Need to add a safety chain from near winch to boweye. If boat and motor near 4000#, what chain-hook-link-bolt strength (WLL) do I need. Easy to find lots of chain options. Limitaion seems to be the hook or connection to the boweye. Yesterday only found a 1000# hook that fit.
The chain WLL doesn’t need to be higher than the hook, right?
How does one calculate the desired working load limit of the cchain/hook for a given boat size/weight?
Thanks in advnace for the advice.
http://www.peerlesschain.com/downloads/Trailer_Safety_Chain.pdf
Googled the above link. Download and compare what they recommend for trailer safety chain to what you use for the bow eye.
The bow eye safety chain prevents your boat from leaving your trailer while pulling out of the water, but more importantly, it prevents your boat from coming forward onto your rig/car/truck in the event of sudden stopping/crash etc. Use whatever size you can that will hold 4000+ pounds gross weight from coming into the cab of your truck/car.
www.easternmarine.com also is a resource.
sometimes a chain won’t help. this was the result from a head-on crash. i had straps on the rear tiedowns, but they popped and straitened the eyes in the bunks. you can see in the photo that the rear u-bolts stripped the nuts as the winch frame bent forward. i’ve wanted to add a bow chain, but don’t have a satisfactory location on the trailer to attach it without it beating the boat.
you can see how far the boat slid on the bunks.
just pray you never have to test the chain.
WOW, that must have been a OH S**T moment.
My dad and I came over the Cooper River Bridges one time when I was a kid pulling his 17-foot whaler on an easy roller trailer. On the downside of the bridge the boat crept forward on the rollers pushing the winch stand along with it. When we got to Remley’s Point ramp the rear rollers on the trailer where past the transom. We got some crabbers to help us pick the back of the boat up and slide it back over the top of the rollers so we could launch. That night when we got home my dad installed a 5/8-inch safety chain and hook to keep the boat from ever moving forward again. He drilled a hole through the 4-inch galvanized channel that the winch stand is mounted to about 2-feet aft of the stand. He then ran a 1/2-inch galvanized bolt through the channel and hooked the chain to the eyebolt with a shackel. A hook was installed on the other end of the chain that went through the bow eye. The chain was just the right length that it was tight when the boat was snugged to the bow roller with the winch. Never had another problem and he knew if he had to slam on brakes the boat was not coming forward.