Jerry Williams,
 
Go carefully with this technique.  The first and only time I tried it, the boat missed the yoke and badly scratched the gel coat while gliding by.   If you leave the boat a few inches away from the yoke, this could happen if you need to brake unexpectedly in traffic.  Unless I am moving the boat only a short distance, at slow speeds, I make sure the bow is nestled into the yoke.  
 
The previous owner of my rig felt the bow was not adequately supported and mounted an auxilliary roller to support the bow.   However, lifting the bow onto that roller is a chore, so I like your idea of an intermediate roller to guide the bow upwards. 
 
On my trailer, the post on which the winch and yoke are mounted is adjustable.  Can you move yours back?

Bill Riker
M-15 #184
Storm Petrel

 
-----Original Message-----
From: montgomery_boats-admin@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:montgomery_boats-admin@mailman.xmission.com]On Behalf Of Doug King
Sent: November 29, 2002 1:01 AM
To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com
Subject: Re: M_Boats: The yoke's on me

I don't know how much it really matters as long as the weight distribution to the trailer hitch is enough, but one option that I and a few others here do routinely is, once the boat is cranked up as far as it will go, get going a few miles an hour in the tow vehicle and hit the brakes. The boat will slide forward pretty easily, especially if contact surfaces are still wet from hauling out. You can get to where you gauge the speed pretty well to push it up a few inches. Crank it snug and you're ready to go.

Doug King

At 03:04 PM 11/28/02 -0500, you wrote:
It still did not fit snuggly into the yoke.  I am beginning to think the boat sits in its most comfortable position in the bunk boards and the snug fit to the yoke is not that important.  It trailers smoothly even thogh the bow is a few inches away from the yoke.  Am I correct that this is a non issue?
 
I like the extra roller and mounting plank and will definately keep this set up.  As the photos show, the roller is ownly there to help lift the boat to the angle of the trailer.  Once it sits in the bunk boards the boat is several inches from the additional roller.
 



------------------------------------------
Doug King
M-17 #404 "Vixen"

Montgomery Sailboats Owners Group Web site: http://msog.org
Email: mailto:msog@msog.org