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[email protected] justwaitafrekinminute@gmail.com is offline
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First recorded activity by BoatBanter: Apr 2007
Posts: 7,609
Default Pulling boat out with FWD

On Apr 1, 3:50*pm, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:
On Tue, 1 Apr 2008 10:03:52 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
On Apr 1, 12:36*pm, "Robert M. Gary" wrote:
I was thinking of taking the new boat to the lake this afternoon using
my wife's car. She has a FWD Saturn Vue with the factory larger tires.
It has the towing capacity but a friend warned me that FWD vehicles
may be more likely to spin out pulling a boat out of the water. The
car as electronic traction control. If it slips does it help to let
air out of the tires? I do carry a 10,000 lb tow rope. If someone is
around and I can't get it out I guess I could ask for a pull, but
hopefully I won't have to. Any tricks are appreciated, hopefully it
won't be an issue but I don't want to get stuck.


-Robert


A big variable with front wheel drive cars is the incline of the ramp.
If the ramp is steep you'll get less traction. Other variables are
total weight of boat, tongue weight, what the ramp is (concrete,
gravel, etc) and whether it's generally slippery when wet, etc. I've
got a ramp I use that in the morning before it gets used alot is fine,
after it gets a good soaking from boats being pulled it gets slippery.


New construction ramps are now all grooved at a 90 degree angle to the
water's edge - you've be surprised at what a difference that can make
towing a boat up a ramp out of the water even when wet.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


The day I slid back I was at Baldwin Bridge, at the mouth of the CT
River, beautiful cement ramp, slotted, grooved, studded with metal
grip plates.. But with 2 inches of that sea grass, I might have well
been on a hockey rink, a tilted one Like I said, street tires, I
would have been swimming, had some pretty aggressive tires on the jeep
back then.