Tow Truck at Ramp

[david_r]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

Back when I was young, we went and launched an 18 ft wood boat at the ramp just below the Pickwick Dam on the Tennessee River. It was steep. When we tried to pull the boat back up the hill (with a '56 Desoto) the car just did not have enough power to move the car and the boat up the hill. Had to chock the rear wheels of the trailer, pull ahead the length of the boat crank cable, hook the cable to the bumper and crank the boat and trailer up to the car. Repeat as necessary. Took forever (especially for a pre teen like myself), but we finally got the boat back to the top of the hill in 30 foot increments.

now thats what i call inventive............... using your boat winch as a come-along................. bet you only dd it once though right?!

 

[tommykeith]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

now thats what i call inventive............... using your boat winch as a come-along................. bet you only dd it once though right?!

I can honestly say that I have never had that problem again and it's been at 40+ years since that fine day. Moral of the story, you don't need a monster truck to pull a boat, but there are minimums to be careful about.

 

[flycaster]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

I don't remember the details but I read about some trick using the trailer wench and your floating boat to crank up on the rear of the trailer to relieve some of the weight. Problem is somebody's got to dive in and hook a line to the back of the submerged trailer. I wonder if a boat windlass would have enough power to lift the back end of a trailer?

ADJUSTER: Your suggestion works like a champ.

Was coming in after a few hours on the water. Noticed a couple launching their boat at one of the ramps that had been closed due to low water levels. Water level up now. Watched the trailer going down the ramp, then all of a sudden the trailer disappears. The fellow backed off the end of the ramp.
He off loads the boat, has his wife hold the boat out of the way, goes around and LOCKS the front hubs.
I yelled at him to not to try to retrieve the trailer that way and I would help him, but he would have to get into the water. I instructed him to unwind ALL of his wench strap and followed "ADJUSTERS" advise. I had to use some of my dock line because his strap was not long enough. By tying the rope to the bow of my boat and the other end tied on to the hook of his strap he was able to tighten up the strap with the wench and the trailer rose enough so he could pull the trailer out of the water. He was very grateful and asked (HOW MUCH DO I OWE YOU. (Now how many times do you hear that??)
My response was JUST PAY IT FORWARD. You should have seen the looks on his wifes face and his. Did my heart good to do something good today.

 

[Capt Ron]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

My boat ramp story
In the mid '50's my dad backed our boat down a wooden planked ramp at a landing on the Des Moines river. When he tried to pull the empty trailer out the wheels on that big Cadillac just spun and smoked but went nowhere.

I was just a kid but still remember that it took hours and several people trying to figure out why the trailer was stuck on that ramp. All kinds of different vehicles hooked up to help that Caddy pull the trailer up the ramp but it would not budge. They unhooked the trailer and the car pulled right up the ramp but when hitched again, nope.

People got in the water to lift the trailer but couldn't. Then someone yelled "hey there's a chain back here". Oops, one of the transom chains had fallen between the gap in the planks and then hooked underneath. It was strong enough to hold back all attempts to pull up the ramp.

Dad put the boat back on the trailer and we went back home, just as well with me as I never liked that river and all the industrial plant intakes. Besides the boat regularly broke down and we ended up just floating down the river until someone towed us back. Things where different back then, and we managed to tow many a greatful family when our motor ran.

Originally Posted by tkeith
Back when I was young, we went and launched an 18 ft wood boat at the ramp just below the Pickwick Dam on the Tennessee River.

That brought back a memory:
I used to captain a little dinner boat called the Alabama Princess out of Florence, AL and then moved over to pushing barges.
Yellow Creek was where I met the line boats to pick up 4 empty log barges and push back up to Florence. The line boats would lock through and then hang a right to the Tombigbee. Round trip for me was usually 15-17 hours after working an entire 8 hour day in the port. I'd see groceries being loaded on the big boat and call to find out where it was going. The reply would be "You're taking it to Yellow Creek (or Decatur, or Huntsville) tonight". Just me and a deckhand all night long.

This would happen about 3 times a month and really irritated me since the company applied two different pay scales and if they overlapped one negated the other depending on which boat I was on. It was not uncommon to lose the entire days hourly pay when sent on one of these trips as in that capacity I was paid by the day.

Then after working 25 hours straight they'd want me to fleet barges all day...Right! I'd get in my truck and go home. Didn't take me long to figure out that running towboats (at least for this company) was the worst job that I'd ever had except that I was able to log the time to upgrade the tonnage on my license. I quit after 6 months and drove a truck otr. Compared to towboats trucking was a snap and I made twice the money.

Years later I was looking through some Coast Guard reports and found one where the owner of this company was operating the boat during a boarding and fined for being unlicensed... Brought a little smile, Touche'

There were a lot of other things that this place did and they tried to throw me under the bus several times.

Capt Ron

 

[cribber]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

Flycaster sounds like ya launch from Hickory Point. Those lanes have been closed for over a year even though the water levels are way up!!! All of the lanes at Venetian Cove in Leesburg are good to go.

 

[flycaster]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

Flycaster sounds like ya launch from Hickory Point. Those lanes have been closed for over a year even though the water levels are way up!!! All of the lanes at Venetian Cove in Leesburg are good to go.

Right on CRIBBER.
The first set of launches have a sign on them 14 foot trailers. This where the couple tried to launch their boat.
I always use the deep draft ramps. Of course I have a 21 foot pontoon, can't use those shallow drafts.
I live in the development across the street from Hickory Point, so going to Leesburg is quite a trip. I have launched a boat from Buzzards beach once, but didn't like the ramp, dock.