nylon strap thru bow-eye or hook?

[bajaman123]

Okay, this may be a stupid question but I've seen people winch their PWCs down two ways. One is to attach a small section of nylon strap thru the bow eye and then the winch hook to the strap, the other is to simply hook the winch hook to the bow eye.

On mine, the RX has the nylon loop thru the eye and hooked to the strap, and the GTI is hooked. The hook on the GTI takes up all the room available and doesn't allow the safety chain to be attached. (They were this way when I bought them, I need to replace both straps).

The small bow eye just doesn't seem to be designed to accept a normal winch hook.

What do most of the forum members do?

Thanks!

 

[Coastiejoe]

In most cases, you will want to use the nylon strap. This allows for room for the safety chain and will not harm the gelcoat where the hook can/may.

I had a pair of Polaris Skis that had HUGE bow eyes and I was able to use the winch hook and not harm my skis. With my Seadoo's, the hook is not an option.

The only thing I would suggest is to take the twists out of the strap as a flat strap handle a load better than a twisted strap.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Yep, you need to use a safety chain despite we never had them in the "old days" those are a great idea. Basically, these devices need to be sturdy to keep the boat on the trailer in the event of some kind of incident, that thing will shatter and shred pieces all over the place if it comes off. Tie down the stern well too, it's really ugly when a boat comes off the trailer.

 

[racerxxx]

You can get a strap with a loop all in one. You put the loop thru the bow eye and hook it back to the hook. As far as a safety chain on a pwc, never seen one. Just ratchet it up tight and strap the back down.




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[racerxxx]

Oh, I have the one I pictured on one trailer, the other I just use the metal hook thru the bow eye, it's tight but it just makes it. Then I just use straps on the back. I've done it that way on pwc from when I got into them 20 years ago. My double place trailer actually has two flip levers that are required to flip before the spool will free wheel. My boat, that has the hook and a safety chain. I know several guys who don't strap the back of their skis down. They're comfortable with that, I'm not.

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[bajaman123]

Thanks, guys.
Yeah, I can't imagine not having the back securely tied down. Having been boating for 35+ years now, I've seen a lot of "YouTube worthy" incidences around lakes. Not too many years ago, at one of the smaller local lakes I used to go to, there was an accident at the entrance to the lake, basically a guy towing a boat wasn't paying attention and didn't see the line of cars queued up at the ranger station until it was too late, slammed on the brakes and his small fishing boat literally catapulted off the trailer and landed beside his truck, still attached to the winch.

I'm going to pick up a couple of straps like what racerxxx has posted. The winches on my Shoreland'r trailer have safety chains with small hooks to go thru the bow eye...that will work with the strap.

Thanks again!

 

[Spimothy Leary]

can somebody post a picture of the safety chain you're talking about?

 

[Coastiejoe]

Here are mine. I had a local hardware store custom build them with swedge collars. They are stainless cable that is plastic coated.




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[bajaman123]

Nothing fancy on mine, I suppose the previous owner did this as added precaution.

 

[Coastiejoe]

And this is why we use rear tie downs and a safety chain,,,

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Yep, just last year a guy unfortunately didn't tie the stern of his $$$$ bass boat down near here and going around the sharp corner maybe 50mph one wheel of the trailer dropped off into the ditch. His boat of course bounced up off the side of his trailer and was smashed to smithereens, shards of fiberglass all over the road and the hull was totally destroyed.

He learned the hard way, it's definitely worth taking the few extra minutes tying down correctly vs the headache of dealing with that big mess.

 

[bajaman123]

And this is why we use rear tie downs and a safety chain,,,

View attachment 29805

That...isn't going to buff out...

 

[Spimothy Leary]

Thanks for the Pics. I Had Never Seen those.

 

[racerxxx]

Nothing fancy on mine, I suppose the previous owner did this as added precaution.

Becareful with those straps I recommended with your shore landr. You might not have enough room with the length of the strap. I have the same trailer in galvanize. My hooks fit the seadoo bow eye, but you must put them on before you final winch them to the stop.

 

[bajaman123]

Becareful with those straps I recommended with your shore landr. You might not have enough room with the length of the strap. I have the same trailer in galvanize. My hooks fit the seadoo bow eye, but you must put them on before you final winch them to the stop.

Thanks, racerxxx...I appreciate the info.

