Re: Just dont understand
power loader with a difference..... I dont hammer the throttle nor to I try to slide the boat on up. When I say pop it up, I mean steer it onto the trailor while the boat is actually floating! lol I LOVE watching the guys that barely put the trailor in the water, the bow hits the back of the trailor, now punch it! Then you hear the satisfying boom as the bow hits the front of the trailor....and thats IF the boat stays straight, when they turn sideways... good times.
For the record...... the ramp itself is for launching then loading your boat on the trailor. period. end of discussion. no more debate. The poster above that says 15 minutes max... thats realistically 14 minutes too long for launching, and 12 minutes too long loading. period. The ramp is not for you to... pardon my language... "check your *****". The ONLY exclusion to this, noone is waiting to use the ramp. If noone needs to use the ramp, stay there all day, no issue. If its a multi-boat ramp, if there is a line, even then dont hog the ramp. No line, do what you want. Any line, get out of the way.
Also, about the "if your motor is a POS that you have to start it before... do you start your car ect ect"..... brother, you drive your car every single day, its started every single day, there isnt gas settling to deal with, there isnt a water cooling various issues to deal with, your battery is getting a charge every day, your gas is fresher... the list goes on. You cant even compare the issues just because a motor is involved, its not even the same ballpark, or universe in those two cases.
And problem at the lake you didnt have or catch before... fully agree and have been thru it. Difference is, you dont try to trouble shoot it by tying up a loading ramp for 30 minutes while others are waiting. You wait until you alone can use the ramp, then trouble shoot/fix/inspect/ect.
About the new people to boating, first off, welcome, secondly, I have a ton of patients with them and have no issue or problems walking over to them and offering tips, tricks, hints, or help. Just saying, saturday mid morning, on a holiday weekend, is not the time to think you are "the man" and ignore friendly help when offered, when 15 other people have been waiting in line for the ramp and you jack knife your trailor 6 times in the row at the top of the ramp. I have literally walked over and said, its tricky, have been there, let me guide you, turn wheels to the left, ok, now staighten them out, little more, ok turn it a touch to the right, you got it, keep going, the plug is in right? Have no qualms about doing that. I was there. We all were there. Experience is the only true way to learn, guidance just limits the damage......kind of! lol
(can you tell Im at work and its slow? grab a coke, in the mood to soap box, have fun with this one!)
You decide, you are going to the lake.
You get the wife/kids/family/friends/whatever in the mood.
You set a date.
Now here is where I get wore out by these people... and are you one?
You have a whole mental check list of things you do to go.... food items, coolers, sunscreen, swim gear, water toys, whos going, where to meet, route to the lake, what time, where to get gas. You run thru all of this. And in that time, with all that accounted for, you wait until its your turn on the ramp to launch to have a 5 minute debate on whos getting in the boat right now? You have a 5 minute debate on what you are putting in the boat right now? What in the heck where you doing in the 15 minutes you were waiting for your turn on the ramp?!?!?! This couldnt have been argued then? You realize you can..... hold on to something.... put things in the boat while its still on the trailor and not on the ramp! Shocker, I know, and thats if you didnt haul it in the boat to begin with! You see, there is the weird law in quantum physics I guess, that says a trailor cant support 40 addition pounds of ice chests while in line for the ramp, but can hold it while on the ramp as long as its inverse to the time spent hogging the ramp in proportion to how long the line waiting for the ramp is.
IMO, this should be your check list for what I consider a small boat owner. (16'ish to 23'ish foot stern drive or outboard - runabout type weekend fun boats, the largest group)
You do your trip planning, even if its as simple as, hey lets goto the lake, wanna go?
You then go out to your boat. Turn on the key, look at the voltmeter. Does it read 12v? Yes, crank it over. No, get the charger or get a battery.
Did it crank over normally? If no, see above. If yes, start it, if it starts, turn it off.
You load up and make sure the trailor is all secure to the vehicle, including making sure the straps you use to secure the boat to the trailor are.... secure!
You do your gas food thing on the way (or you can do it earlier).
You arrive at the lake, and get in line.
While in line, you use this as prep time for deciding what goes in the boat! You dont sit in the AC listening to the radio and chatting. You have 5 in front of you in line, more behind you, now is not the time to sit there like a blob. Now is the time to go over the plan to launch, which you should have already thought of on the drive to the lake as the boat captain!
So, you are in line for the ramp now. For smaller boat guys, here is what I do while waiting in line, in order.
I hop in the boat, turn on the key, look at voltmeter.
If fine, crank it up. It starts, I wait maybe 5 seconds, then kill it*.
