Hi friends,

Before I ask this question, yes I know this is a BWCA specific messageboard but thought I would see if this fine group of folks might be able to help with a question about a motor boat.
So not too long ago, after years of canoe fishing in BWCA and around here (Forest Lake area), I bought my first fishing boat. Nothing fancy, just a 16 ft Northwoods with a 25 HP Johnson.

I was able to launch and land successfully but with one quirk- when I was landing, and hooked the line on the crank winch up to the front of the boat (so as to load it without powerloading), and cranked it up, the line was essentially doubling up on itself. Photo attached. It almost looks like the guiding wheel thing is making it do this based on the design. When I got close to securing it, the winch was fighting me because it was getting close to capacity.

Any tips on how to avoid this? Should I try and unspool the whole thing and crank it back in flat? Hoping this is something simple!

Every boat and trailer I've had you pull the boat all the way up to that rubber wheel. The line goes over the top of it and not underneath it. I'd unspool it, crank it back up, hook it up to the boat and continue cranking until the boat touches that rubber wheel.

Aries: "Every boat and trailer I've had you pull the boat all the way up to that rubber wheel. The line goes over the top of it and not underneath it. I'd unspool it, crank it back up, hook it up to the boat and continue cranking until the boat touches that rubber wheel. "

Ah, the line goes over the rubber wheel eh? Thanks! I will unspool and give that a try today.

That's how I've always done it. The line shouldn't twist like that and will probably be easier to crank the boat up too.

Shouldn't that "line" be a flat strap? Looks like a strap folded in half.

bobbernumber3: "Shouldn't that "line" be a flat strap? Looks like a strap folded in half."

Yes, it should be a flat strap! That is the issue. I did go out and unspool it to flatten it out, will see how it goes when I take the boat out tomorrow!

I think having the strap go under the roller is what is causing it to roll up. As stated earlier, the strap goes above the roller and the bow of the boat rests on the roller.

mgraber: " I think having the strap go under the roller is what is causing it to roll up. As stated earlier, the strap goes above the roller and the bow of the boat rests on the roller."

Indeed, good call. Rookie mistake here. Reckon the learning curve has to happen eh? Thank you all for the help!

So long as you have retaining straps on the rear (or you don't have a roller trailer), you can unhook the front bow hook now and unspool the winding strap and then re-crank the strap. As noted before, guide the strap as you crank the handle to be sure the strap remains flat.

The bow must be pulled forward all of the way until the rubber roller stops any further forward movement.

Even when parked on land, that crank will have plenty of power to slide a 16' boat forward on the trailer to seat the roller properly. Make sure to re-tighten your lock-down staps on the boat's transom after pulling the boat forward.

Dave

do you have bunks or rollers? sometimes what causes the strap to do that is if the boat is not centered on the trailer when getting cranked up on a roller trailer. It used to happen a lot with my old roller trailer and 16 ft boat. The boat may straighten itself once it gets cranked further onto the trailer but it may be a little crooked at the start which can cause the strap to bind to one side of the spool.

For every trailer, there is a sweet spot for how deep the trailer should be for loading. Too deep and the back end can get off center which can cause the strap to roll up unevenly on the spool. Uneven boat ramps can also cause the boat to load unevenly on a trailer. This is more of a problem with a roller trailer than bunks.

Ah, very interesting. The trailer is indeed on rollers, so that makes sense. It was a touch off center when I landed it so perhaps that caused the issue along with it being under that bump stop. Next time I will be sure to keep an eye on center and now that it is on top hopefully will be good to go. Thank you all! What a fantastic forum and group of people here!

I think making those 2 changes will help you out big time. Practice a lot in finding the sweet spot for your trailer. After doing it enough times, you will figure out where that sweet spot is. For my old 16 ft boat with a roller trailer, the sweet spot was where the trailer tires had about 2" of tire showing above the water line, but its going to be different for every trailer. Practice and experiment and you will find the sweet spot.