Unhooking Winch Strap without Laying down on the bow

I get the feeling I’m the last guy on this site that doesn’t drive onto his trailer.

SR

Drotto is the word! I own a tyee and there is no way a person can reach the strap with out either getting out or someone else getting their feet wet.

Drotto for unloading and loading all the way!

Drotto has been a great investment for me

$350 is chump change in the big picture. Save up if needed and buy a drotto or wear bibs

Steve Root wrote:

I get the feeling I’m the last guy on this site that doesn’t drive onto his trailer.

SR

I don’t get in my boat at all for loading/unloading. Basic tiller with a roller trailer, I have a rope I attach to the front eyelet. Back boat in, go to winch, unhook chain, hook up rope, unhook winch, push boat off while holding the rope. Drag it back to dock/shore and then park the truck. Loading is the opposite; push boat out, use rope to pull between guides of trailer, walk winch strap out, connect strap, remove rope, use the winch to pull tight, connect safety chain, and drive away.

Might not work for a larger boat, but it works for me and is faster than trying to climb in & out.

Just build a rig like this guy and be done with it.

“I don’t get in my boat at all for loading/unloading. Basic tiller with a roller trailer, I have a rope I attach to the front eyelet. Back boat in, go to winch, unhook chain, hook up rope, unhook winch, push boat off while holding the rope. Drag it back to dock/shore and then park the truck. Loading is the opposite; push boat out, use rope to pull between guides of trailer, walk winch strap out, connect strap, remove rope, use the winch to pull tight, connect safety chain, and drive away.”

Exactly what I do. I’ve tried driving on and always felt like I was flirting with disaster.

SR

It’s kind of the reason for the never ending debate of which is better roller or bunk. For launching solo, I don’t think you can beat a bunk trailer. Here’s what I do. Unhook chain but keep strap hooked up. Unwind about 10-12 turns and MAKE SURE IT’S LOCKED. Back down and slide it off a bit, then pull ahead so that you can stay dry and hop on the trailer tongue. Unhook strap, push or back off with engine and away you go.

Here’s a video:
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxPSKmBW9IlJqIWfWejgx0YRCKHCLo4lmE

Lots of fun responses here. Those of you who are baffled and don’t understand, just try to envision that there are launches out there, all over the place, with strong current, no docks, steep ramps, there are boats that have much taller freeboards, etc.

Rope trick: maybe, but who the hell wants to drag their boat back to shore? If I’m too lazy to get a little damp reaching over the bow what makes you think I’m going to actually physically pull my boat into shore?

Driving onto the trailer: who DOESN’T drive back onto their trailer when exiting the water? At the Hastings launch in high current not one of you is going to exit the boat and pull it back to the trailer then winch it all the way up. Driving back on is not really my issue because when I drive back on it stays in gear while I climb out and hook up.

Money is not the issue with drotto at all, the boat is paid off, dave ramsey, etc etc. I just don’t see it as necessary to solve my minor inconvenience. Perhaps it’s the way to go, sure sounds like it based on all the feedback. I’m pretty determined to solve this for very little to no dollars just for the fun of it.

and then putting it back on the trailer you have enough slack all ready to go to just drive it on, hop out over the bow, attach strap, crank it up and you’re outta there:

Here’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxyrwoSW28yvj5AncvdGG3ol0P9p1NkZ4R

3Rivers wrote:

It’s kind of the reason for the never ending debate of which is better roller or bunk. For launching solo, I don’t think you can beat a bunk trailer. Here’s what I do. Unhook chain but keep strap hooked up. Unwind about 10-12 turns and MAKE SURE IT’S LOCKED. Back down and slide it off a bit, then pull ahead so that you can stay dry and hop on the trailer tongue. Unhook strap, push or back off with engine and away you go.

Yeah this is what I often do especially when alone. I’ve considered just adding platforms to the trailer, but climbing all over my spare tire works okay. I just know in 10 years or so I won’t be wanting to do all climbing all over wet trailer parts.

I much prefer steps on the trailer over the drotto. I know a couple buddies that have them and love them, but I also know a buddy that his wouldn’t lock one time. Luckily he had a ratchet strap to hold the boat forward. IMO a winch will always work and you can lock it with the key…a drotto is mechanical and sometime somewhere it will let you down.

