www.iFourWinns.com

Why am I spending 90% of my time and 95% of my money dealing with this stupid trailer??? I almost wished there was something wrong with my boat instead...OK, then again, maybe not... (I love my FW boat...hate the freakin trailer)...

Am I the only person needing to completely submerge my entire trailer in the water just so the winch strap hook can fit inbetween the bow rollers? Also, the verticle guide bunks are about 4 feet too short because they don't help guide anything!!! Please tell me someone out there is experiencing these same problems...

Any solutions???

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2008 H220 Frenzy - 5.7L VP SX Drive
2013 Tahoe LTZ Tow Vehicle (admiral's ride)
2011 Ford F150 XLT Ecoboost Tow Vehicle

i have to dunk my trailer in pretty deep also to get my 248 close enough to be able to winch up to the roller. I don't have a FW trailer as I assume you do but from what I have read on this forum it seems some remove the guides as they are more of a nuisance than anything else.

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Walter

2003 248 Vista - VP 5.0 GXi
2009 Toyota Tundra SR5 5.7L 4x4

I actually go the opposite direction and pully my trailer out of the water until the front of the "guides" are just above the water line. It's a bit counter-intuitive, but the angle of the boat to the trailer bunks works better that way. Then I have to power on to the trailer to slide it up to the rollers.

Kind of a hassle, but that's the way it works on mine. Also, I understand that some places don't allow power-loading, so that may be a consideration....

Erik

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2002 Funship 214
VP 5.7 GX Si
2003 Tahoe

We follow a similar practice.

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Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

OK, my boat weighs nearly 4000lbs so using the crank winch to pulley it up is nearly impossible, believe me, I tried it and it wasn't fun. Maybe I could try lubricating the bunks with PAM and try it again? Any other ideas?

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2008 H220 Frenzy - 5.7L VP SX Drive
2013 Tahoe LTZ Tow Vehicle (admiral's ride)
2011 Ford F150 XLT Ecoboost Tow Vehicle

We too leave the most forward guides about 1/2 way out of the water, the carpeted section, not the metal posts. I drive the boat on and within about 6"-12" of being fully on. The wife (118 lbs) cranks the boat (9,000+lbs) on the rest of the way. If we dunked the whole trailer in the water the eye would float right in the middle of the rollers, but we would not be able to keep the boat straight on the trailer until we pulled it out. The way we do it works for us and our ramp, but I have tried it at a different ramp, much more shallow, and worked just as well.

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2005, 268 Vista, Table Rock Lake "Choices II"

Mines only a H190 But I found that if I leave the fenders just out of the water I can cruise right up onto the bunks W/about a foot left to crank, Sometimes I have to power on a little, depends on how fast I approached, other the that it's a breeze for the H190.

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2008 H190 Blue W/Red accents 4.3L Merc
2015 Tacoma Access Cab Super White 4x4 TRD Sport
2014 HD FXDC Black Stage 1 Mods V&H Bolt Ons,Naked VO2 AC & FP3.
2011 Polaris 500HO RED]
Life Long Boston Bruin Fan 2011 Stanley Cup Champs!!
#736

You can get some spray on stuff for your bunks, such as the Slydz-On from Overton's:
http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product ... 09&r=view#

I haven't used it, but it seems that people are happy with it from the reviews.

I use my prop to push the boat up the bunks to get the bow-eye in the correct position. It helps to have a spotter to guide you from a safe distance.

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2002 Funship 214
VP 5.7 GX Si
2003 Tahoe

Search around in historic threads. One of our own came up with a novel solution using a piece attached to the roller assy.

Along the same lines, I only back down until the rear tires of the car in just in the water. The rear/upper guides are completely submerged. I turn the roller assy so it is almost vertical, then power on with the trim up a little. Once it's all lined up, and basically on, I have the GF sit in the back of the boat, and I hop off and winch it the rest. It's actually easier than it sounds, but still a bit of a hassle none the less.
I know backing down further actually makes the problem worse in my case. You could back down to wet the bunks, then pull it back up to the desired level. That should help it slide on a little better!

