Thank goodness for safety chains

[M R Dux]

I took a buddy and a friend of his out trolling Bandits on KY Lake this morning. I had hooked up my trailer to the truck well before daylight and thought I hooked everything up properly. We had a decent morning and went to load the boat back onto the trailer on a ramp that was pretty flat due to the lake being at winter pool. My buddy backed it down and I lined the boat up and showered down on the 75HP Yamaha to make sure I got the boat all the way up against the winch.

When the bow hit the roller at the winch, something big time abnormal happened and since I was in the drivers seat of the boat, I couldn't tell what. It seemed something collapsed at the front and my buddy's friend started waving his arms for me to shut the motor down. I walked up to the bow and the trailer tongue was on the concrete ramp with the safety chains the only thing keeping the whole rig from rolling back down the ramp.

Seems when I hit the winch roller, it was hard enough to jump the hitch off the trailer ball. Obviously I had failed to lock the hitch down on the ball when I hooked it up and we had trailered several miles from my house to the lake with no incident. We had to lift the trailer up so we could get the dolly wheel under it then use the chains and truck to pull it out of the water so we could scotch a wheel and hook it back to the trailer ball. It was pretty much a normal hook-up once we got the trailer scotched. Nothing was damaged but I considered myself lucky I had some help with me and that the trailer had been stopped by the chains. I've had to use a wrecker to get one truck and trailer out of KY Lake and am glad I didn't have to again.

You can bet I will be checking all connections better the next time.

[Rsw]

Wow! Glad you and your equipment are unharmed.

[eric 3501]

, No really. Glad equipment and friends were unharmed. Could have turned real nasty fast.....

[Superx10]

I think I would've backed the boat off and reset the trailer.

Good thing nothing was damaged.

[shipahoy41]

Thank God for the chains. Stuff happens and when it does you just have to remain cool and not panic.

[popper]

are you sure that's what happened or did some one try to steal your trailer and got scared off before getting it unhooked all the way , had that done to me so I keep a lock on it now

[CrappiePappy]

are you sure that's what happened or did some one try to steal your trailer and got scared off before getting it unhooked all the way , had that done to me so I keep a lock on it now

That thought went through my mind, as well, when I first read the post. I keep my hitch locked, when the trailer is attached to my vehicle. Unfortunately ... thieves no longer attempt to cut the locks off, when they want to steal a trailer. They just unscrew the hitch ball & reattach it to their vehicle ... and worry about removing any lock, later. Welding the nut to the hitch ball bolt seems to be the best deterrent for those thieves (plus a lock on the hitch lever).

... cp

[M R Dux]

Many times we do things in auto-drive and really don't think about or even remember that we did them (maybe that's just me). I absolutely don't remember latching it down. We launched at a friend of mine's resort where I feel 100% safe leaving my truck unlocked. I normally don't lock my trailer when I launch there but do everywhere else. I'm going to have to lay the blame at my feet on this one.

[popper]

lol ya it happens when we get old , but a lock is one more step to get into it might help not doing it again

[ifish]

When I bought my new Ranger in Clarksville,Tn. I drove to Grand Rivers and backed it under the shed and to my amassment the ball was unlatched. 100 miles. I was shocked it made it. Launched the boat on its maiden voyage and I road around a couple hours and wondered why the boat seemed sluggish. Well the dad burn plug was out. Same day!! I am glad Rangers are heavy and will not sink!! I now have a flag like airplanes I tie around my steps for the plug and I use a trailer lock. Keeps me honest and safe!!