Securing your rib on the trailer??? - Page 3

Nick Hearne · 22 June 2004, 11:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michaels

Becuse it feels very secure and I anly have the RIB on a trailer once or twice a year - only moving it for some few kilometers everytime. It does not seem to "unlike" the strapping.

Well I still think you would be better off using the U bolts in the transom & the bow! Evan for short trips.
Nick

Jono · 22 June 2004, 11:45

Fliipin' 'eck, Nick!
Give the guy a break! We do still live in a democracy and everyone's entitled to their own views and methods....as long as there is no danger to others, he can do what he likes to his own boat.

Nick Hearne · 22 June 2004, 12:23

Jono so I was a bit grumpy this morning! But I still think this is the wrong way of going around fixing your boat to the trailer & I do not like bad advice to be given out to others when safety is concerned. I did ask for any good reason why to use the over the tube method to which we got "Because it feels very secure and I anly have the RIB on a trailer once or twice a year - only moving it for some few kilometers every time. It does not seem to "unlike" the strapping."
Against

Where on the tubes

Tubes will deflate as temperature goes down this will happen as you are going down the motorway with the cooling effect of the wind!

If you put them on then could then it Worms up they will bite in to the tubes!

The give in the tubes can lead to the boat bouncing around on the trailer.

The list goes on & on, anyone can come up with anything against using the U bolts?
Nick

Michaels · 22 June 2004, 12:42

This might count?
- My transom is aprox one meter behind the end of the trailer. My thoughts were that this could give some slack and it would be better to pick the straps around the tubes. A 6 minutes drive will not have major impact on the tubes temperature. The trailer could ideally be even longer, but it's not mine and I will not buy one due to pricing, storage and rarely needed.

And it is very easy just to put my very wide 3-4" (7,5-10cm) cargo straps around.

Scary Des · 22 June 2004, 13:20

Another thing to think about is the difference in weight, an 8mtr rib will load the trailer suspension to a point were it is really working, I noticed the difference between my Tornado (5.4m & 600kgs) and my Pac22 (6.5m & 2000kgs). The Pac22 never really bounces like the Tornado used too. If anything the car needs strapping down

and I think that if I didn’t use straps it wouldn’t move. Having said that I do use ‘u’ bolts and strapping. Des

Nick Hearne · 22 June 2004, 13:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michaels

This might count?
- My transom is aprox one meter behind the end of the trailer. My thoughts were that this could give some slack and it would be better to pick the straps around the tubes. A 6 minutes drive will not have major impact on the tubes temperature. The trailer could ideally be even longer, but it's not mine and I will not buy one due to pricing, storage and rarely needed.

And it is very easy just to put my very wide 3-4" (7,5-10cm) cargo straps around.

So we are saying that it is alright for popping around the corner but not for long trips?
I should think you would want a bigger trailer for longer trips as well if you have 1 meter overhang as the weight of that Volvo will not be supported by the trailer!

Nick

Mark Halliday · 22 June 2004, 13:37

1
A friend has recently noticed that his trailer is bent. The thinking seems to be that the boat has been bouncing and that has bent it. It is now tied down, even to go a few miles.

2
The other owner of Renegade had to break very hard once. The boat was only held on by the winch strap. The winch released and the boat rode up over the bow block and stopped with the bow D ring above the top of the rear screen. Aparently it looked like the RIB was trying to hump the car.

It is now tied down with a ratchet strap from the trailer to the aft rings, and fixed to the winch post at the bow.

3
Last summer in N Brittany I passed a Dutch combo (20 something ft motor boat) which had come to grief.
The tow car was embeded in the Armco on the central reservation, the trailer (still on the tow hitch) was in the centre lane and the boat was across the inside lane, still attached to the winch.

Tieing down, how ever you do it seems to be a good idea.

jwalker · 22 June 2004, 21:20

Mark, are you suggesting that some folk don't tie the boat down at all? They only have the winch rope attached?