Then I remove my transom straps, put my plug in, then do the whole towels, ice chests, sunscreen, toys deal while in line. (you realise a dry trailor rail has ALOT more friction, hence your boat wont slide off if you take the transom straps off on flat ground).... (for you trailor has rollers guys, ok, I'll give you 60 seconds at the waters edge I guess for the transom straps, but if thats the case, do you really think its safer undoing transom straps, squatted down, behind and underneath a boat that might roll while on an incline? Your funeral. if the bow winch cant be trusted on flat ground while in line to hold the boat on the trailor, or 15 feet up the ramp to back in, how can it be trusted with you under the boat on an incline??)
Now to personage. "You all will goto X once we are the very next in line to go."
"OK, almost our turn, grab whatever, go right over there. Honey, I will back into the water, then you hop in drivers seat, I hop in boat."
Our turn, Pull up and line up, start backing down. Hit the water. Stop, hop in boat, start it**. Wife in this time has climbed in drivers seat. Boat starts, release bow winch, ok hun, back down a bit, a little more... its ok, a little more, got it.... ok you can pull out and park. (for you roller trailor guys, reverse that part, back it down where you need to be, floating, then do bow line if you want)
I ease over to dock, grab whoever. Then circle out while wife is parking so others can use the dock. Here she comes, ease in, she hops in, and we are away.
**if i try to start it, and it wont start, I will try maybe for 30 seconds. If it wont start, honey, something is wrong, pull up and over to the side.
There, done. I spent 1 minute on the ramp. Why? I was ready to use the ramp. You take longer, on that size of a boat, you werent ready to use the ramp, it really is that simple. There are no, yeah but what if's. You weren't ready to launch.
*Look, its simple. Flame me all you want on this. You can start any motor, inboard or out, 2 stroke or 4, out of the water. Sorry to break it to you, have been a mechanic for 21 years, on everything from motorcycles, boats, and jetskis (my hobbies), to cars/trucks (my profession), anyone that says you will ruin the motor, ruin the water pump, ruin exhaust, whatever, by starting it out of the water and letting it run 5 to 10 seconds, is flat out wrong. Im not saying let it run for 5 minutes. Im not saying crank the throttle wide open. Im saying starting the motor, lettting it run at idle for 5 seconds, then turning it off - You can not generate enough heat or friction in that time frame to create a problem that didnt already exists. You arent even going to accelerate it.... I can hear the outboard guys firing up keyboards right now, telling me how you will knock the waterpump out because there is no water to lubricate it...... really? Got news for you, if the vulcanised rubber cant survive 5 seconds of spinning on a highly pollished surface, it cant survive a day on the lake. The water cools things a ton more than it lubricates, not saying it doesnt lubricate, saying 5 seconds isnt a killer and those that have ever done a water pump on an outboard know exactly what I am talking about. And right about now, the stern drive crew are typing away about exhaust manifold, and the rubber flaps, and the silicone ect ect ect. In 5 seconds, if they cant survive that little amount of heat... you have a problem to begin with. Sorry, I know the forum crew is going to have a field day with the above, reality speaks for itself though. You get an actual, does it for a living mechanic, that knows the materials, knows the heat build up times, knows whats involved, he might or might not tell you the same exact thing depending on if hes using it to justify his flag time or repair order. Here, I'll throw you perfect proof right now. I/O guys. You realise, that even though you have the stern drive in the water, when you first start up your motor, it takes 2 to 4 seconds at least for water to start circulating? yes, it goes in the inlet before you start it, but it then doesnt ignore gravity or hydralic properties of water and start circulating before you have the motor turning the pumps! So, even in the water, at the beginning of the day, for about 5 seconds, you are, for all practical purposes, running your motor dry! The outboard guys, unless you lower the lower unit into the water so that the water pump is below the water level you are sitting in, well then, before you start it, you are running dry also for a few seconds. You all see this, and it might even be you, you have your outboard, you back down, you dont want to drag the lower unit on the ramp! You see countless people, with the motor all the way up, cranking the motor up. Then lowering it as the trailor backs further in. But these same people wouldnt dream of starting that motor, in the same exact way, 50 feet from the actual water while in line. And right about....... now.. here comes the crew of, well, there is some water in there, just not enough. Sorry, doesnt work to debunk a 5 second test start. Residual water there, then no friction/heat issue so it wont hurt anything on an outboard, stern drive then there is a little cooling/lube there also..... same deal. Sorry, its common sense supported by fact and practical working knowledge, and I know for a fact Im stirring up a hornets nest and someone is going to start pointing out all manner of things.... guys, a 5 seconds out of the water start is not going to hurt anything or accelerate hurting anything. What it will do though, it solve alot of fustration for you and everyone in line for the ramp.
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