Nope. I bought it to intentionally use it, not in case. I drive my boat right up on the rampOriginally Posted by DixieChicken
On the Hambys......
That's for *in case* you come up on something more so than just intentionally driving a fiberglass hull up on ribbed CONCRETE.
I use a 20' Z-Launch, works great for me, no jerking of boat and brings her back nice and easy.
As Al said, rare to have docks at ramps around these parts.
Mike
2019 Ranger 520L w/ 250HO ETEC G2
2011 Tracker 175TXW w/ 75HO ETEC
It's kind of funny how the ramps are so different. I only know of one ramp that doesn't have a dock. I don't think I have ever seen someone beach their boat on a ramp instead of tying it up to a dock. I guess I'll lived a shelter life.
Talons.
Same here! It keeps my carpet so much cleaner since I don’t have to walk through grass and mud to the dock at the places I fish.
2014 Z8
Pro XS 250
Fortrex 112
Humminbird 999SI/859DI
I really don’t like launching by myself but I do have a z launch and use it when I do. So far it works fine. Like others have said it softens the pull back to shore. Just ease up out of the water. I do have talons and I prefer to pull up on the ramp using the hambys. You can put the talons down and barely have the boat on the ramp. Like Kimbrell224 said. Keeps the boat a lot cleaner.
2007 Ranger Z19 - 225 Pro XS
I use my Talons and a regular rope. Let the boat float. Press the Talons down and drive up the ramp. I attach the rope to the docks or a rock. Works like a charm.
Risen From The Ashes!!
put your talons on rough water mode... then a rope is not needed.
This is exactly how I launch mine. Easy and I don't have to worry about anything breaking or the boat floating into something.
2009 Triton 18x3 Pro
I fish a lot by myself. I bought the 20'er and I've never had any problems with it. I use it all the time.
2021 Phoenix 21PHX
So is it faster than idling to a dock to tie up?? I pretty much always launch by myself and feel bad I have to take extra time to park and tie the boat off. If its faster im all i for trying it. Just never heard one way or the other.
I fish by myself about 95% of the time. I am fortunate that most of the ramps I use are 2-4 lanes wide. When they are not busy I just unload and pull my boat up on the ramp via a rope. I have a heavy duty hambys so beaching on the concrete is no issue. About 10-12 years ago I came up with a easy way to unload by myself. All that is in the picture is scrap stuff I had lying around. As you can see the corners of my truck bed has holes in it. I cut a piece of conduit that fits in it length wise. On the conduit I mounted a plastic spool and attached about 20-25 ft of rope. I have hose clamps on each side of the spool. This keeps the spool from moving around side to side and it keeps it aligned with the boat. On the rope I have a large D-ring clip. I get the boat ready to launch and back down. Once I am close to the water I stop and unhook the bow strap and attach the D-ring to to bow hook. Then I back in very slow. Once the boat starts to slide and becomes detached from the trailer I pull forward until the trailer is completely out of the water. One key thing is not to hit the brakes and "shoot" the boat off the trailer. Simply come to a stop and ease into drive and pull out from under the boat. If you hit the brakes the boat wants to shoot out into the lake too fast. Once you do it a few time you will be able to ease out from under the boat and the boat stays still just floating.
Once the boat is unloaded and the truck is pulled forward I stop the truck and park. I grab the rope and pull the boat up on the ramp. I unhook the D-ring and go to the spool and start winding the rope back onto the spool. I have a bungee that I keep on the D-ring and wrap around the spool so it stays in place when not in use. Look at the picture and you will see it. In the event there is not space for me to do this on the ramp I unload the old fashion way because I don't want to block the ramp and prevent someone else from unloading. Many time people freak out and start hollering hey your boat is getting away from you. Then they see my rope and realize how I am unloading. Over the years I have gotten very proficient at unloading by myself. I even had a guy one day tell me I got on and off the ramp faster than he could with a team of two people unloading. Multiple times over the years I have had people walk over and want to see what I have on the back of my truck. I started doing this 10-12 years ago and it's by far the best way I have found to unload by myself.
I bought two Talons a little over 3 years ago. After buying Talons I do it differently. Now I do not have the rope attached to the spool. I simply use the spool to keep the rope wound up. Once the boat starts to float I hit my remote and deploy both Talons. I drive off and go park the truck. When I get back to the ramp I unhook the rope and wind it up and throw it in a storage compartment. When done fishing as I am getting my boat ready to go home I get my rope out and wind it up on the spool and attach the D-ring to keep it in place that way it's ready for the next time I get ready to unload.
Good idea - thanks for sharing
2014 Z8
Pro XS 250
Fortrex 112
Humminbird 999SI/859DI
I also put it on the Clever Tips and Ideas forum.
The rope is used to pull the boat over to the dock. Besides nothing beats a good piece of rope.
What happened to just driving it off and on the trailer?
Too many folks trying to make such a simple process complicated.
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt."
thats the point. you don't have to get into the boat. much quicker to pull it back on the ramp and go park. most of our docks spend most of the year out of the water, so youre going to be pulling up on the bank wither way
Last edited by TroyBoy30; 11-14-2017 at 09:43 AM.
All our ramps have a long, slow taper with cross cut grooves in the ramp. Kind of like parking your bow on a cheese grater. The main ramp I use is about 5 vehicles wide, so I pick a side, loosen the winch strap, float the boat, get in, and idle or troll over to the dock. Our docks aren't right next to the ramp, so floating the boat and pulling it over to the dock isn't an option. It takes me under 3 minutes from the time I back down until I pull the trailer out and go park. On the other single vehicle ramp I use I'll let someone behind me go ahead if they're not launching alone. But, I'm ready to launch when I hit the ramp, so folks can wait just a minute or two. I'm very proficient at launching and then getting off the ramp. Takes much less time than the idiots that stop at the top of the ramp to unload all their gear into the boat before launching. They seem to become more common every day.
BassCat Sabre FTD
Mercury 150 Optimax
"It's just fishing"
That is how I do it, back in enough that the rear of the boat starts to float. Lower motor and start, walk back to the front unhook bow and back boat off. Park boat and then park truck.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing it the old fashion way even if your unloading by yourself. I was simply pointing out a method that speeds up the process.
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