Tow Truck at Ramp

[tomdinwv]

Went to our local ramp to put in Saturday and it was wall to wall people. The ramp up the river that gets a lot more use was tied up because of a festival the city has there every year so all the overflow was at the ramp we use. When we pulled in there was a couple parked in the entrance way to the parking lot preping their boat. No big deal, even helped them out a little. Looked over the bank at the ramp and there is a big tow truck on the ramp beside a Dodge pickup whose back bumper was in the water. Guess the guy, like most of the folks there that day had never put in there and didn't know where the ramp ended. He learned the hard way. We all stood there and watched the show, by now there was about 8 of us. My wife and I became kind of popular since we are familiar with the ramp and no one else wanted to repeat the mistake we had all just seen. I've read all the stories on here about messing up at the ramp and have never got to see one until now. Wonder when my turn is coming.

 

[loppster]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

Wonder when my turn is coming.

You shouldn't have asked this.....Murphy may be looking over your shoulder.

Did no one offer to help the guy? It amazes me when a boater needs help at the ramp and no one offers to help. If I see someone I think needs help, I always ask. Sometimes you get someone out on their first trip on a boat and need some advice.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

If I guy backs his trailer in far enough that the wheels drop off the end of the ramp, it's usually beyond help from the average guy. That's why the tow truck was there, I think.

I tried to get a guy who had done that out of the water, using my Jimmy, which has front tow hooks. I have a long tow chain in it all the time. In 4WD Low range, in reverse, it woudn't budge. All four wheels spun, and I was on dry land. There's about a two foot dropoff where the concrete ends (thanks to power loaders) and there was no way. It took a tow truck to hook the rear of the trailer while another vehicle pulled the boater over the hump to get that rig out.

All of that is why I park and have a look at every new ramp I use. I usually ask a couple other boaters, too, how the ramp is and if there are any hazards.

 

[tomdinwv]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

By the time we had arrived at the ramp the tow truck was already there. The trailer was a long tandem axle and the ramp has a major drop off at the end. I think the tow truck was the best option in this case. The guy had a sense of humor about it. He was friendly and laughing. The ramp is 2 lanes so you could still launch and retrieve except while the tow truck was down the ramp.

 

[spunkyjr]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

I feel for the guy. I've done the same thing, Murphy got me. Last year the corp lake was being drawn down for winter. Just HAD to use the paved ramp one more time before the end of the season. Backed the trailer down the ramp and dropped off the edge with the trailer wheels. Was spinning the truck tires on wet decaying leaves and couldn't pull it out. SSSSSSSO i decide to back just a little further and get away from the leaves in the water and get a run up the ramp, in other words put the rear tires in the water a little deeper. Well I put the truck in neutral and slowly let the trailer and truck go down the ramp. BAMMMMMMM it comes to a smashing stop. I later found out that when the ramp was built the extra cement was just dumped about a foot or two from the edge of the ramp. Got out of the truck and notice air bulbs coming from where the right side tire was. OPPS. Well got back in truck and gunned it and got the trailer back up on the ramp and went to the parking lot. Went to check the trailer and yep one flat tire with a huge cut across the thread. Got in the boat and went duck hunting figuring that I would change the tire when I was done. This was at 4:30 AM.

Came back around 1 Pm and noticed that something just didn't seem right. When I backed in and hit the concrete I had bent the tongue of the trailer. About 2 feet from the front of the tongue was a nice crease.

Well finally changed tire and tried backing down the ramp again. It's not easy when the trailer doesn't want to go straight , especially in a one lane launch. Got the boat on the trailer and got to the parking lot. You would have thought a drunk had put the boat on the trailer. The bow of the boat was even with the edge of the right side fender of the truck. That's how bent the tongue was. Since this ramp is out in the boonies and not much traffic on the back roads I figured I would tie the boat down good and try to make the 7 mile run home. Sure did get a lot of strange looks for on coming cars when the truck is in one lane and the boat and trailer are in the other lane. A 7 mile trip only took and hour. Lucky this with the smaller 14 foot boat. I'd tell you how the following week I put the truck on it's frame while launching but that's another story.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

so here's the question: if you drop over the edge, how do you get yourself loose without pulling the axle off the frame? Driving back up seems like last resort.
First, obviously, get the boat off the trailer. A small trailer, you could lift from the bow of the boat some to get over the hump. Stuff a tube under the frame and inflate like you raise swamped boats?
If you aren't beyond the pier, get the bystanders to lift from the pier?
Other than pulling up the tow vehicle (and the axle over the hump) what wold the tow truck do? Put his winch cable on the rear of the trailer and use his weigth to get some lift?
Here's how you can lever up a stuck anchor: put all the weight at the bow, cleat it off tight, send all the weight to the stern, and let the boat act like a lever. Seems you could do this with the end of the trailer if you can get a line on it.
All this, if you are alone you are screwed!

 

[Adjuster]

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?

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

Windlass should work great, and a boat with one will be high enough at the bow to get some height.
As for diving, I recommmend only going off the end of the ramp in warm water.

