Greetings to All,

I need to purchase some across the hulls tie downs to secure the boat to the trailer. In the 1980's I used two tie downs each with a buckle and two inch strap that was pulled to tighten. These worked well by spreading the force over the wide straps and overtightening was not a problem. My current tie downs have two inch wide straps and are racheted. The racheted tie downs have a two or three foot short end with a rachet. When these are attached to the trailer crossbars supporting the hulls, the rachet is too close to the side on the hulls. What style and brand tie down strap do you recommend?

I use ratcheting tie downs for my boat. I found that the ratchet mechanism sat against the hull but remedied this by going to a sporting goods store and buying wrist bands (like tennis players wear) to slide over the buckles. These have done a great job protecting the hulls. Be carefull using the ratchets though, it is easy to overtighten the straps using them.

I use rubber "o" rings and camping hooks. The "O" rings are from a 5" ceramic sewerage pipe. Tie them to the trailer and experiment a touch to get the right tension. I use gal "S" hooks on the "free" end and simply hook it to a chain link welded to my trailer.

It is very fast and easy and I don't have to worry about over/under tightening of the straps if somebody else ties it down. I have towed my boats all over Australia with that setup that works well <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Tiger Mike