New Cobalt Owner - Trailer Question

[Lockey14s]

Never had a windlass, I do see where the challenge is with that. But I always back the trailer in the water with a certain amount of the bunks exposed. this allows me to crank the boat on center and nose up to the winch nicely. Also if you havent done it already, you need to flip your strap to come over the roll, not under.

you could put additional V bunks on the cross member just behind the V block. this might help push the bow up higher when you are winching it on.

Sorry that the trailer isnt set up too well for you, but I would be adamant about NOT power loading and figure out a way to winch it on.

[Snowman8]

Couple things.
I also had a Monterey, but a 228. Never had to power load / unload. Dealer says that's the only way to do it with a 25' boat.

I think I have the loading whipped although I am probably at 1k rpm to do it. Not as much of a concern since the motor is warmed up. Unloading is still a struggle.

Lockey14s - never and had a windlass? I would love to see more pictures of R5's with windlass on a trailer. I think the real solution is to lower the bow stop but haven't convinced dealer yet.

Crazy thing is and something I really didn't put any thought in was the trailer (I put a ton of thought into every detail of the boat when ordering it - that's what I do ) The boat is amazing - a 10, the trailer a 5! Love the 6.2 and DP. Read a lot of thoughts on the new Volvo Penta both pros and cons but wow! Great motor!

I was in the same boat as you as my boat is a 10 and my old trailer was maybe a 2. I don’t have windlass but my old EZLoader trailer was horrible to load, the boat was never on straight and level. I was told by everyone how to do it and that I was doing it wrong but I have been loading boats since I have been about 12 years old with my dad and I have never had so much trouble as I did with that trailer. No matter what I did the boat wasn’t on the trailer level. I finally cut my losses, sold my old trailer and ordered a custom Loadmaster trailer. This trailer is incredible! The boat has never been on crooked, ever! It also pulls like a dream, I hardly know our R5 is behind our F150. I have the same adjustable low bow stop that Tuscany posted a picture of and even though I don’t have windlass I love everything about that trailer.

I see 2 possible problems with your bow stop and winch stand. I think your bow stop may be little high so the anchor will contact it while floating on and off the trailer but your winch stand is definitely too low and too far back. I had a low windlass bow stop on my old EZLoader and it was setup the same way as yours. With the winch stand low like that I could never get the boat to seat into the V in the bow stop, the winch would pull down too much and pull the bow down not allowing the boat to fully seat into the V bow stop. It would seat while the trailer was in the water and the back of the boat was floating up off the rear of the bunks but once I pulled it out of the water the stern would settle on the rear of the bunks and the bow would pull away and out of the V in the bow stop. Once out of the water I couldn’t crank the boat a couple inches to get the boat of the boat seated.

It was definitely a hard pill to swallow to sell a trailer and spend a few thousand more on another trailer but I have zero regrets now!!! Good luck and hopefully you get this figured out soon, a bad trailer can ruin a great day on the water!

[FirstStar]

Thanks for the comments. I forgot to add the picture of where it's at now. I turned the winch stand around, where it should have been in the first place. That keeps the winch handle from contacting the anchor and also makes for straight pull if I need to winch it the last few inches. I also added a step, it was almost impossible to get on and off the front. I think the bow stop modification will be the final solution (hope not a whole new trailer - Snowman8) Going to try the spray on lube and see how that works out first. It's not bad enough now to put out of commission at the start of the season. Plenty of time in the off season to do anything else.

[AsLan7]

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Thanks FS...looks sharp.
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