So there is a river that I am intersted in scouting/hunting this year. The problem is that there are no boat ramps.... The banks are too steep to drive a 4wd truck all the way down to the bank to launch.

A buddy had the idea of having a plate with a winch that we could connect into the truck reciever. Then winch the trailer down to the waters edge. It may also be necessary to use plywood if it is too muddy. We are also in the process of frog spitting the bottom of our boats to make this process easier. The 2 boats we want to launch are 20x54 and 18x48.

Anyone ever tried this? What size winch would be necessary and do you think it would work?

If your only winching the weight of your boat...

You need to take into account the force needed to pull it up the hill... Also doubling your line with a snatch block will double your pulling power but also cut down on the speed to get it up the hill. If your in need of a Removable winch mount for like a Warn / Ramsey style winch I have one that I have never used. It fits into a 2" receiver hitch and would be willing to part with it for fairly cheap.

would it be possible to drop the boats off the trailers as close as you could get em & then winch the boats to the river?

hmmm got to thinking, why use a winch at all? Why even bother with the cost?

Go buy some cable and snatch blocks and set it up so all you have to do is hook up the boat to the cable and lower it down with the truck... Then when your ready you can hook it back up and pull the boats back up and even onto the trailer without an issue.

That is why I quit duck hunting.. It is TOO HARD !!!

That is just TOO MUCH work for a damn bird.. LOL


What about a helicopter?

We have place like that also. Usually just slide the boat down the bank to the water. When it's time to pull it out, we just hook a rope from the boat to the back of the trailer and pull it up onto flat land (or you could winch the boat up). Then just crank the boat onto the trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awjPlaYnyGs

like this?

SOMETHING TO ADD !!!

If anyone is doing this type of stuff, DO NOT GO WITH A 1/8th BOTTOM !!!!

Hell, I think you will need something like a 1/2"


Carry On..

Uncle J

I can save you the trouble. You aren't going to run a surface drive in the rivers around here. If you can, the current will be too swift from the rain to hunt it. There's a reason we went with airboats.

That's pretty much how we do it to except we just push the boat down the slope bow first. And we have two boards we use to help get the boat on the trailer. Makes it much easier.

I would also like to add that we have boats ramps steeper than the place those guys ate putting in. I put in places worse than that all the time. Just clock in four wheel drive lol

Thanks for the suggestions.... Where we want to put in is a little worse than the video, but I think it can be done.

Uncle J, after 25 years of hunting, I still manage to stay pretty angry at them duckbirds, and always seem to put in more work than your average hunter doing it. Stackin the green up deep a few times a year is all worth it to me!

Ben, I may take your suggestion and see if there is some structure to mount a winch or comealong to get it down to the waters edge.

Just take the boat off the trailer at the top of the hill, sit in it facing the water, and let ya friend push you down the hill. Hit the water running. Then he can get in his boat the same way and throw you a rope. You can pull him down the hill. Just kiddin man. Hope ya find a solution to your problem.

My exact thoughts bro

Im thinkin its the 2wd factor...

But that fuker did look pretty steep towards the end.

FT...........just use some pipe to get the boat to and from the water. FI it is mudy get some 20-40 ft section and lay them in the direction you wand to go. FI it is hard bottom you can cut the pipe into 4ft section and roll it down the hill and use the trailer winch to bring it back up the hill or pull it with you truck.

This is what we do on a rive north of here....FYI...keep the 4 ft section of PVC pipe in you boat....if you neeed it to launch you probably will need it down river........LOL

Later

PS
Get some POLY on that thing before it turn into a washboard!!!

what region is this river in Dallas? Fort Worth??

I have had a recent experince with the Trinity on the east side of Dallas

YES off of HWY 80

A couple of things come to mind. If you are going to have steelflex, frogspit, uhmw, etc on the bottom, then the boat should be ok as long as the ramp is free of gravel. Gravel is going to tear the coating off the bottom. With that being said, do you have access to anyone that could build a set of "skates" for the front and rear of the boat? I would think that using skates like furniture moving dolleys would be something to consider. Instead of solid wheels, use tires for wheel barrows to handle the terrain. One you hook up the winch, push the boat off the trailer and onto the skates and lower down the ramp. When you get back, put the skates back under the boat and winch the boat to the top. I would think with a concept like that, you would minimize the friction to the bottom of the boat and the skates would track straight up the hill, provided they are square under the boat and in line with one another. Just a thought.

I have had the same issues from time to time with a North Texas River and I do not have 4x4. I have had to pull my trailer back up the ramp by hand after unloading and then find a different spot to load after hunting.

I know's some fellers that did a sprang-over on thays trailer so thay could git mo clearance and thay just winch the trailer down .... let off .... come back .... load boat .... winch back up. I mite add that thay use a very lite rig.

http://www.sealegs.com/

and done.

Or you could get a smaller boat that is easier to load and unload