Loading boat on trailer

[Lth101]

I’ve learned a ton of stuff from this forum and have successfully and safely taken my small family of 4 out 5 times this season without breaking anything. One small issue I’m having is loading the boat onto the trailer. From what I’ve seen we should back the trailer until the tops of the rear fenders are just out of the water? Or should I back the trailer up until the fenders become submerged? Ive been leaving the fenders out of the water but recently my boat has been not centering itself on the trailer when loading. I used no wake mode 1 or 2 depending on wind and current to load it. I have a 2011 242 Limited S with the MFI trailer. TIA!

 

[Acard7]

If you haven’t bought trailer guide posts they are definitely worth the investment. As for backing the trailer in, the front of the bunks, about a foot or so, should be sticking out of the water when trailering. I know it may be hard to see the bunks for the driver, but you can always back the trailer in and see where the fenders are at and compare it with how far the front of the bunks are sticking out of the water!

 

[Dave burke]

I back mine until the tops of the fenders are just about submerged. I then drive the boat up on to the trailer and give it a little throttle until it feels like the boat is solidly on the bunks.

Are you using a paved ramp? I used to launch directly on to the lake bed which was harder because the bed wasn't level

 

[jpdaley1026]

I usually back in until the bunks are totally submerged, then pull it out until there's about 1ft of the bunks showing. I find having the bunks wet helps the boat slide up better. Also having guide posts help a lot

 

[scokill]

There is no set way to determine trailer depth by water on fenders due to varying ramp angles. Shallow ramp angles you may have to back way down with water covering fenders, very steep angle not much water cover at all. You need to be just deep enough for the boat to self center but still make it to the bow roller without too much effort. There are ramps here too steep to even use due to trailer dragging or coming in under bow roller without self centering. You gotta find the sweet spot or use a different ramp if you can’t

 

[steelhorse454]

At our neighborhood ramp at the coast, I leave the fenders about 4" out of the water. If I submerge the fenders, the bow usually ends up under the bow roller. Also, I never hard throttle load all the way up as I hand crank some to avoid bow damage, and sucking up sand at low tide.
Really depends on tide, ramp angle, etc. As scokill says, it takes some tweaking.....

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I do like the manual says and put the front fenders just under the water. When I pull out of the water I go very slow and watch the boat center itself on the trailer.

 

[YoDaddy292]

As mentioned already I typically barely sink the front of the fender (if there are waves they will disappear/reappear). Being on lakes I'm not typically fighting current or super high winds but I make it a game to see how slow I can go in a straight line. Guide poles are pretty awesome not only for the guiding ability but just to be able to see what center actually is. I will usually blip the throttle to get closer but not to get tight. If I am any deeper it floats too high to center. One thing I always do and it will cinch it up even more and self center if it is an inch or two off center is give it a good brake check right before I stop to wipe the boat down and put on the back straps. If I don't it will do it anyway down the road and my straps will be loose a few miles later.

 

[Cambo]

After you launch your boat go to the trailer and take each bunk and rotate it from left to right. They are designed to move they could be bound up making the boat sit off center. If it’s sitting off center dont crank it to the stop gently back down the ramp if it’s a good angle the boat will float and reset. In my location we have tides that swing on the different sides of the island from 3 feet on one side to 7 feet on the other every ramp is different of the 8 that I pick from