Loading the 87 Saltare onto the trailer

[devovino]

Saw a thread about buying a new trailer for an 87 Saltare. This is the boat I have, and have always had problems re-loading my saltare back onto the trailer. What is the best way to re-load the boat back on.How deep does the trailor need to be? Keep in mind I dont have the vertical guide poles that make things easier, and i see a lot of boat trailers have these days, i have thought about modifying it to thode. I have the horizontal guide bunks, and it seems that I need to get the trailer pretty deep to be able to get the nose to rest on the rubber stopper in front of the winch.

I must admit, I am a little "gun shy" of power loading the boat ever since my very first time having the boat out, my friend says, " yeah just hit the throttle and it will guide right in" so I did that, it went left of the front V bunks, putting a decent scratch on the nose, and dinged the prop on the trailer.

So needless to say, reloading the boat has always been a point of contention, take some figiting with at the boat launch to get it just right. I would like to be able to just drive it right on there, give it some throttle to guide it home, hook it up and roll out!!
Thanks in advance!

[92SupraComp]

to properly power launch a boat, you get the boat settled in the trailer first, then then hit throttle.

[Blackntan90]

Exactly. I ease up to the trailer rather slowly, then once I feel the bunks I let her line up(you will feel the boat and trailer 'settle') and GENTLY apply throttle. I read on here about someone dunking the entire carpeted section of the bunks, then pull forward until about the top of the fender is an inch or so above the water. I load this way now and it does seem easier. I do have the guide poles on my '90 sweetwater trailer, and it does help a lot in a cross wind or current. I also prefer a shallow ramp to a steep one!

[Jetlink]

Having the trailer too deep will also affect your ability to load properly just as much as not having it deep enough. As a reference, we will dunk the trailer to get the bunks wet and then pull forward until the fenders are just out of the water. Approach the bunks slowly to allow the boat to settle into the bunks and then a little gas to get it up on the trailer. Note, it is only a little gas. And my trailer requires power loading all the time as there is no winch on my trailer anywhere.

[cadunkle]

Same type trailer as you for my Saltare, with the side bunks as guides instead of poles. Trailer too deep will put the nose under the bow roller at the winch. Depending on how steep the ramp is my fenders may be a bit above the water or just at water level. Bunk guides may be a good amount out of water or just barely depending on how steep the ramp is. It's trial and error but once you use a few different ramps and find the sweet spot where it centers and loads nicely while clearing the bow roller you'll automatically adjust trailer depth for the ramp angle and won't give it much thought.

If your main problem is the bow rub rail is below the bow roller at the winch, you are too deep. Bring the fenders up another inch and try again. More bunk will be out of the water and let the boat match the trailer angle farther away from the roller to get the nose higher. If the nose went to the side of the v bunks up front then you definitely had it too deep. That much misalignment can only happen if the hull is not being guided/centered by the main bunks. With the trailer less deep/more out of the water it takes a lot of throttle to load or the winch is excessively hard to crank then try liquid rollers (http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=11151&partNumber=1244805&langId=-1#.UiY7qz-wQZk) on your bunks, boat will glide across the bunks much easier. Always have the winch tight and a safety chain attached before moving the trailer with the boat on it.

[devovino]

Same type trailer as you for my Saltare, with the side bunks as guides instead of poles. Trailer too deep will put the nose under the bow roller at the winch. Depending on how steep the ramp is my fenders may be a bit above the water or just at water level. Bunk guides may be a good amount out of water or just barely depending on how steep the ramp is. It's trial and error but once you use a few different ramps and find the sweet spot where it centers and loads nicely while clearing the bow roller you'll automatically adjust trailer depth for the ramp angle and won't give it much thought.

If your main problem is the bow rub rail is below the bow roller at the winch, you are too deep. Bring the fenders up another inch and try again. More bunk will be out of the water and let the boat match the trailer angle farther away from the roller to get the nose higher. If the nose went to the side of the v bunks up front then you definitely had it too deep. That much misalignment can only happen if the hull is not being guided/centered by the main bunks. With the trailer less deep/more out of the water it takes a lot of throttle to load or the winch is excessively hard to crank then try liquid rollers (http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=11151&partNumber=1244805&langId=-1#.UiY7qz-wQZk) on your bunks, boat will glide across the bunks much easier. Always have the winch tight and a safety chain attached before moving the trailer with the boat on it.

Perfect, this all helps out a lot. I will do it this weekend.

[TitanTn]

I have the same boat and it sounds like a similar trailer too. I agree with everything cadunkle said, but I'll just add my own experience. The ramp angle will dictate the exact placement of the trailer, but for me I need to bury the fenders about 1 inch under the water. I also raised the front of my trailer bunks up about 1/2 inch. It used to be a very fine line about how deep to set the trailer because too deep and the nose goes under the roller (like cadunkle said), but too shallow and I can't get the boat all the way up to the bow stop. Raising the front of the bunks helps raise the bow as I pull on the trailer and allows me to be deep enough to keep most of the bunks in the water, which allows me to lightly power load the boat. It's a very easy load and pull out every time.

[Jetlink]

Did you ever try it where you first dunk the trailer to get the bunks wet as far up as possible and then pull the trailer forward until the correct depth? That is what I do to prevent wearing out my bunk material and to allow me to use much less power when power loading.