Ribald · 22 June 2004, 21:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwalker

Mark, are you suggesting that some folk don't tie the boat down at all? They only have the winch rope attached?

Once followed a 7M+ RIB with a 250 Mercury on the back along the A27 from Pompey to Chichester Marina. When I got there went over to have a look at the beast and noticed that the only attachment to the trailer was the winch strap. Owner said that he did not have a problem with that as "it was a good strong winch" Withdrew hastily and vowed that if I saw him on the road again would turn off at next junction no matter where it went.

Jackwabbit · 23 June 2004, 07:29

Our dive club have been using straps over the tubes & tied to the trailer by the painter on our SIB’s since 1969 without any problems. So when we picked our first RIB from Humber, we didn’t think anything wrong when Humber had it attached to the trailer by 2 straps over the tubes & just the winch. (They didn’t supply this boat with even a painter to tie it down as a secondary attachment.)
I haven’t been too happy while towing like this, because the boat does seem to bounce a lot & after having the winch fail while winching the boat on the trailer I started to have serious concerns.
I changed the winch for one with twice the rating of the old one, but still felt it should have some other way of securing it. This is the first trailer we have had with rollers all the others have banks, so the boats don’t slide off the trailers so easy. My biggest concern was the winch would fail & the boat would roll back & maybe snap the painter, thus leaving the boat in the middle of the M25 (it doesn’t bare thinking about does it?)
After seeing the thread about the child being killed, someone put a picture on showing a small length of chain between to the trailed & boat. what a simple idea, why hadn’t I thought of that? So I was straight down to the DIY store to get a length of chain, & a couple of shackles.
Now reading this thread I have been looking at attaching a couple of ratchet straps to the back of the boat, it doesn’t have any D rings on the transom so for the time being I have looped the straps round the A frame.

Mark Halliday · 23 June 2004, 08:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwalker

Mark, are you suggesting that some folk don't tie the boat down at all? They only have the winch rope attached?

JW
Not suggesting, I know it to be a fact.

Rupert Bear · 23 June 2004, 10:27

I have seen this several times as well, not sure if it is laziness or ignorance of just how much a risk they are taking...............

Alex Brown · 23 June 2004, 12:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Halliday

JW
Not suggesting, I know it to be a fact.

We get that a lot down here with only the front winch (also no lights, just boat on trailer), frightening to see in some cases, more so when it's on a rusty old trailer with wheels that wobble around

When towing, I use the 2 straps supplied with the boat from Humber over the tubes, one just ahead of the a-frame, and one just ahead of the console, the winch strap on the bow, and chain and a shackle on the bow.
I won't put a strap through the eyes at the back of the boat to the trailer 'cos that to me is trying to pull the boat forward which is not what I want if I am involved in a head on collision. As it is, the overhead straps hold the boat down very nicely, and would probably also stop the boat from flying forward if the chain/winch setup failed.

Looking at the chain thing, I snap the break away cable onto the van itself, and not the towball, so if the towball came away with the trailer, at least the trailer breaks would stand a chance of kicking in on the slipway.

-Alex

jwalker · 23 June 2004, 12:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Halliday

JW
Not suggesting, I know it to be a fact.

B..hell. Frightening.

jwalker · 23 June 2004, 12:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ribald

...and noticed that the only attachment to the trailer was the winch strap. ...

Wife just read this. Response,"Must be nuts!"

Simon B · 23 June 2004, 14:28

In response to the accident on the slipway; would auto reverse brakes do just that if pulled on by the handbrake in the instance of a break-away cable activating it? The trailer is going backwards and the shoes are against the drum theoretically collapsing the shoes - unless I've got wrong end of stick?

Nick Hearne · 23 June 2004, 14:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon B

In response to the accident on the slipway; would auto reverse brakes do just that if pulled on by the handbrake in the instance of a break-away cable activating it? The trailer is going backwards and the shoes are against the drum theoretically collapsing the shoes - unless I've got wrong end of stick?

No Simon I agree with you brakes on a slip will work when it is rolling backwards!
Nick