pulling boat/trailer from the water

[Donald]

The truck involved is my Dodge Ram. Yesterday I was trying to move the 24' sport cruiser boat and dual axle trailer from a slight incline in my back yard where it had been all winter. The truck could not pull it, back wheels would spin. I had a friend move it 10 feet with a 3/4 4WD. Now I can pull it where needed. But my question is will I have trouble pulling it out of the water on a ramp? In the past at the boat club we used a large articulating front end loader, but I want to go other places now besides the boat club.

 

[SrDriver]

Yup; you will need a 4 wheel drive vehicle.

 

[Chris142]

The ramps here are cement and grooved to provide traction.still get a few a year that launch the boat,trailer and truck though.I know a guy that sank his 40ft diesel pusher motorhome! Got into the slime and in it went.

Does your truck have a locking rear axle? I will not own a 2wd truck for obvious reasons

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Donald
The truck involved is my Dodge Ram. Yesterday I was trying to move the 24' sport cruiser boat and dual axle trailer from a slight incline in my back yard where it had been all winter. The truck could not pull it, back wheels would spin. I had a friend move it 10 feet with a 3/4 4WD. Now I can pull it where needed. But my question is will I have trouble pulling it out of the water on a ramp? In the past at the boat club we used a large articulating front end loader, but I want to go other places now besides the boat club.



Depending on the slope of the ramp and if it is loaded with slime, yes. Around here if we're pulling the boat out of the water [salt water] w/o 4WD a full high tide is a must! Even then it could be tricky. I've seen at least half a dozen people in the past 4 or 5 years get dragged into the drink by their boats on a trailer with RWD and FWD on anything but a full high tide.

 

[eljefino]

You might have had a stuck bearing or brake from sitting and the trailer might pull better now that it's loose.

That said what's the weight distro on a 2wd diesel pickup? I wouldn't count on tongue weight until the boat's winched up tight and even then you might have bilge water slowly sloshing out etc.

 

[bullwinkle]

Secret is-don't get the rear axle in the water, drive the boat onto the trailer. Extra weight in the bed & a locker/limited slip helps too. All else fails, carry a strong tow strap...

 

[bullwinkle]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
You might have had a stuck bearing or brake from sitting and the trailer might pull better now that it's loose.

That said what's the weight distro on a 2wd diesel pickup? I wouldn't count on tongue weight until the boat's winched up tight and even then you might have bilge water slowly sloshing out etc.
Weight distro on an unloaded 2WD diesel pickup is probably the worst you could have-on a Cummins Ram, 1200 lbs of engine & 400 pounds of transmission up front-better have something in the back.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

4WD or Front Drive for boat ramps. When we were camping it was always interesting to watch someone in a $50K 2WD dually diesel struggle to pull a boat out of the water, then some old guy in a beat up old Chevy Celebrity comes in and pulls out a similarly sized boat no problem.

I don't know how much a sport cruiser weighs but how about lauching it with the Grand Cherokee?

 

[bubbatime]

Put 800 pounds of sand/rocks in the bed of your truck and it should give you enough traction for most situations.

4x4 does come in handy sometimes though.

 

[DoubleWasp]

The first thing you need is GOOD TIRES. We're talking about a situation of low traction. If we were talking about snow, sand, or mud, drive wheels would be the last thing we'd be discussing.

I pull from a very notorious ramps elf, and switching my tires on the Navigator from the stock Dunlop to Michelin LTX MS2 tires has given my truck the same pulling ability as anything. When I pull my 29 foot cruiser out, I do not slip under any situation.

I have 2WD and an open differential. My boat and trailer are 2 tons over my tow rating. I pull my wheels into the water until my tailpipe is gurgling in the water.

Ramp traction? Step on the ramp in tactical tread boots, and you're going on your butt.

Try some mud/snow rated tires and see what you get.

 

[Donald]

I will say that when I tried to move the boat on my property, the trailer was on a slight incline and the truck was on level ground. The wheels of the trailer were probably sunk a bit in the grass from being there all winter.

But going up a ramp, with the truck on an angle won't the weight of the engine tend to shift towards the back wheels?

The vehicle does have limited slip diff., but have never seen it do any good.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Again, what tires are you using? The angle should shift the weight to the rear.

 

[Donald]

They are new Cooper year round mud & snow tires. Not your typical all-season.

 

[hattaresguy]

Happens, with a 2wd truck you need to plan a bit.

 

[DoubleWasp]

Yikes. Your ramp must be real bad.

 

[CT8]

When I had a boat [the good old days] I found Posi was really good and 4X4 worked way, way better. Low range 4X4 even [more

] better.

 

[jmb3675]

Weight in the bed will help a lot. I pulled a 4wd Dodge truck out of a ditch in a snow storm with the 2wd F-150 I had. I only had all season tires, but I had 350 pounds in the bed and a limited slip rear end. I moved all the sand bags to the tailgate and pulled him right out. I am sure if he had weight in his truck he could have gotten himself out or he may not have gone in the ditch. Even with my 4 wheel drive F-150 I keep 3 sand bags in during the summer and I use 6 in the winter. I do not have a limited slip rear end on this truck. With the 2 bags I have no trouble on paved boat ramps and I can climb the steep hill at the cabin which is not paved in 2wd. For unpaved ramps I always use 4 wheel with the so I do not know how it would do. I am sure the deck boat is a lot lighter than your boat though.

 

[dlundblad]

This reminds me of a 2WD S-10 I saw up at Lake Michigan. Poor little thing could hardly pull the empty trailer out.

 

[spasm3]

I've been on steep gravel drives that i had to use 4wd to pull my travel trailer so i would not spin and throw rocks .

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
I've been on steep gravel drives that i had to use 4wd to pull my travel trailer so i would not spin and throw rocks .


Try backing your 33 foot 5th wheel rig into its slot in the campground when it's muddy. There are dozens of times where 2wd is fine until you need to turn the wheels a bit...