Hitch Height and Boat Launching

I have a 22 foot long pontoon boat. The ramp I goto to launch is not very steep. As a result, I have to back w-a-y down the ramp until the back bumper is almost in the water before I can get the boat off the trailer.

I'm wondering about the hitch and ball. I had been using a hitch with a 4" drop to the ball. Thinking about it, I switched to a straight piece, no drop. I figured if the front of the trailer goes up, the back should go down and the boat should float sooner.

This seemed logical, but in real life it seemed to make negligible difference.

Anybody have a similar experience and have any suggestions? I mean I guess there's no harm back in that far to the water... is there?

thanks

 

I suggest a hitch extender. Saw one on eBay for $20-30 a while back. I think it was a 3 footer, but I've seen longer...

 

Three feet??? That wouldn't seem a very stable way of actually towing the boat tho. All that weight and flex on a three foot pole?

 

I'm lifted about 3 inches with 32's and tow a 22 foot pontoon. The hitch I use has no drop and I back in until my back tires are about to touch the water. I can only back that far down because the ramp is short and the trailer will fall off if I go back any further. I just have my friends push the boat off while I reverse it but if the boat launch was longer I wouldn't mind submerging the back end of the truck, people do it all the time.

 

For towing you need to keep the trailer level, this is the only way to select the proper height.

As for a remedy when you get to the launch site it could not hurt to put the trailer down in the lot and change over to a extended setup if it helps your situation.

 

If its salt water I can see a lot of reasons you would want to keep your truck out of it. Can you say rust bucket.

 

This is great advice. Only change height on your hitch to level the trailer. Pontoon boats general ride on high trailers, this is why your finding yourself way down the ramp. Backing in to water (reasonably) wont harm any thing. As DoorDing said extend the breather on the diff other than that it will be fine. Even in you put it in salt water occasionally hosing it down really well and cleaning up afterwards will take care of it. Again if you backed in far enough for water to come in the windows you are not being reasonable.

 

Good point, but no, this is fresh water.

 

Why is that? I have a cargo trailer, and for that I can understand wanting the floor to be level, so things aren't tipping over. But what difference does it make to the boat? Its strapped to the trailer in the front and the back, so its not budging.

 

I dont think your issue is with your truck/boat setup, it's in the ramp you're going to. It sucks but some ramps just arent very good for launching. I also dont think you need to worry about what you're doing, just back in as far as you need to and all will be fine.

That, or find another launch if possible. I dont know about you, but i sure wouldnt wanna have to unhook my boat and add in some extender every time i got to the launch, and reverse upon leaving.

I have a 3" lift on my taco and pull my wakeboard boat all the time. I use a 4" drop hitch and can she sits good and level, even weight distribution. But if i do have to back in pretty far, i do so without worry, and have been doing that for years. just my .02

 

^^^ you want the trailer level so that the weight of the load is distributed over the trailer axels. This prevents excessive load on the hitch or even what could be considered a negative load on the hitch (the hitch actually holding the tongue of the trailer down). Either way it is not good for your truck and leads to poor tracking characteristics for the trailer.

 

You never want your trailer leaning too far back, it will not track properly and may wander on the road. Excessive wandering can cause you to jack knife. You can actually create an oscillation that will try and spin your truck around. Maybe you need a longer tongue on your trailer?

 

They are square, 2", just like your hitch. No rolling involved, but less stable for sure.

 

I put a set of approx. 8" wheels on the tongue. When I get to a shallow launch I take the trailer off the truck and push the trailer in. To retrieve, I use a 5K tow strap (with or without the boat on the tongue). I also had a pivoting trailer jack that I used when needed. Worked great for 19 years. Worked especially good at the "non ramp" boat ramp at the lakes. Everyone else would back way in and sink in the mud.

 

Hitch extender is the way to go. Use it on the ramp only, not on the road. People use long extensions (10 feet and up, sometimes with wheels on them) all the time to ramp launch sailboats. Because of a fixed keel, some sailboats ride very high on their trailers, so the whole trailer has to go a few feet under water before the hull floats. Without an extension, you'd have to submarine your truck to launch your boat.

 

IF you get a hitch extender, only use it at the ramp. Extenders reduce your towing capacity, sometimes significantly. You MUST have the trailer as close to level or a slight amount hitch down to prevent the "tail wagging the dog" for towing stability. The other problem a non-level trailer, especially a multi-axle, is you don't have an equal load on the front versus rear trailer axle, which will cause more tire wear or even a blowout.
For boats, usually 10% of the weight of your trailer plus boat should be on your hitch. Too little can cause sway. For camper and utility trailers, more like 15%.
Difference is on boats most of the weight is at the stern, other trailers are closer to balanced front to rear.