putting in a boat alone 2024

whats the best way to put in a jon boat when you are alone. its on a trailer of course any help is greatly apprecaited. 

I do it a LOT. I have a length of rope that is about twice as long as the boat/trailer. When I get ready to launch, I lay the rope on the deck to make sure it is not tangled and hook one end to the trailer winch. The other end is always attached to the bow eye. After I unhook the winch from the boat, remove the tie-downs, and the motor toter, I just back in the water slowly until the boat floats and then pull forward enough for me to get out of the vehicle and unhook the rope from the trailer. I then pull the boat over to the dock, shore, tie up and go park the vehicle/trailer.

Loading back up, I back the trailer in the water until the support bunks are just under the surface and then drive the boat onto the trailer, hook up the winch strap, get into the vehicle and pull away from the ramp a good ways to prepare to leave.

Another note, if your trailer does not have upright guides at the rear, add some to make loading easier. I made some for my last jon boat trailer out of 1 1/2" conduit with a PVC cover. It worked very well for many years.

There are numerous versions pre-made available from boat dealers or places like Bass Pro Shops or Cabelas.

I do it often. With a little practice it is no big deal. One of the lakes I fish often has a ramp that basically starts at the waters edge and drops very steeply into the lake. I drove myself crazy trying to trailer my boat, esp in the wind, until I add rear uprights. I now leave about 6" of support bunks out of the water when I drive on. As soon as I'm straight on the trailer, I give it a little gas and drive it on. This works well on this  ramp. On a ramp that drops slower you may have to go a little deeper. It won't take long and you will have it figured out. 8-)

I launch my boat by myself alot.  It takes time to develop a routine to make it easy.  My trailer bunks do not have carpet on them they have a plastic cover on them to make it easy to slide the boat off the trailer.  When unloading I back the trailer down in the water just enough to see the boats stern start to float.  I then unhook the boat from the winch and push it the rest of the way off the trailer.  Keep in mind to keep a dock line attatched to the bow eye or a cleat of some such.  Its that easy.  Now when it comes to loading may be a little more difficult.  I back my trailer in the water almost as far as I would to unload it.  By doing that I am able to drive the boat on the trailer.  As it gets to the bow stop I keep the boat in gear right at idle speed.  That keeps the boat from sliding back down the trailer.  I walk to the bow and hook the winch to the bow eye. Turn the boat off and trim up the motor.  Then walk back to the bow and step over onto the tounge of the trailer and tighnten everything dow.  It sounds long and complicated but its really very easy hope this helps

Thanks for the help wayne and everyone else! Since often my dad isnt up for fishing I am going to start doing this. It doesnt seem too bad, backing up the trailer isnt a problem since ive been doing it for a while now. and with some practice im sure this wont be too bad either.

  Quote

I do it a LOT. I have a length of rope that is about twice as long as the boat/trailer. When I get ready to launch, I lay the rope on the deck to make sure it is not tangled and hook one end to the trailer winch. The other end is always attached to the bow eye. After I unhook the winch from the boat, remove the tie-downs, and the motor toter, I just back in the water slowly until the boat floats and then pull forward enough for me to get out of the vehicle and unhook the rope from the trailer. I then pull the boat over to the dock, shore, tie up and go park the vehicle/trailer.

Loading back up, I back the trailer in the water until the support bunks are just under the surface and then drive the boat onto the trailer, hook up the winch strap, get into the vehicle and pull away from the ramp a good ways to prepare to leave.

Depending on the ramp, hip boots or waders make the job a cinch.  I saw a fellow beach his boat, don hip boots, wade to shore, back his trailer into the water, then wade over to his boat, push it back until he could get the bow on the trailer, pulled it up as far as he could, then attached the winch cable and finished the job. 

Hauled out the boat, snugged everything down, put his waders back into the boat, donned his sneakers, and drove off.

This was on a sandy ramp, not concrete.  Slimy paved ramps might be another story.

Worked pretty slick for this access "ramp".

He did have a length of rope clipped to the bow ring.

Just spend a couple hours at a ramp on a busy day.  You'll quickly see what to do and what not to do.

