last winter (I may have reported this already, if so, I apologize for the redundant posts), as I was lining the boat up with the trailer to load, I noticed the reverse lights were on (did I mention I was alone?)........luckily the parking brake held, I very nearly panicked......I was afraid that if I came in too fast and bumped it, well you know.........you never saw somebody scramble through the open hatch of a Ford Explorer so fast. I left the outboard running in gear just in case the extra push might help keep the truck out of the water. That was the last time I let the dog wait in the car while I launch or load.

Ok, so this past Saturday, I unintentionally discovered a solution, to avoid that kind of panic........after spending the day chasing white bass & hybrid stripers around RH...

Like before, I was coming round to load up, only this time I calmly drove on to the trailer, hooked it up, jumped onto the ramp in ankle-deep 56� water (yeah, December and I'm fishing in shorts & sandals, temp 75� and dead calm at sundown......who says global warming is a bad thing?). Dusty was safely tethered over to the side, barking......as if I'd ever driven off without him (I haven't).

Climb into the drivers seat & turn the key to start the engine.......nothing. Anybody care to take a guess? The engine wouldn't start because.............




it has to be in PARK for the starter to engage.........it just doesn't work in REVERSE....duh!!!

HAHA some lessons are learned the hard way. hopefully it doesnt take you the hard way by calling a tow truck to pull your explorer out of the water!

My solution is very simple (and I have an Explorer as well). I ALWAYS place a chock behind one of the wheels before I walk away from the truck. However, I always leave it in Park with the engine running ...

Are you saying you did it TWICE!!!!!???????? That IS a hard learned lesson. Glad to hear your truck didn't end up in the lake. I've done my share of stupid things at the ramp. Luckily none of them ended expensively (is that even a word)? Maybe you need to put a sticky note on your rear-view "IS IT IN PARK???" whenever you take the boat fishing. Hehehehehehe!!!!!!

Good judgement comes from experience, experience comes from bad judgement

Don't ask me how I know this....

a couple of pulleys and a rope. tie the rope to the shifter and to the door. when you open the door it jerks the shifter into park. even the dog could have figured that one out.

That is the kind of "stuff" that happens to a few of my fishing buddies

Wish my luck had been that good. When I as a teen (which has been a few years ago) my Dad and Mom took one of a few trips without us young uns. I had permission to use my Dad's truck and boat to do a little fishing on the Nolan River, upper Whitney. A friend of mine, a gentleman about 15 years my senior, was going along to help. We had a nice fishing trip, with a box full of sandies. When it came time to load the boat I asked my friend to help out by holding the brake on the truck. You see, the Park did not work and the emergency brake would not hold. Well, my land lubber friend was "scared of the water" and would not hold the brake and would not load the boat either. I used the old chock under one wheel, Zeek. You know what, that don not workie. When I trailered the boat and it hit the pads the truck moved a little forward. JTEX, I can understand you not wanting to "hit" that trailer too hard. Well, my damage was done. So, I attempted to "hold" the truck with the boat. That worked until the trailer was too deep in the water and the boat ended up in the bed of the truck. Not a good place for a 17 foot tri-hul to be. Luckly a fellow fisherman with a truck and chain came to our rescue, after the truck was dash deep in the water. We pulled it out and back to my friends house. Called my Dad to tell him my story...... Come to think of it, he never said much about that little accident. What a GREAT DAD! What a hard lesson - Don't ever bring a friend who is afraid of the water fishing........... Make sure the park and emergency brake both work - and that they are both in the proper position.

Fishnmexia,

You are lucky...MY dad would have KILLED me!!!!! I only put a scratch in his truck once...what an awful day in my life.

I went to Eagle Mountain years ago with a buddy who's dad let us use his boat. Every thing went fine till we loaded up and he started to pull up the ramp. The boat slid off the trailer right on to the ramp I'm not sure that he ever told his dad what happened but half the skeg was missing and the boat was pretty dinged up. Thank goodness it was an aluminum boat and we were able to get it back on the trailer with out having to call for help.

Another boat ramp warning---I saw a guy loading a big fiberglass boat at Lavon one day on a ramp with a 15-20+ cross wind. He was loading on the downwind side of the ramp. After he got the boat on the trailer and tied down, but before he could get it pulled out of the water, the waves and wind action against the side of his boat pushed his trailer tires off the downwind side of the ramp and the slow, panicked descent into the lake began. His pickup couldn't pull the boat and trailer back up on the ramp, the wind and waves really started working on the boat and trailer, he couldn't get the boat unhooked from the trailer, and every wave send the whole mess deeper and deeper. He finally got a knife and cut the tongue strap on his boat before the pickup/trailer anchor pulled the nose of the boat under. The last time I saw the poor owner, he was swimming out to his pickup with a helium balloon he got from some kid---he wanted to tie it on to the pickup's antennae so he could still find it once the tow truck got there.

July 2002 I was loading on a ramp on Granbury and got my 2002 Ford Ranger too far down the ramp and in some algae on the bottom of the ramp. Hit the trailer with the boat and the whole thing startred sliding back at me. my wife was in the truck with the truck in D and both feet on the brake. It didn'y even slow the truck down. there was a 8' deep hole at the end of the ramp. I got my wife out and she still had the engine running so when the cab filled up with water and the tires hit the gravel I could pull back up the ramp but as soon as I hit the algae the tires would loose traction and the whole thing would slide back. Finally got a guy to hook my tow chain up to his hitch and pull me up to dry concrete but the damage was done the transmission locked as soon as I put it in P and the insurance totaled the truck because of the salt water in the Brazos. The good news they wrote it off as comprehensive like they would if it was flooded so it didn't affect my rate. Lesson learned always have 4WD and if a ramp does not have traction groove go some where else.

Did you know if you have a manual tranny you need to kill the engine and use the park brake. Had a mechanic thats a commercial fisherman tell me that once a boat goes on a trailer is you have the truck in one of the forward gears the trannny can be kicked in nuetral by the forward surge. Then you better hope your praking brake works

I took a buddy and his son fishing once and when it was time to load the boat I let him back the trailer down. He did fine and I asked him if he knew how to pull me out and he said sure I do. His son and I were sitting in the boat as he was pulling us out. When I said go ahead he slammed the gas pedal to the floor and threw me and his son to the floor of the boat. His son almost flew off the back of the boat. When we got onto the parking lot he got out of the truck with a smile and said �I told you I knew how to jerk a boat out of the water�. I realized he thought that was how it was done.