Hope that helps!

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Walt B
"Debt-Charged"
Black '07 H210SS
6.2L Bravo One turning a 21P HIFive
Wakeboard Tower with Perfect Pass Stargazer version
Missouri River; Kansas City, Mo.

+1 Exact same for loading the 180. Smooth as silk loading her.

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Rob
2007 Four Winns 180 Horizon

OUr ramp does not allow "power loading" so I get my trailer in so the water is just about trailer wheel wells. Pull it up on the bunks by hand and then winch it the rest of the way. Actually pulls on pretty easy if the trailer is deep enough in the water.

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1998 Baja Boss 252 7.4L MPI Bravo 1 (SOLD)
2007 FW H200SS 5.0GXI (Sold)
2004 Chevy Silverado 2500 Crew 6.0L (tow vehicle)
1991 FW 170 Freedom 4.3L (SOLD)

I struggled with this double roller / bow-eye dilema the first few times myself. I tightened up the center bolt that holds the double roller on the post so that it didn't flop up and down, it stays in whatever position I put it in which seemed to be the key. Here's what we do now and it works very good for us.

- Spray PAM (we use cheap Wal-mart brand) on the bunks primarily on the front sections of the bunks. We do this every 3rd retrievales.
- Position the double roller in the most vertical position it will go. This keeps the bow-eye from going under the lower roller.
- Back the trailer all the way in so the bunks are completely submerged and then put the trailer out unit the top/front part of the fender is about 1" out of the water.
- The wife eases the boat between the bunks and I attach winch strap to the bow-eye. She turns the motor off, moves to the back of the boat and I winch it up. We have a two speed or a two gear winch so I use the fast gear most of the way and then switch to the lower gear to bring it home.

We haven't had to power up since we started loading the boat this way. Someone (Mike) adviced me to be patient and I would figure out what works best. It was good advice and it didn't take long to get a routine down that wasn't frustrating.

Thanks 230HMerc! Excellent advice and it makes perfect sense! I'll give it try this weekend then let you know how it goes!

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2008 H220 Frenzy - 5.7L VP SX Drive
2013 Tahoe LTZ Tow Vehicle (admiral's ride)
2011 Ford F150 XLT Ecoboost Tow Vehicle

Put me in the power loader group...

+1 on moving the rollers so they are as vertical as possible. This eliminates a ton of problems. They should almost look like this -> 8 That way the bow eyelet gets over top.

I put my trailer in till the fenders are just submerged...line up boat and drive it on most of the way....once the gentle glide stops I check with wife that it's straight...once that's good I start powering it on(the last 6 inches or so)...once it's up on the rollers I hold it in place while wife attaches and tightens the winch strap.

Do that roller rotation thing though....small thing that makes a huge difference.

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2005 Horizon 210, 5.7L Volvo

I have powered our old boats on, winched them on, and once backed the trailer in a tad to much, admiral came in a little fast and tried to land in the back of the truck!!!

I quit power loading after seeing what the bunks were doing to the gelcoat. It was ugly! The carpet is more abrasive than you may want to believe.

With the three boats we have owned, never experienced any trouble winching a boat, the winch has two speeds, when you use low, it will pull 10000 lbs very easily.

I am not sure that I understand what you guys are talking about with the double roller. Wife glides boat onto trailer, sometimes we are 1', others 2' from being all the way on. I feed out strap between the rollers and winch it up the rest of the way. The eyelet and strap glide right over the roller, I would never tighten bolt so it can not pivot.
To me, it sounds as if someone is having a difficult time winching a 4000 lbs boat, they are trying to use high speed. A small child could winch our 8000lbs boat.

I agree with above post that says, "be patient and I would figure out what works best. It was good advice and it didn't take long to get a routine down that wasn't frustrating".

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2000 248 5.7L DP
'92, '94 SXI 750, '08 STX 15F, '12 Ultra LX 300
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