Launching small, trailered boat in pond with no ramp

Anyone have any insight on this? Say you have one of the small plastic boats about 10' long... Bass Raider, Pond Prowler, Basstender, etc. and it's on a trailer and rigged out and kinda heavy to load off the trailer by hand. Or a jon boat. (I have both.)

If you could launch the boat just like you do at a concrete ramp, that would be most handy, as you could leave the boat rigged up with trolling motor and all the stuff on it. But without a concrete ramp, is this going to present problems? The bottom in most ponds around here is mush. Does that even matter, as long as it's not too deep where you launch?

Of course, the other issue is not to back up so close that you get your truck stuck. It would have to be dry, and firm ground.

I can take it all off the trailer but it sure would be handier to just back it in. Even if you could just get the back of down to the pond, maybe you could push it off into the water.

I have an idea but it will take some modification to the trailer. The idea by-the-way is not original – I bought a boat and trailer with this feature and plan to modify the trailer I have now.

The tongue of the trailer was two concentric square tubes. There was a pin that held the inner in the outer. Pull the pin, extend the tongue and replace the pin. The tongue is now much longer allowing you to keep the wheels of the truck on solid ground while the aft of the boat was in the water.

I would lower the jack with the trailer still attached to my Ranger. Pull the pin. Then push the boat back till the holes lined up in the extended position and reinsert the pin. Raise the jack, and back it in.

Pictures below.

Attachment 234786

Attachment 234787

Attachment 234788

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Clint

I have an idea but it will take some modification to the trailer. The idea by-the-way is not original – I bought a boat and trailer with this feature and plan to modify the trailer I have now.

The tongue of the trailer was two concentric square tubes. There was a pin that held the inner in the outer. Pull the pin, extend the tongue and replace the pin. The tongue is now much longer allowing you to keep the wheels of the truck on solid ground while the aft of the boat was in the water.

I would lower the jack with the trailer still attached to my Ranger. Pull the pin. Then push the boat back till the holes lined up in the extended position and reinsert the pin. Raise the jack, and back it in.

Pictures below.

Attachment 234786

Attachment 234787

Attachment 234788

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Is it rare for trailers to come with this telescoping feature?

Now, this still does not solve the issue of a muck bottom. Hoping somebody has insight on that issue, as well, if it is one. I might need to invest in hip waders, lol.

If you have a 4x4 its not to bad. I back my 14ft boat into ponds every now and then and have had no problems even leaving it in 2x4. The trailer tires usually sink to the axle but it always come right back out.

Wish I had pictures of how my buddy would launch his 14' Louisiana Traveler. He had a giant 3/4 ton Ford 4X4 and would launch it in the barrow pits, long as there was not a tree he put it in the water. He could push the boat and trailer right over and through brush and mud and put it in. Course he did not have to worry about getting stuck either. Just be careful around the dried gumbo, break the crust and can be in a world of stuck real quick.

I say launch it and fish. Worry about getting stuck later. Seriously, I doubt that the muck will cause you any problems. I've been launching an 14' john with a 35 evinrude in similar conditions with little to no problems.

I have a 16 ft little crappie boat on a custom built roller /tilt trailer. You back the wheels up the shore and push the boat off by hand. It just rolls off and about half way launched the rear part of the trailer breaks over and off she comes. I have walk boards on the trailer. To load it back on you just land the boat next to the trailer,push it back out while holding a rope, walk out on the trailer and pull the boat to you. Grab the handles and start pulling it back on,about half way back on hook on winch and on she comes. I bought it from a guy who built it. Real old now....but I still use it now and then. Launch that thing anywhere. Launched in a bunch of ponds,small creeks and what have you. You have to tilt the outboard up high if the bank is shallow but that's it. Neat little rig... have caught enough fish out of that thing to fill a whole string of dump trucks LOL.

maybe try some skies under the tires, like we use for ice fishing. i would make them wider for your aplication.



or some fat tires like these.Attachment 234968

or maybe some removable "wide tire skins". they could strap on on like chains.

or maybe ramps you could lay at shore to run trailer out on.


anything would be better than skinny trailer tires rutting up shorelines. interesting situation, will have to watch this thread.

Clint, that is a great extension you made. wish i would have seen that before i added 4 ft to mine. some ramps are shallow at high water and needed the reach.

Maybe a kayak?

we used to launch my 16 foot fiberglass off the bank back in the day . i had a little bitty Mitsubishi truck that was 2 wheel drive .
i found spots that had a hard bank and a pretty good drop .....
when it was time to go i let the air out of the back tires to about 10 psi and had a bud sit on each fender well
of course we wasnt very old at the time and not very smart but we never got her stuck rotfl

we actually have done the same with the tongue extension...ours is adjustable every foot up to 18'. Sure, looks a little crazy, but we now haven't found a pit we can't get into. Plus, with a new pit we have found, we put in once with my 650 Artic Cat, and between the power of the motor, and the winch, we were able to get it out, but just barely. So, we have engineered a way that the whole "guides" that the boat sits on can be pulled off the back of the trailer with an electric winch about 16 foot off the back of the trailer. Add that to the tilt trailer it sits on, and we don't even have to have the trailer in the water to put the boat in. SOMETIMES WE DO CRAZY THINGS TO GET TO THE FISH....THIS MIGHT BE THE CRAZIEST I'VE SEEN...BUT MAN ARE WE ON SOME LARGE PAPERMOUTHS THAT OTHERS CAN'T GET TO!

BTW, an opposite of this thread theme is... the man who let me fish his three ponds, they were all within a few hundred yards of another one. His pasture was heavy with grass. I had a drag rope attached to the eyelet in the front of each pontoon. We hooked the rope center to the trailer hitch of his 4-wheeler and dragged it from pond to pond. I worried about the bottom of my boat but I couldn't see any evidence of wear! I've even entertained ideas of... how could dragging that boat be done better! A portable dolly with big fat tires would be one solution. But I guess if we do it again and there is still no evidence of wear, carry on! Or maybe spray some silicone on the boat bottom?

i wore holes into the ribs of my aluminum boat back in the day dragging it ....
might be careful doing that ....never noticed any "additional" wear till she started LEAKING .....

I had a 14' flat bottom Jon boat with a 9.8 HP outboard that I launched by myself with no ramps at various places. I had the bunk boards sticking out about 4' behind the trailer. Trailer was a tilt boat trailer with a long winch strap. With knee boots or hip waders I could launch it about anywhere. To load it I'd tilt the trailer until the bunk ends hit the water then nose the boat up to the bunk ends. From there I'd hook the winch strap and crank it on the trailer. The weight of the boat would cause the trailer to tilt back down as it slid on. Good luck with whatever you come up with.

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