On 6 Nov 2003 22:58:23 -0600, noah wrote:

On Mon, 3 Nov 2003 21:56:40 -0500, "tcoop" wrote:


I put my used pontoon in the water for the first time, this past weekend.
http://www.coopscorner.com/pontoon/pontoon.htm I am very new to boating and
would like some advice on my pontoon boat. As I said it is used, but it ran
good and it pulled well behind my Chevy truck.
I have what I think is a float on trailer and I was wondering about the PVC
guides. http://coopscorner.com/takealook/pontoon_trailer.htm
I was wondering if someone could take a look at the pictures and see if you
can tell if the guides are in the correct position..
Any tips on getting it on and off the trailer would be appreciated also. I
was able to get it back on the trailer, but I had to get in the water a
little further than I thought I should have. My truck was back to where the
exhaust and half the tires were underwater, which was ok, which was ok, but
I still had to wade out a little, which I didn't think should have been
necessary. Well maybe it want be necessary when I learn what I am doing. Any
advice and help is very much appreciated.
tcoop
Lake Wylie SC


Your setup looks good. It "might" be helpful if you added guides to
the outside of the tubes, where you can see them while loading, but
it's not necessary.

The one mistake I see most often at the launch, one that I have done
myself, is to dunk the trailer too deep if you don't have a "drive on"
rig. It's better (in my experience) to crank the boat onto the
trailer, rather than mess around, trying to get it to float above the
bunks correctly.

My pontoon trailer has rollers instead of bunks, and it's a nightmare
to "nest it" if I'm in too deep. I'd rather wet the tail-end of the
trailer, and crank it up. I hope to install bunks this Spring.

I learned this with my first "real boat", a fiberglass tri-hull. If I
tried to float it on, it was misery. Especially in the wind, or in a
river cross-current. If I dunked the tail of the trailer, and worked
the crank, it lined up every time.

For those of you that own "drive-ons", I know that this does not apply
to you.

Happy boating.
Regards,
noah

I'm certainly no expert, but what really helped me was to install two large
plastic guide tubes at the widest part of the boat as it sits on the
trailer. (Boat is an 18.5' runabout). The tubes are springy and flexible
and the trailer has bunks. Even with the trailer low, you can guide the
bow ring up to the winch and the guide-ons keep the boat centered as you
drive up the ramp, allowing it to settle perfectly on the trailer.
--

Larry
email is rapp at lmr dot com