Lesson Learnt

[shortie]

As yu guys know i took the boat out today to test the new sounder.

Got back to the ramp to retrieve the boat.

Some fool in the carpark had lfted the trailer connection to the car.

The boat was half way on the trailer when the weight was enough to disconnect the trailer from the car.

Thank God for the Safety chain or the trailer would of been in the drink.

Finished winching the boat on and drove up the ramp on the jockey wheel.

Im going to buy a lock tomorrow.

Richard

[ellicat]

Bloody idiots.

What ramp shortie ?

[shortie]

Cleveland

[Feral]

You might be very lucky twice Shortie, they might have been in the process of flogging the trailer all together when you or someone else disturbed them!

I've always had my trailer padlocked to the car, low lifes will flog anything!

[Leighton]

shortie wrote:

Cleveland

I think you are a very lucky man, I would put down money you were about to have your trailer knocked off. I have herd of several being nicked from that ramp. Sounds to me like a lookout saw you coming and you were spared the frustration.

IMO Trailer locks are a cheap insurance policy if only a deterant

[AZZA]

Could have just the wieght of the boat (although i dont know what sort of boat you have ) as I have seen that happen befor. Yesterday I pulled mine out of the shed on to the driveway to run the motor, when I went to reverse it back into the shed it popped of the ball it was only the sensor brakes that stopped it from comeing through the back of the patrol. I always travel with a lock over the hitch but didn't bother to put it on to go onto the driveway . My driveway is steeper than most boat ramps

[bootyinblue]

Whoa... If peoples trailers are popping off the towball then I am getting off the road! Shold be physically impossible if the connection is solid and adjusted correctly.

Yea Shortie, I have seen it happen before at Jacobs Well but with the length of the safety chain and the weight of the boat being almost right up on the trailer, the hitch end of the trailer went back, then up and then being on the chain did an arc back towards the car and finally buried itself in the tailgate.

I always use a $24.95 trailer hitch when parking the trailer. Its not huge, but just enough to display 'leave me alone and check out the trailers that are easier to steal'

[Gad]

Just a note guys..Last year i got rid of my old tinnie and bought a new one[mako 3.8,o/b & trailer]insured it.was told that if it ,or part of it was stolen i would have to prove that i had taken steps to minimise it being stolen.eg boat secured to trailer,chain and lock , o/b same thing,trailer to car same thing.I went to Bunnings and bought padlock set,4locks with identical keys,supercheap auto for trailer lock.Solves insurance requirements,gives some peace of mind,and deters light fingered opportunists.Bottom line is if the scumbags are going to theive something they always seem to come prepared[toolbox in the boot]

[chubbstar]

I've heard the go is to steal the trailer and come back for the boat when the trailer owner go's to get another trailer:angry:

I had one of these and found it to be realy good. They are as cheap as chips also:woohoo:

[img size=400]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/trailer_20lock.jpg

I think you were lucky mate.

Jayson

[Gad]

Yep, Cubbstar,their the go,but guys,remember to take it off before you drive off,as they can restrict the swing on the trailer when cornering,reversing etc

[big al]

insurance companys they say pad lock & chain is not good enough they say you must have a approved locking device as the one above or similiar :woohoo: CHECK THE FINE PRINT on your policy:ohmy:

[Gad]

Hi al, yea trailer to car yea.welded chain from trailer winch to winch hooh eye on boat padlocked,same as chain from o/b to transom padlocked was deemed to be ok by Suncorp enquirey.Query to this guy also was, if i and beach anchored on west side of sth straddie removed my start/stop clip and walked over to the surf side to fish,how do i security wise secure boat for insurance requirements,he said he would call back.4days later he rang back and said if i carried length of chain and secured this to afixed object with a padlock this would be deemed as having met the criteria..At this point i thought it would be easier to hire armagard at least i`d have someone on hand to do the deep end of the baitnet.But yea it`s always in the fine print somewhere:

[big al]

gad i think insurance co always have a way out:ohmy: that bit about boat on beach:huh: a sand isl with nothing else on it:ohmy: even a tree someware youd need a long chain:side: :silly: al

[Gad]

al, yea mate i know,i think the closest some of these people get to saltwater and boating is front row seats at the cinema watching Mutiny on the Bounty.

[QueenslandeR]

those trailer locks are the go, when the fella i work with leaves his trailer onsite we chuck that on, stops people from hooking up to it if its not on your car either, i know theres a few different types around, some your are actually able to drive around with and they wont effect your turning much at all. sucks that theres scumbags out there who think that just because they dont have anything good of their own, that they can try steal/ruin someone elses.

josh

[brisbane_boy]

what do people do with trailers they steal??

if they sell them wont it be kinda suss that people are sellin boat trailers but they dont have any boats??

[Feral]

A work if we leave a light trailer on the side of the road we take the wheels and hubs off.

[Funfisher]

I have also had this done to me! at the wello pt boat ramp and cabbage tree

[benno573]

jst a note on legality road rules wise - i have been told it is illegal to drive with them on as they do not allow the trailer to detach from the car in an emergency.

i said yes sir and took it off... haven't been able to find it in the rule book anywhere... but hey, cops can say whatever they want it would appear! apparently my AFO sticker is bordering on illegal for obscuring rear vision according to constable someone from the RBT on the way home tonight...

i always use a trailer lock at the ramp, excepting the port of brisbane where there are security cameras and the port security dudes partol every 15 minutes!. another way to deter is to hook the whole thing up to a 12v battery... or two. :laugh:

[noname]

just a couple of notes.

if you guys do use the clamp thingo with the lock, invest 50 bucks and buy a real padlock for the thing,it takes all of 2 screwdrivers to break the cheap ones...a friend was fishing the gateway early last year, saw flashing lights at colmslie where his ute was,he took off over there to see what all the comotion was all about cops everywhere, shit my ute were his thoughts, after seeing his ute was all ok decided to go back and fish.while going back to the gateway, noticed a rubber ducky police boat right beside him, he shit and stopped, he was asked by the cop why he did a uey and took off like he did,told the cop about his ute thing and going fishing again. he asked why so many police,well i shit you not. a guy up jindalee way got up at 11 pm to take a piss and saw his boat being driven away, so called the cops, they watched this scum driving from as far up the river, don't know exactly where from to the colmslie boat ramp,where his scum mates had stolen a cruiser and a trailer for this boat a 625 outsider, while they were winching up the boat the cops turned up and BUSTED. there used to be a near new trailer in the corner of the carpark with nsw rego on it, they even tried taking that as well.a couple of weeks later there was a dirty old tandem trailer sitting smack bang in the middle of the carpark in a parking bay that was bait so we were told by cops, while we were cast netting 1 night, good to see those scum busted....

[bootyinblue]

benno573 wrote:

jst a note on legality road rules wise - i have been told it is illegal to drive with them on as they do not allow the trailer to detach from the car in an emergency.

i said yes sir and took it off... haven't been able to find it in the rule book anywhere...

What the frick is the safety chain there for? To stop the vehicle and trailer separating!

But then again... what would I know