 

[david_r]

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?

i dont know the exact procedure you are talking about but it should work...........

if your strap/cable is long enough and you have a roller at the rear or middle of the trailer. you could just pull the cable out , run it under a roller , and clip it on the bow eye. after that you should be able to get a little lift from the boat by cranking the handle...............although i dont know how much leverage youll need, even though the roller will act as a pulley gravity, wind, and waves will have tremendous effect.

 

[eli_lilly]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

The way I read it here way back when was to connect a line from the trailer's rear crossmember to the boat's bow eye. Throw the boat in reverse and try to pull the trailer out with the truck. The boat will lift the back of the trailer.

-E

 

[skargo]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

If I guy backs his trailer in far enough that the wheels drop off the end of the ramp, it's usually beyond help from the average guy. That's why the tow truck was there, I think.

I tried to get a guy who had done that out of the water, using my Jimmy, which has front tow hooks. I have a long tow chain in it all the time. In 4WD Low range, in reverse, it woudn't budge. All four wheels spun, and I was on dry land. There's about a two foot dropoff where the concrete ends (thanks to power loaders) and there was no way. It took a tow truck to hook the rear of the trailer while another vehicle pulled the boater over the hump to get that rig out.

All of that is why I park and have a look at every new ramp I use. I usually ask a couple other boaters, too, how the ramp is and if there are any hazards.

Be careful pulling someone in reverse, you are putting a tremendous strain on the "coast" side of your gears and could end up with broken parts.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

Couple of Labor day weekends ago we were at Conestoga Lake (reservoir) that had been lowered by about 5 ft over the previous month. There are 2 ramps there which you can use. However they had roped the entrance to one of them off as it is shorter than the other one and put a do not use sign there. There was a line up of around a dozen folk waiting to launch on the available double wide ramp. Then along came one group that did not want to wait and moved everything from the other ramp and down they went. Many of the locals in line told them they should not use that ramp but were ignored. Everyone in line and several picnickers gathered to watch the show. Trailer dropped off the end and they could not pull it out. They had absolutely no idea what to do. Eventually many of us helped out and we manhandled the boat off the trailer into the water and tied it up. One of the park officials managed to drag the trailer out with a tractor. The unfortunate group then spent the rest of the day going to get trailer parts and repairing the trailer.
The park official looked very professional recovering their trailer and when I spoke to him he told me they get about a dozen folk a season that ignore the signs and open the ramp up for themselves so he is used to it.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

**deleted**

 

[skargo]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

depends if it is an auto or manual trans. Manual trans usually have very beefy straight cut reverse gears.

I'm talking about the rearend gears

 

[imwright1985]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

unload the boat and pull truck up a touch, usually trailer floats a little to get it back over the lip. My bass boat used to take in alot of water and the bilge pump quit working once. was stuck on the ramp but not caught on anything so pulled bilge plug in water and slowly pulled out, irritated some people but it worked. Id imagine depending on boats bouyancy you could figure out a way to compress the axel and use the bouyancy to pull the trailer up. the trailer winch i think, cable or strap, would scuff hull up but might be able to figure out a routing method or use another type of strap or winch to pull the axel up a touch or use a board or something to create a kinda ramp extension to help out

 

[j_martin]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

Other than pulling up the tow vehicle (and the axle over the hump) what wold the tow truck do? Put his winch cable on the rear of the trailer and use his weigth to get some lift?

Most older type tow trucks are twin boom rigs, with extension booms that may go out 15 feet or more. It would be an unusual, but not dificult setup to reach out and pick the weight off the trailer axle while the tow vehicle pulls out.

You can swing the booms to the side, reach over to the other side of a bridge and hook to the bridge, and with the remaining boom vertically lift an entire car from below the bridge, then swing it to behind the wrecker.

BTW, half of the idiots who drive the Holmes wreckers don't have a clue how to rig anything but a pick and run, including a hard pull.

I wuz a tow truck driver in one of my past lives.
John

 

[cmchesse]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

I can only promise to learn from the mistakes documented here on Iboats. I have been worried about backing of the ramp, now I am terrified.

 

[flycaster]

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

At my local ramp I know that there is a large drop off due to the power loaders.
I took a tape measure and measured from the trailer axle to the drivers door. I then took my tape measure and measured that distance from the end of the dock, which is the same as the end of the ramp. I took some spray paint and made a line on the side of the dock. Now I know how far I can back in with out having the trailer tires fall off of the ramp.
I had witnessed a trailer being backed to far and not being able to retrieved.
Solution was to have the boat owner get into the water and hook my boat anchor to the back of the trailer, then I was able to exert enough force and was able to lift the trailer enough that the spring shackles cleared the ramp and the tires were able to roll up on the ramp while the trailer was slowly pulled up.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Tow Truck at Ramp

better to have the end of the ramp/drop-off marked than everyone spray painting the dock. Or yours is a good idea if you mark your private spot with chalk, or an unnoticeable (to others) knife scratch, nail, etc. You could even keep a length of line that matches your wheel to door distance to use at other ramps.
If you are feeling on your own for the drop-off, remember, it is seldom straight across.
Our own ramp has the drop-off at the end of the pier. The concrete end of the ramp has a slight curve to it so you could roll slowly up it when empty (risky). But we have a real creek-mud issue so you can seldom get that far back anyway!

 

[tommykeith]

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.