 

[Seadoobob2]

Just bought my seadoos, so I don't have a lot of road time yet. That said, however, the safety chains pictured seem to have a lot of slack in them. If they're ever needed, I think the pwc's will not be well secured to the trailer to prevent significant damage. Instead, what about a tie-down strap that goes over the seat and the trailer beds instead (cinched down fairly tight)? It would seem to be a more secure safety net.

 

[bajaman123]

I am seriously thinking about changing out the 3.5" roller tips to a 5" or even 8" (Carolina skiff) version. The additional stand-off would allow much more room for the strap or hook, whilst allowing the machine to be secure against the roller post...

The 2000 RX is a breeze as the bow-eye is mounted fairly low on the hull. The '97 GTI on the other hand...the damned bow eye is nearly at the level of the rub rail!

Seadoobob2...the safety chains I have only allow about 2" of movement before they cinch up...but I kind of like the idea of the additional strap you mention. I'll be towing a lot of Interstate at 75 - 85 mph and in heavy traffic so... the more secure, the better.

 

[Coastiejoe]

Just bought my seadoos, so I don't have a lot of road time yet. That said, however, the safety chains pictured seem to have a lot of slack in them. If they're ever needed, I think the pwc's will not be well secured to the trailer to prevent significant damage. Instead, what about a tie-down strap that goes over the seat and the trailer beds instead (cinched down fairly tight)? It would seem to be a more secure safety net.

You will destroy your seat and seats are NOT cheap....

The safety chain is exactly that, for safety. If all your other ties downs are in good shape, you will never need the safety chain. If you still want to run a strap over the top, avoid the seat area.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

If the bow safety chain is too long perhaps you can shorten it? Even fastening a bolt through a couple of links is possible if the chain cannot be shortened, or you can simply twist the chain to make it shorter.

I agree there's a good chance of damaging the seat if you place straps over it, I think I've seen this damage before but my memory's a little foggy.

Every owner's manual contains a section describing how best a boat should be tied to the trailer, and there are numerous helpful articles written on the subject of properly fitting and adjusting the trailer to fit the boat as well.

http://www.boatus.com/boattech/articles/tiedowns.asp

 

[Seadoobob2]

Thanks for the comments. Clearly I need to think about some sort of protection for the seat - or alternative location. Just thought that securing the craft to the trailer beds was be more likely to keep it from moving if the bow/stern lines failed than a bow chain/line if there was slack in them. I wonder if a microfiber pad under the strap would be sufficient to protect the seat under normal trailering situations. Any thoughts?

 

[Coastiejoe]

I wonder if a microfiber pad under the strap would be sufficient to protect the seat under normal trailering situations. Any thoughts?

I do not believe so.. You will still have to crush the seat foam in order to gain the advantage that you are after. This means you would have to crank it down to where it stops. If not,,, then what is the sense in doing it as it would allow the ski to travel upward as the cushion would give.

I have towed for THOUSANDS of miles. I use the front winch strap and a strap in the rear that goes from the outside edge, up through the two tow U-bolts on the ski, then to the rear middle of the trailer. I had my safety cables custom build out of stainless cable that is coated and had them put swedge crips. So no clamps or nuts and bolts to rust to be sharp.

If you want to go up and over, maybe there is room behind the seat. But back that far, you might as well use the rear ties downs to do the same thing.

 

[racerxxx]

Thanks for the comments. Clearly I need to think about some sort of protection for the seat - or alternative location. Just thought that securing the craft to the trailer beds was be more likely to keep it from moving if the bow/stern lines failed than a bow chain/line if there was slack in them. I wonder if a microfiber pad under the strap would be sufficient to protect the seat under normal trailering situations. Any thoughts?

There is a hook on the back of the ski, run a cam buckle strap and call it a day. No need to worry about the seat, as long as it's latched on you're good to go. I've never lost one.

 

[Coastiejoe]

I have three potential hooks on the back of my skis. I use the two out and winch it down tight. This prevent is from Pivoting. If you use just the center, it can pivot in theory. If you use the outer loops, it will help to eliminate the potential of it pivoting. That said,, even if you just use the center, it is MUCH better than not tying it down. Because even if it does pivot, it will still be on the trailer...

 

[racerxxx]

All early skis only have one on the center. An inverted V is perfect, no pivoting.

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[Seadoobob2]

Thanks for all the comments. Guess I was over thinking the problem. Inverted V in the rear sounds good for my machines. May have to look into cable for the front. Regards.