truck. It was only the big black stripes on the side of the boat that alerted me to the fact the front end had jumped up off the bow stop and the entire boat had moved forward almost 30". Going back to the rear, sure enough, the rear rollers were completely off the boat and up under the motors and in the front the safety chain clamp had broken, though the winch cable was in tact.
With a couple shackles and chain I was able to secure it enough to limp back slowly to the lake, refloat the boat and straighten things out enough to be able to get home. Except for a couple fairly significant (but repairable) gel coat gouges and a broken strap and clamp there was not any significant property damage, only aging of the heart.
I think the electric winch wire gave enough slippage in the cable to allow the front to jump off the bow stop.
But the lessons learned from what could have been really ugly are:
1.) If it doesn't feel right, stop as soon as you safely can and do a detailed observation and re-examination until you know the cause.
2.)Have plenty of emergency stuff with you, chain, chocks, cable ties, flares, etc.
Though I dearly love the ease of launching from a roller trailer, I think my next trailer may very well have bunks and maybe a manual winch. In the interim, I will certainly shorten my safety chain , beef up the connectors and put another ratchet strap hold down from the bow eye to the trailer to stop any jumping.
Other suggestions appreciated.
Chris
