I was at Fayette yesterday and a gentleman with a brand new 3/4 tom GMC (I think) got to sliding backwards while launching his boat. The vehicle got almost completely submerged. A guy I talked to at the end of the day said he witnessed the incident and the truck owner told him he had his truck in park and the emergency brake set and the truck still got pulled in. So I don't know but the sad result is his truck is ruined. I witnessed a similar situation about 5 years ago at that ramp involving a Dodge 1500. It slid in after the driver panicked and got the back wheels spinning. It was a two wheel drive 1500. Basically brand new as well and it went completely under. Both ramps at Fayette get algae growing on them and they can be really slick when they get wet. I don't use that ramp at Park Prairie for that reason even though it is a much better ramp than Oak Thicket. I also installed a "trick step" which I hang onto sometimes for dear life when Im trying to take my boat out at Oak Thicket. So be careful. Those ramps get slick.

The increasingly bad potholes and fits in the road to Oak Thicket usually make me decide to go to Park Prairie. I’ve slipped and tripped on the algae on the ramp, but so far been lucky (careful) and haven’t had any vehicular problems. But I saw a guy spinning tires like crazy a couple of years ago and even they towed out. Risky business!

I don't use Park Prairie because I have to back so far in the water. I learned the hard way about slippery ramps at Lake Wood one winter day. I slipped on the slick ramp and slid all the way under my trailer. Since then, I plan each launch. Most of the times a guy has problems pulling out is driver error. Too heavy of foot. I drive a Chevy crew cab, short bed, two wheel drive and have never had a problem pulling my boat out at Oak Thicket. A light foot is required.

Exactly! So many who don't know any better are frightened by the ramp, so they do the opposite of what they should - by putting their foot in the gas tank as soon as they release the brake.

Need to hire a 2-hr mobile power washer crew and get 'er done. Have about 5 guys go in on it that use the ramp and it would be a cheap price to pay for a non-slick ramp.

The story seems odd in that a vehicle that is sitting motionless (in Park with emergency brake set) is usually not the beginning of a bad event. It's less common that a stationary vehicle spontaneously starts sliding.
I'd question the second hand info: it's not out of the question that the "right answers" of the story are for insurance purposes.

Two scenarios come to mind for a wet truck, and are the :
1) Backing down the ramp too aggressively, then trying to stop the momentum when stopping is difficult, resulting in a loss of traction and a slide into the water. EASING down the ramp slowly can make a huge difference in avoiding this. Some people go down the ramp too fast, and then just can't stop.
2) Using too much throttle too rapidly when pulling a boat out, resulting in a loss of traction from spinning tires followed by a gravity slide into the water. This can be exacerbated by someone fearful of going into the lake; they gas it abruptly when it's time to pull the boat out, and that increases the chance of traction breaking loose - they actually cause what they are trying to avoid!

I agree with Flippin-Out on the momentum issue. I’ve seen a few guys slingshot their boats off the trailer by backing down fast, the slamming on the breaks so the momentum carries the boat off the trailer. Seems stupid to me. For 30 years, I’ve backed down slowly, gotten into the boat, and backed off with the engine. Somewhere along the line it became “cool” to propel your boat off the ramp like a catapult and I can’t help wonder if this guy was doing that. Maybe not. The photo posted in another thread shows the truck facing INTO the lake, so something weird happened for sure!

I just saw the end result. Im only reporting what the witness of the actual event told me later that day at the other ramp. The panic issue is what happened to the Dodge truck that I witnessed several years ago at that ramp. When the truck backed the boat in and stopped so it could be unhooked, the truck continued to slide backwoods. Driver put the truck in gear and tried to pull forward. Tires were spinning and smoking as the truck continued backwoods into the lake. When the boat and trailer dropped off the ramp it pulled the truck off the ramp with it. Pretty spooky. At least the driver had sense to keep the window down so he could swim out of the truck.

The truck would either stop, or continue to slide backwards, but it seems impossible for it to do both? How would that work? It stopped, or it didn't. Since in was in the lake, I gather it didn't!
Now, if he put on the brakes, and it continued moving, but with wheels sliding instead of turning - that's the classic case of backing down too fast and/or slamming on the brakes too abruptly and hard, causing the loss of traction and beginning of a slide instead of stopping. Moving slowly and applying the brake gently make a world of difference that some never get.

Who knows dude. The guy just trashed an $ 85,000 truck. Why do you take so much exception to what anybody posts. I have noticed this before about some of your comments. You come up with good points and then you go off track.

was just trying to understand how that scenario happened. The ramp miraculously is an issue for the few, and likely not for thousands. Granted the ramp can get slick, so can a lot of them. The difference probably boils down to operator/technique. Even still, a truck doesn't stop but keep going! ...except maybe in quantum physics where both can happen at the same time, allegedly.

I can tell you from personal experience that it can go bad in a hurry. One moment of lack of focus can sink a truck in a hurry. I did it back in the seventies on Lake Mexia. I backed in just like always, and then I made a mistake, instead of shutting the truck off, I set the brake, put it in neutral and climbed in the boat to back it off the trailer. As soon as the boat broke free, the truck rolled back and I could not get it stopped. All that was showing was the CB antenna. I called a wrecker and that guy was a trooper, getting in the water and hooking up. This happened in February and I promise the water was cold!
What went wrong? I didn't kill the engine and put it in low gear as I had done thousands of times. And, emergency brakes don't hold very good backing up.
It can happen, but if a person maintains their focus the chances are better it won't happen.

I bet that was chilly! I've broken ice on water over my boots that was no fun at all. I'm too chicken to ever consider not putting the truck in park and shutting off the engine. If one does go in, the loss is far worse if the engine is running. My preference is someone sitting in the seat to pull out after launch.

In my case, losing the engine was a blessing. It was a Ford 6 cylinder. I had a freshly overhauled Chevy 283 and transmission sitting in the garage with no home. It served me for about 15 years pulling my boat all over Texas. And it was a boss from red light to red light with the 3.92 rear axle. Surprised many Mustangs.

I had a 22 ft Nautic Star. I put the boat most the way in and had my father in law back the last few feet. I had the truck in 4WD. When he backed it up he hit the brakes and it started sliding, then he hit the gas and it slid more while smoking the tires . I ran the boat back up on the trailer and gassed it to stop it. Pretty interesting for a few second.

When we came back he said “need any help, want me to drive the truck?” I said, “No, that’s ok, I got it.”

Plus the buzzards ate all the rubber trim on my truck once.

I never go to Park Prairie. Always go to Oak Thicket.