Some folks are in/out in a minute, others 20 minutes...  What is particularly amusing - unless you are behind them - is the amount of people you'll see with drive-on trailers who are apparently afraid to drive their boats on to the trailer... I can't tell you how many guys I have seen waist deep in water trying to pull a boat with a rope onto a drive-on trailer over the years...

As said, tying a rope from near the trailer winch to the bow eye should let you launch in seconds.

Practice Practice Practice.

It takes me maybe 5 minutes to put the boat in by myself.  You just have to get a routine and never waver from it.  Then practice it.  Any deviation from it will assuredly lead to missing drain plug, leaving boat attached to trailer, etc. 

I watched a boat ramp for a couple hours, last year, to pick up some tips. Wow, was that fun. It was like the cartoons before the feature movie. I highly recommend it.

  Quote

whats the best way to put in a jon boat when you are alone. its on a trailer of course any help is greatly apprecaited.

Did this all the time until I got my new boat (last August). The best part about the jon, if you don't get it back on the trailer right, no big deal, just push it there when you get it out of the water.

As for launching, follow the advice on the rope. All you need is a light outbound breeze to send your jon sailing without ya.

No biggie, did about 60 launches I'd guess with my old one while I had some entertaining times, I did not have any big issues.

If the ramp is busy and you are alone just unhook everything, trim the motor up, let everyone know, back down, and turn it loose. Someone will catch it and I never have a problem getting a ride out to the boat. Tons do it around here. Everyone appreciates it as you don't tie up the ramp. Your in the water in 15 seconds. Go park, walk back down to the ramp, and ask someone for a ride out to it. Works every time.

  Quote

If the ramp is busy and you are alone just unhook everything, trim the motor up, let everyone know, back down, and turn it loose. Someone will catch it and I never have a problem getting a ride out to the boat. Tons do it around here. Everyone appreciates it as you don't tie up the ramp. Your in the water in 15 seconds. Go park, walk back down to the ramp, and ask someone for a ride out to it. Works every time.

Man....you Texans got it made. around here, they'd laugh and throw rocks at it while it floated away. LOL.

Actually they probably would not be that bad...but definitely set everything up before getting to the ramp. I would stop up in the lot, make sure all the lines were ready, plug in, motor ready, straps off, etc then put it in tie it off and tear off to park the truck. Course the launch I frequent has 6 launches and rarely gets backed up a whole lot.

take your time!! the biggest mistake to make even when a ramp is busy is to get in a hurry as two results will likley occur: (a) you will damage something on your boat or ( it will actually take longer even longer.  I have a small 14' ft semi-V and the trailer I own is not capably of being fully driven on.  So i just idle the boat to the trailer, hit the kill switch and let the boat drift onto the trailer rests.  Then I get up putt the winch down to the nose of the boat, hook it up, work my way up my bumper and winch that baby nice and tight.  Ive seen number of individuals (even with nicer boats) tear the s*** out of their boat and equipment making stupid mistakes.  Take your time and be patient.  Everybody on the water would rather see a successful boat loading attempt rather than one full of mistakes and being rushed.  Noone will laugh at your and in fact, you can catch yourself laughing at the other idiots that tear the heck out of their rigs that are worth 20x more than your aluminum boat.

  Quote

take your time!! the biggest mistake to make even when a ramp is busy is to get in a hurry as two results will likley occur: (a) you will damage something on your boat or ( it will actually take longer even longer. I have a small 14' ft semi-V and the trailer I own is not capably of being fully driven on. So i just idle the boat to the trailer, hit the kill switch and let the boat drift onto the trailer rests. Then I get up putt the winch down to the nose of the boat, hook it up, work my way up my bumper and winch that baby nice and tight. Ive seen number of individuals (even with nicer boats) tear the s*** out of their boat and equipment making stupid mistakes. Take your time and be patient. Everybody on the water would rather see a successful boat loading attempt rather than one full of mistakes and being rushed. Noone will laugh at your and in fact, you can catch yourself laughing at the other idiots that tear the heck out of their rigs that are worth 20x more than your aluminum boat.

x2

just get into a routine and you'll be fine.

  Quote

id never do this with my bass boat. i back down the ramp, un-hook the safety chain, fire the motor and back off.

at electric only lakes same thing sept i back deeper, un-hook the safety chain, then push the boat off the trailer and hop on. then i kick the trolling motor down.

some one launches like that and their boat drifts around digging their prop in my boat and things would get ugly.

