12 Degree Boat Launch

hi. i am new to the forum and i will be NEW to boating. i desire to get an 18 foot robalo center console fishing boat or perhaps a 19 foot yamaha fsh boat within a year. the lake property i have has a boat launch where the degree of angle is 12. can this be used to launch either of the 2 boats mentioned above. thanks for your input. john.

Kinda depends more on the tow vehicle and what the bottom does under water.

Ya you will defiantly need a 4×4 truck with that loose soil/gravel to get out. Looks shallow out to the water that means you will have to back in aways. Make sure you get a roller trailer to make the shallow landing easy.
Now if you did some Bob Cat work and added some concrete that would be sweet.

Well what way are you driving up and how good at you at backing up a trailer. Im pretty confident I could make that work no matter what, but I know my good buddy who would never be able to

just like big crappie said make sure you have 4×4 and you might have to back in till the bumper is almost under water.. i have to do that on the river often and my roller trailer helps with that

Balls, those are some decent size waves rolling in there too. I wouldn’t launch my boat on that and I’ve got a 4 wheel drive truck.

a 12 DEGREE ramp is actually pretty steep.

http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/022429.html

HRG

Launching is a lot easier than taking them out too. So to answer your question, it depends on how shallow the lake is there for launching, and how loose the gravel is for pulling the boat out. If it’s your lake place and you have a lift, I’d probably just use the public access for the 2 trips per year.

Looks like the 12 degrees stops at the waterline…which would be typical of a sandy hill washing into the lake.

I’d wade into the water to be sure it is boat and trailer friendly.
If you can take 5 steps and get your nuts wet you are probably OK to give it a go.

When wading in the water be sure to look for any rocks, drop offs, etc that may wreck you day.

4WD absolutely required.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

If you can take 5 steps and get your nuts wet you are probably OK to give it a go.

Quote of the day! HRG

Thanks to all of you guys. Dusty and Bearcat89, I think I will be launching the boat off of a tractor bucket that has a hitch attached to it. I would drive the tractor forward down the ramp. Big Crappie, I will be looking into the trailer with rollers. Gimruis, yes, it gets pretty stormy quick on Lake Superior, even though I am in a semi-protected spot on the lake. Hot Runr Guy, it is steep. Big Werm, I may just do that and use this ramp just to walk down to the lake. FishBlood, your rule applies to this launch :).

Welcome-John you make it sound like the opinions are done, hardly! More coming.

Hot Runr Guy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:</div>
If you can take 5 steps and get your nuts wet you are probably OK to give it a go.

Quote of the day! HRG

If it’s Lake Superior, you’ll want to stop at step four…

true words shady5

On superior I would use a actually ramp, what if the weather comes up and you can’t get the boat back on the trailer at your access?

What is the lake bottom like 12ft from shore? If your tires sink into sand you may have a tough time pulling it out even with a tractor.

Are you talking about a real tractor or one of those cute SCUTs? No offense, but this isn’t a job for one of those 20hp oversized lawnmowers. 😉. 4wd on the tractor? Make sure you have enough rear ballast on the tractor.

Most of the tractors that I operate (old ones) only have rear brakes. So if that’s your case, remember that the only thing that will stop you after you lose traction is the loader.

Just try it out on a nice day. If it works it works if not then you know

Make sure your insurance policy is completed and “send it”

Launching won’t be the issue.

contemplating that, dusty. however, i do indeed want my own launch point on my own property. fishingchallenged, i have a kioti rx7320 4-wheel drive with a backhoe attached. thinking of taking the loader off and putting on a quick attach hitch plate. i could then drive down the ramp forward instead of backing up. bearcat89, i do not have a boat yet, but i have taken the tractor down the ramp and into the water. all went well with that. ripjiggen, yes. i will have everything insured.

shady5 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Hot Runr Guy wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:</div>
If you can take 5 steps and get your nuts wet you are probably OK to give it a go.

Quote of the day! HRG

If it’s Lake Superior, you’ll want to stop at step four…

LMFAO!!!!

Lake Superior can get rolling pretty good in a short time. What will you do when you want to load the boat back on the trailer? If you leave the trailer in the water, you might be able to drive the boat on IF your ramp is nice and level left to right. Then you need to hook the winch strap or the safety chain, then you need to get out of the boat, sprint to the tractor, start it up and back it out. I can see any of those steps going awry, especially as you describe yourself as “NEW to boating”. I’ve owned boats for 50 years and I still occasionally muck things up. Lake Superior is not a lake for novices.

I’d think you’d almost want to build one of those boat tracks with rollers and an electric winch to bring it onto shore. Don’t mess with the trailer option. The question would be how far it would have to extend into the water and how beat up it would get from the waves.

Seems pretty daunting if you are new to boating. I guess my only advice would be PICK YOUR DAYS! (good advice in general for Superior)

I could see that ramp developing really deep channels and a drop off due to heavy wave action and torrential rain. Not exactly ideal when you are rushing to land a boat.

i think you are right, ron. having to get back onto land quickly could easily be nasty. that is probably the one thing i am most concerned about. queenswake, lake superior can get bad. i was going to build a dock, but changed my mind. too risky. i don’t even want to put a portable dock in. yes, drizzy musky. i will be picking my days and eyeballing the weather pretty closely. i am located in a large bay area where the big boats (1,000 footers) come to harbor from the storms we have around here. so, the waves i get are much smaller than those not sheltered from the BIG lake.