Browndog wrote:

but I also know a buddy that his wouldn’t lock one time. Luckily he had a ratchet strap to hold the boat forward.

The Drotto is designed to work in tandem with the winch. You buddy should have just used his winch to secure the boat,,,,,,,, as per Drotto’s instruction sheet.

I have the same boat 2019 1775 Impact
I wear a pair of knee high rubber boots and hook up a 20′ rope with a spring loaded end when unloading. I wrap it around the bumper wheel two times and then unhook the safety chain.
When the boat rolls back enough to provide slack in the safety chaing I take that off, unwrap my rope from the bumper wheel and she rolls off ( or I push her off) while holding onto the rope, climb up on the dock and tie her off ( less than a minute)
Coming in I reach over and hook up my rope before I hit the dock ( same problem here in terms of laying on the wet and reaching down ( 6′ 2″ long arms too) and once I get to the dock I hop off the boat, tie it up, get the truck, back in the trailer and pull the boat onto the roller trailer. Pulls almost all the way up and I pull out my winch strap, hook it up, throw the rope over the bow and crank her in then take off my rope.
Easy peasey – 2 minutes or less.
I fish alone 80% of the time and this is simple, quick and easy.
Would like a solution for not having to reach down but just don’t see one. Not a power driver onto my trailer at the ramp so no Drotto for me.

Slightly off subject, but this is for the guys that have a roller trailer. I have a 2019 1775 Impact with roller trailer. Adding two short (12 to 14 inches I think) bunks to the center of the forward cross-member, and positioned to the right height, will stop the roll after the strap goes out about 18 to 24 inches, depending on the slope of the ramp. You can reach and unhook the strap with dry feet, and if solo, get on the dock, grab both side lines, and sometimes pull the boat off the trailer and tie her up. If ramp is not steep enough. might have to back trailer up a bit more to make it easier to float the boat off the trailer. When loading solo, leave about two feet of the strap out, run the boat up far enough for the short bunks to grab the keel, and either latch it from the bow or step onto ramp and latch it to winch it the rest of the way.
Had this set up on previous roller trailer, so asked my dealer to add the two short bunks to my order. They were installed at the dealership with the boat on the trailer; I adjusted the height to get the resistance I wanted. No more uncontrolled rolling during loading or unloading, no more wet feet. And even on steep launches, the boat will get “stuck” on the bunks allowing me to step onto the dock, walk over to the ramp, latch it and winch it, although I sometimes reach over and latch the strap before exiting the boat.

Z-man do you have any pictures of your setup? I think I saw you post this before and I am interested

I think he is talking about these small bunks. I have them on my trailer and never realized what they were for. I think I need to adjust mine so they contact the boat more. Learn something new every day.

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I’ll take a pic of the trailer after launching to give you a good view. The bunks are close together at the center of the cross member.

KPE, you’re right. I did respond to an IDOer before and included a pic. You can find it in the Lund forum, thread title “Ordering a Lund 1775 Impact”, November 2019. Scroll way down to my April 2020 response with a pic. Let me know if any more questions. My dealer got the bunks from Lund/Shorelander, but you may be able to find others that would work.

Tried to paste the pic here but this dinosaur had some trouble doing it.

On my last rig, that had a roller trailer, in addition to keeping a long line permanently tied to the bow eye, I also added a cleat to the winch post, so I could take a wrap on the cleat, unhook the winch strap, and control the hull rolling off.

HRG

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I completely sympathize with the situation and even more baffled by how many guys here don’t understand it. I’ve had short tongues and long tongues on my rigs and none of it mattered, butt end of the truck will be underwater more times than not. Who the heck wants to change shoes everytime loading and unloading.

I’m with bear on this, do the jump and crawl to the winch, unhook then climb over and push er off. Even more fun going back on, usually have a couple Busch lites that make the spider monkey in me come out even more. In time I’m going to need a better system, probably whenever I take a header off into some cold water.

I hook a rope from front cleat to back cleat – with enough sag it’s long enough for my wife to hold and walk along as I back up . Once the truck tires hit water I unhook strap and chain and she walks it off .

Solo – I do the same , but back in where I know the boat will float . Jump from dock to boat ,lay down unhook it , take the rope loop it around the pole or fleet on the dock and tie it off on the cleat on the boat . The key is the rope length . Multi use