Launching a boat alone can be quite stressing sometimes.

I have a 16ft deep v and there are ribs on the bottom of the boat that have literally 1inch of play on the bunks. One 5mile gust of wind will knock me off when I decide to drive on. So I've taken the wader approach and hop in the water and guide the boat on. I use guide-ons but still have little room for error.

depends on the situation if its dead and no other boats i tie my line on and back in let it start to float off then hop out and lead it to shore or the dock. if its a busy ramp (one i go to is a 4 lane shared ramp and sometimes super busy) i will leave the winch line attached then get the boat barely lifting then hop in and motor it off the trailer. either way its no more difficult than doing it with a partner it just takes a little longer no biggie!

After reading these replies I'm glad I have a little boat. Back down, get out push the boat off the trailer and tie it up.

Loading, I grab the rope in one hand and the winch strap in the other, get the boat straight with the rope and connect the strap quick and then start cranking. 12 foot and fairly light makes it easy enough to straighten on the trailer if need be. It also helps I usually dress to get wet when fishing and don't mind going in the water at all. And I LOVE taking my boat out by myself!  ;D

  Quote

Just spend a couple hours at a ramp on a busy day. You'll quickly see what to do and what not to do.

Some folks are in/out in a minute, others 20 minutes... What is particularly amusing - unless you are behind them - is the amount of people you'll see with drive-on trailers who are apparently afraid to drive their boats on to the trailer... I can't tell you how many guys I have seen waist deep in water trying to pull a boat with a rope onto a drive-on trailer over the years...

As said, tying a rope from near the trailer winch to the bow eye should let you launch in seconds.

Pick any major lake boat dock on Memorial day. Set up a chair an umbrella and a cooler of beer. You'll laff your head off for as long as you sit there. I guarantee it.

loading a boat isnt rocket science. most modern trailers will all but load the boat for you. the problem i see 95% of the time is backing the trailer into the water too far.

I do the hip wader thing.  I have a 12 and 14' vhull aluminum.  I just unhook the back end of the boat, back the trailer in the water, unhook the front from the winch or untie from the front post, push the boat out with a long length of rope tied to the front and walk over to the side of the ramp and tie the boat up and move the car. Reverse the job to get to boat back on the trailer..easy.  I never have anyone to help me. Always done it alone. I see a lot of guys at the ramp doing it.

  Quote

loading a boat isnt rocket science. most modern trailers will all but load the boat for you. the problem i see 95% of the time is backing the trailer into the water too far.

It took a little while for me to learn this simple lesson. Too deep is a bad thing.

Oh, one thing nobody has mentioned, DON'T FORGET TO TURN YOUR HEADLIGHTS OFF...just leave your parklights on.  It tends to blind people. 8-)

I have a fairly long rope attached to the eye on the bow I usually pinch it in the tailgate. I have the safety and winch line unhooked. I will back down enough to float it pull back up and grab the rope and tie it off quick to the dock and park the vehicle. I don't know how many people would take me to my boat around here, and I just have a 16ft with a 25hp motor.. It wouldn't be fun jumping into this boat.

Funny you should ask this as I had to do this for the first time last week. I always go with a buddy but this time I went alone. I actually kept myself up a little the night before going through the motions of trying to do it myself.

Before I got to the ramp I got EVERYTHING ready to go. Then watched a few people go out. Someone solo came by and I thought now I'm gonna watch how it's done. Instead, when he started to back down the ramp I went over and told him my situation and that I would help him out if he helped me out. He couldn't have been more appreciative.

We helped each other and it was a breeze. He told me how he does it alone and it made sense. He backs down till the boat is barely floating and then walks down the trailer and pushes it the rest of the way, then ties to the dock and parks the truck.

On my way in later in the day I docked, got my trailer down the ramp and of course made the rookie mistake of having my trailer too deep. Sure enough a guy at the dock was more than happy to guide me driving up the ramp to the right trailer depth. I simply pulled the boat onto the trailer enough to be able to drive away from the ramp.

Practice makes perfect and the fact that southern anglers are probably the nicest people you ever met doesn't hurt either.

previous topic

next topic