My 24 ft I/O cuddy weighs almost as much and has the same issues
although I don't store it on the trailer most of the time. It's my
sense of things that if you have access to a good deep water ramp, a
winch is not really needed. The key is backing the trailer to exactly
the right depth. My technique is to first back the trailer to a depth
where the boat will stay put on the bunks and allow the bow cable to
be attached. If you then back a little deeper, the boat should winch
on with almost no effort. You can put depth markers on your guide
tubes to show both levels although this will vary somewhat depending
on ramp steepness.
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On Thu, 01 Jul 2004 07:45:50 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote:
Yesterday, just for the hell of it, I did a solo launch and retrieval of
our Parker 25. The launch was easy, as I was using a deep ramp. The boat
just floated free of the trailer, so I tied it off and parked the tow
vehicle and trailer.

The retrieval was more complicated, but I was able to do it. I'm
wondering, though, whether it would be simpler to buy and install an
electric trailer winch with the capacity to pull the boat up into
position on the trailer. It's a bunk trailer, and, simply by tugging
hard on a line attached to the bow deck chock, I can get the boat pretty
much up on the trailer. I winch it up the remaining two feet using a
hand winch, and, while I can do it, it takes considerable effort. The
winch is sized properly for the boat...but it is a large, heavy boat.

Installing an electric winch on my trailer is not difficult. Where do
you put the battery, though? And...how long do these electric winches
last? I always see guys at the boat ramp struggling with "dead" electric
winches...do they burn out in a hurry? Does rain shorten their lives?

Advice? Brand recommendation? We're talking a 3-1/2 ton boat/motor/fuel
and gear load here, I'd guess.