removing a pontoon off the trailer on land

legalfee said:

Have you thought about using a scissor trailer? I've seen them used on pontoons sitting on the ground.

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That is what I use I store my pontoon on the floor of a barn for the winter.

Been away from this for a while but did do some work on the pit since my last post. I had numerous BIG boulders from when we built our house stacked up so I did some dirt work and then put some boulders into the pit as far out as I could reach and maneuver. I also put in the dock and had to wade out in it to set the poles and that is how I know the muck is at least shin deep. At the end of the dock, I was crotch deep including the muck and water. The dock itself is 10' long as is the piece on the shore so that gives an idea of how far out the dept is. I'm going to attach some pics as to exactly what I have now. My concern is getting this thing out, sinking in the muck and not being able to go either way should the pontoon not be able to float off the trailer. My mind says JUST DO IT but my dreams keep saying you'll get stuck. LOL My truck is a Chevy Silverado 4x4 with the big 5.3L V-8, so I have the HP to pull and hopefully can get the traction if DRY. I have NEVER done this on a good lake with boat ramp much less in a mucky bottom pit.

Sorry, no pics as it says the file is too large.

sent you a message

warddog said:

View attachment 416372

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This is what I have done. The BIG rocks should provide something for the trailer wheels to keep out of the much until I get to the end of them.

vet video of the launch

This is the ramp down to the edge of the pit where I placed the BIG rocks. I hope I can get the trailer in and out of this so as to load the pontoon back on. NOT doing so before has me wondering if the trailer wheels will go off the rocks and then sink into the muck making it hard to pull back out.

put fence posts about a foot before the end of the rocks and mark the wheels somehow when they line up you stop.

It’s bad to drop the wheels off anything hard. I ruined a wheel, tire and fender at a washed out boat ramp one year loading a pontoon boat.

redneck joe said:

put fence posts about a foot before the end of the rocks and mark the wheels somehow when they line up you stop.

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I doubt that if I do not get out past the end of the rocks it will not be deep enough to float the pontoon. If I do go past the rocks the wheels will drop into muck. I have not waded out there since I dropped the BIG rocks into the pit mucky bottom but do know it was shin deep when I waded out into it to put the dock pipes in. STINKS bad too! LOL It appears that the previous owner did something similar as the trailer fender on one side is bent up like something hit it from under it. It now has rained over three inches so my launching will be postponed until it dries up again which gives me more time to worry about it all. My biggest worry is getting it off and out of the pit. I've already got repairs to make on the trailer.

Looks a lot to me that you should dig out the launch area and put in a good base. Gravel and such. That alone will help with launching and retrieving. A good contractor would probably fix the underwater part good enough for a nicer surface.

Can you get the trailer out to the edge of the rocks. Back it as far as the rocks allow. Here is a wild idea. It’ll take a roller and winch. You could bolt a roller on the back of the trailer. Anchor your winch to your truck/ tractor or whatever will hold. Run the winch cable under the trailer around the roller then run it under the toon all the way to the front. Hook it to the toon down low. Then winch away. In theory it should pull the toon off the back of the trailer enough to get it to at least start to float.
Just a thought.