Sportster Trailering issues (Old boater, new to Sportster)

[ple999]

With this factory trailer, it must be nearly submerged, or the nose of the boat floats below the bow roller. I must wade into water above my knees to crank the winch. Not easy on a slippery ramp. Has anyone raised the front end of the bunks a few inches? Or, lowered the winch and moved it aft so the bow roller is UNDER the bow eye?

Should I cover the bunks with those plastic "slicks" and get an electric winch?

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[JPass]

Post some pics of the boat on the trailer. I typically have a few inches of water above our fenders and about 12" of bunks (leading edges) out of the water when loading our 210. I'm usually about knee deep when cranking her up, but I'm short. Lol

 

[ple999]

Post some pics of the boat on the trailer. I typically have a few inches of water above our fenders and about 12" of bunks (leading edges) out of the water when loading our 210. I'm usually about knee deep when cranking her up, but I'm short. Lol

This is the 15 foot, 215hp. It's like the nose drops between the bunks, unless you get the trailer in pretty deep. Once it cranked up tight, it sits on the bunks correctly. Maybe it needs another center support farther forward. When offloading, as the stern starts floating, the nose drops off the bow roller, and down to the water

 

[JPass]

This is the 15 foot, 215hp. It's like the nose drops between the bunks, unless you get the trailer in pretty deep. Once it cranked up tight, it sits on the bunks correctly. Maybe it needs another center support farther forward. When offloading, as the stern starts floating, the nose drops off the bow roller, and down to the water

I understood you just fine that yours is the smaller boat. I was simply stating how far I drop mine to place the boat back on the trailer.

Post some pics, so we can see where everything sits on your trailer.

 

[ple999]

Maybe longer bunks would do it

 

[JPass]

Your set-up looks OEM. I guess you could try moving the front mount a bit to see if you can make things a bit easier for you.

Hard to tell by your pics, but maybe you could drop the winch a little lower to catch the bow sooner? You'll just need to be aware of how close the keel gets to the one cross-member when doing so as you may not have much clearance.

 

[ple999]

I hit on the idea of reducing the angle of the trailer to the water by inverting the drawbar. This lowered the ball by 5". However it only lowered the bow roller by 3". I need twice that.

 

[ple999]

Well, this idea won't work: The bow eye is 17 inches above the bunks. Raising the bow eye by 8 inches means raising the front bunk mounts by more than a foot.

 

[LionOnABeach]

You might be putting the trailer too far in the water. I had the same problem as you, but then came up with a better system of launching and retrieving. I put the trailer in just deep enough so that the top of the tires are at the water line. I put the boat on and give it a quick goose of the throttle to get it up on bunks and the nose is about 1-2 feet from roller/winch arm. I put the hook on the bow eye and winch it until the bow is just below the roller (so that when the nose of the boat goes up, it won’t hit it). Jump in the truck and pull forward about 5 feet. The nose kicks up as the stern settles into the trailers. I jump out and winch the last 1-2 feet, everything is right and pull out. I’ve gotten pretty good so the whole thing takes a minute or two.
I’m going to try and experiment with going shallower next season when I can have some time at the launch and not be in anybody’s way.
YMMV

 

[JPass]

You might be putting the trailer too far in the water. I had the same problem as you, but then came up with a better system of launching and retrieving. I put the trailer in just deep enough so that the top of the tires are at the water line. I put the boat on and give it a quick goose of the throttle to get it up on bunks and the nose is about 1-2 feet from roller/winch arm. I put the hook on the bow eye and winch it until the bow is just below the roller (so that when the nose of the boat goes up, it won’t hit it). Jump in the truck and pull forward about 5 feet. The nose kicks up as the stern settles into the trailers. I jump out and winch the last 1-2 feet, everything is right and pull out. I’ve gotten pretty good so the whole thing takes a minute or two.
I’m going to try and experiment with going shallower next season when I can have some time at the launch and not be in anybody’s way.
YMMV

I mentioned this earlier as I do something similar. Most of the time it's just an adjustment with how far you dunk the trailer.

His best bet would be to try adjusting how far he dunks the trailer to find the sweet spot. It's free as well.

Maybe someone with a Sportster/Speedster can chime in to help the OP out.

 

[JPass]

You might be putting the trailer too far in the water. I had the same problem as you, but then came up with a better system of launching and retrieving. I put the trailer in just deep enough so that the top of the tires are at the water line. I put the boat on and give it a quick goose of the throttle to get it up on bunks and the nose is about 1-2 feet from roller/winch arm. I put the hook on the bow eye and winch it until the bow is just below the roller (so that when the nose of the boat goes up, it won’t hit it). Jump in the truck and pull forward about 5 feet. The nose kicks up as the stern settles into the trailers. I jump out and winch the last 1-2 feet, everything is right and pull out. I’ve gotten pretty good so the whole thing takes a minute or two.
I’m going to try and experiment with going shallower next season when I can have some time at the launch and not be in anybody’s way.
YMMV

I mentioned this earlier as I do something similar. Most of the time it's just an adjustment with how far you dunk the trailer.

His best bet would be to try adjusting how far he dunks the trailer to find the sweet spot. It's free as well.

Maybe someone with a Sportster/Speedster can chime in to help the OP out.

 

[rldavis]

Mine is dependent on which ramp I use (Grade) . Some ramps I glide in just fine with tires at top of water and some I have to winch quite a ways to get it to ride on the bow rollers just right. I use a ramp in Florida where the nose wants to go under the rollers..... I guess as Jpass said you have to find a sweat spot for your trailer/boat and ramp you are using at the time.

 

[John Pfennig]

With this factory trailer, it must be nearly submerged, or the nose of the boat floats below the bow roller. I must wade into water above my knees to crank the winch. Not easy on a slippery ramp. Has anyone raised the front end of the bunks a few inches? Or, lowered the winch and moved it aft so the bow roller is UNDER the bow eye?

Should I cover the bunks with those plastic "slicks" and get an electric winch?

Any ideas?

Thanks

I too have that problem with my 20004 Sportster. If you find a trailer hitch drawbar that will lower the ball height that will help. Also I back the boat in far enough to cover the fenders. I have trailer guides at the rear of the trailer which helps to keep the boat centered. If the boat continues to float below the bow roller try backing the boat in deeper or experiment with another hitch drawbar. I occasionally still have this problem depending on the boat ramp. Good luck.

 

[ple999]

Thanks, but I already tried that: I inverted the drawbar (see pictures above), but lowering the ball 5 inches only lowered the bow by 3 inches.

 

[Flightjunkie]

Thanks, but I already tried that: I inverted the drawbar (see pictures above), but lowering the ball 5 inches only lowered the bow by 3 inches.

Hi.

The problem is you are backing the trailer too far into the water. The back of the boat floats causing the bow to be below the roller. I boat in salt water so I always stop the truck before the trucks rear tires touch the water. Sometimes the trailer is still too deep.

If the boat bow is below the roller, push the boat back about 6" from the roller, hook up the strap and take up the slack, then get in your truck and pull forward untill the transom of the boat is no longer floating and is sitting on the trailer. Now the bow will be up. Use the hand crank to crank the boat the rest of the way into he trailer.

Hope this helps.