'Powering up' to get your boat on the trailer wreaks havoc with the
launch ramp. The boat should be put on the trailer without using the
engine. Using the winch is good exercise anyway.
--

Obviously, you've never had to put a 12,000 pound cruiser on a trailer. In
that case, the winch is there merely to take up any slack in the bow strap.
You certainly don't drag the boat across the bunks using the silly winch.
Ain't gonna happen. And if you've got the trailer deep enough in the water
to float the boat all the way on to the trailer, then you've got other
problems when you pull the trailer out of the water. The boat will always
settle back away from the bow stop in that situation, and you ain't gonna
winch it back. The only solution is to power the boat to the bow stop with
adequate friction on the bunks due to not submerging the trailer too deep..
At least that's how we do it in the west. I've had various boats in dry
storage at any number of lakes out here, which always involves using their
launch and retrieve service. The marina guy in the truck, me in the boat.
These guys launch boats all day every day, and they know what they're doing.
They call the shots, and without fail, it's always a power-on scenario at
their call

Russ