Thinking about adding a Drotto to my trailer - since I have slick bunks it would be peace of mind knowing the boat is latched esp when in tournaments and being dropped or pulled out by others, and also seems like good option for solo launching as well.
Any Skeeter users have any comments or review? I searched back but only found 2 posts in the past few years, and one comment on having to change trailer bunk height.
An older guy at the boy landing talked to me about this yesterday. He had an older Lund v bottom boat, prolly 18 footer or so. So he loads up and parks around as I’m doing my thing. He is like boy I sure love that quick latch I just got. He says you aughta get one for that rig, it looks heavy and your almost in the water. So I am now going to tell you what I told him, although I’m not certain yours is the same as mine but I think it is. My boat has to come up onto the bow roller, any by a good amount. I have never tried powering the boat up that far loading, but I’d not feel comfortable doing that at any kind of speed. Now all that said if I’m wrong and your boat would be safe to do it on, that old guy the other sure loved his and made his life easy.
Edit: Also wanted to add his trailer had flexible rollers, not bunks so his maybe an easier setup.
With the slick bunks, I've never actually had to crank the boat onto the trailer, just slide it up on the trailer, usually get within a foot or so, and a tap on the hotfoot drives it home. So I don't think that would be an issue for me.
I did read one complaint about it messing up the glass on the front of the boat around the bow eye though - whether from an actual issue with the drotto system, or operator/install error I am not sure.
Yeah I would say ours are not the same. Hopefully someone has one and can chime in. I can see the convenience for sure, but yeah not worth messing up the nose for.
Yeah, here's the review - this is the only reason I haven't bought one yet, tbh. But I don't know, it's really the only complaint I've found, so you don't know if it might have been due to improper install, operator error, etc...Originally Posted by 99R93S
I have a nitro 21' and used this for a season.. it chewed the crap out of the fiberglass. loved how it worked but no on any bassboat ...... It was awesome on windy landings but geeezzz the cost to fix the glass around the latch isn't worth it. for Aluminum hulls.. go for it, worth it. NOT FOR Bassboats. you can't get a "perfect" install but mine was close. just that rubbing up and down during launches, which means you run up the teflon.. ate the sheat out of the glass. hope this helps. no returns after 90 days.. lol
That's tough. I tend to take reviews with a grain of salt too, if it seems like an outlier. That said I was looking at some youtube vids, and lots of them but only 1 bass boat. Does seem like they are not all that common on bass boats. Trying to use my mechanical brain I guess the thing that would make me wonder if bass boats are harder on them is because of the angle of keel and eyelet? On a metal or ever deeper v boat its a lot more horizontal and less of a point. Ours lay down pretty flat still at the roller/eye. So maybe instead of pushing flat against the hull ours coming up would tend to push it back down towards the back/bottom. Not sure how much sense that makes but think about hitting your eye into the trailer hard, it would want to push down almost more than in. Or even might want to push eye back and pull really hard on the front mount. Maybe that's why its hard on glass? I could be dead wrong, just thinking out loud.
Added a pic, yours I know is a little different, but mine is almost horizontal at the eye. I can imagine it would be a strain banging up tight over and over again.
Last edited by 99R93S; 09-24-2022 at 05:11 PM.
Hey 78 there is a thread about this going on in the Ranger forum. I’d link it but don’t know how. Not hard to find tho
Thanks will check it out...
I've got one on my 2021 ZX225's trailer. I love it! But, the bow eye is a little shallow for the latch, the winch hook & the safety cable hook to all fit. So I use 2 stainless steel quick links to hook up to.works like a charm! I stow them in the truck while out on the water. There's room to hook up just the winch hook, if I wasn't feeling confident due to ramp angle. I usually fish by myself so it makes my life easier.
Good to hear, I think I will pull the trigger on one - thanks.
My boat is not a bass boat so take this with a grain of salt. My MX sits high on the trailer and I fish solo 99% of the time. Since it sits so high, I need to back far enough into the water that it is almost to my driver's door (local lake, shallow ramp). The northern ramp is steeper so if I try to drive it up to the roller, it will slide back unless i leave it powered up. Adding a Drotto latch was the best thing I did to the boat/trailer. Pull up, power up slowly, CLUNK, off the throttle and hook up the strap (for safety. Nothing is foolproof). I did need to move the winch post up about 2" so the boat wasn't hanging off as much. No, it's not a bass boat but yes, it is fiberglass with no issues.
2018 Skeeter MX1825 w/175 Yamaha 4-Stroke
80# MK Ultrex w/ I-Pilot
HB Helix 10 SI Mega, HB Helix 9 SI, Helix 9, Garmin 106SV
USAF Ret
Glad I could help. One additional thing...once I hear the jaws latch, I shift into reverse bump it just a little. This confirms that the jaws have latched properly & it ensures that I have the clearance to install the two quick links. It adds just another 3-4 seconds to the whole process.
Hope you & yours stay safe during this storm.
Thanks, yeah in my area it's going to be more about rain/high water and power outages - the center/lower part of the state is taking the brunt of this one :(.
I assume per usual you will post about the install and pics. Ill be curious to see it, and hope it works well for you. I have looked at a few of your ideas for sure (even tho we have different boats). I think this one would scare me a bit, id be so afraid of that 1 time I screw up and hurt my boat. But I am only getting older, and easier is never a bad idea. Ill be lurking and waiting lol.
My dad has one on his Ranger 618. I will say from the design of them I don't think they are great for bass boats. I feel as though they are more designed for multi species boats. It seems big and clunky. I used to have a boat buddy on my champion 181 and if they were still made I would have one on my skeeter. It was a much better design for a bass boat.
Well it's months later, but I finally installed one. Installed at the ramp today, was pretty straitfoward. As discussed in this and the other Drotto thread, it's pretty "flat" due to skeeters bow rise angle, but appears to work fine. Latched up first try and latches/unlatches without much fuss. So, for now I am pleased, will have to keep an eye on area around hook for wear, but let's be realistic it's a 6 year old boat, the "newness" wore off a long time ago :).
Here's a quick vid, ignore the grime, needs cleaning. I do feel like I hit it maybe a bit to hard, so will have to work on that. Also, the person you hear talking in the background is actually the previous owner of the boat. Total coincidence we just happened to be at Palatka City Docks at the same time. He's also a member here, and we've pm'ed a few times back n forth about the boat when I bought it, but this was the first time I actually met him in person
The only thing maybe I don't like is you can't see the bar move when you latch, like they show in most of the videos. I just just the long slope of the nose and flat angle of the drotto prevents it getting high enough to see, even with the extension bar installed. That was one thing I was looking forward to, that visual confirmation that you are latched. But it click in pretty good/loud so probably not really an issue.
Also I didnt' realize they advise to remove the bar (it's quick/easy) when trailering, as it's possible if you hit a large hole/bump/etc the bar might move and undo the latch. You'll have your normal strap/chain on anyway, but might make it intersesting when launching if you don't realize it's unlatched already :).
Thank you for posting and sharing. Something I will have to give some thought to again
Looks like you're liking the Drotto. It's a great investment...I won't have another boat without one.
Where your roller is on your set up when hooked up is where my bow eye is on my 21 iClass. I could not get the Drotto Latch to hook up properly on my boat. I can see by your video that if my bow eye was back a foot or so the latch would work. I am not in favor of drilling 2 holes in my hull in order to move the bow eye. So, I have a slightly used Drotto Latch available if anyone is interested. PM me to discuss it.
PM sent.
2016 ZX250
Reply With Quote