Class A and boats

[kemer]

We are going to pull our fishing boat to the lake with our 36' class A. DW thinks we should be able to back the class A with boat down a boat ramp to launch. I said "never seen that done, must be a reason". Closest I've seen is a class C with a hitch on front end to go down a boat ramp to launch a boat. Assuming the launch area is open enough without tight corners, etc is there some reason I shouldn't try this?

[Pogoil]

No problem, do it every year.

Pogoil.

[aerbus32]

There's a lot of variance in ramps, etc., but you shouldn't have a problem. We used our 26' Class C to launch an 18' Sea Ray & then a 32' Aerbus to launch our 21' Sea Ray all over California & the Colorado River. Unless the slant of the ramp is ridiculous, neither lack of power to retrieve or getting the coach in the water to launch should be an issue. I loved that the rear wheels were high & dry. Any ramp I would have been comfortable using either of our full size Ford vans or our Tundra, I would have used either RV on. I would caution you about two things. Ramps that are long and steep necessitate that you go down them very, very slowly. (Seems obvious, right?). And many boaters will drive forward until close to the end of the ramp, then do a U-turn and finish backing down. Don't want to do that in a motorhome! Anytime I was at a new ramp, regardless of what I was towing with, I watched others launch & retrieve to see what idiosyncrasies the new ramp had. Learn from the mistakes of others!

[garry1p]

If you have never done it practice backing up straight in a church parking lot.

You will be amazed at how fast the boat responds to a very little steering input the boat will jackknife in a heartbeat.

[Y-Guy]

It's very doable. I've launched with our 35' Winnebago many times. Of course the larger the ramp the easier it is, getting yourself lined up is key. Walk the launch first and know your challenges. As other said you may end up with your tail end submerged, so scout things out and know what's back there. Our generator is at the tail so I can't submerge it, but so far in my 8 launches I haven't come close.

It really helps if you have 3 people, driver and two walkers that you can see going down the ramp but only one giving you directions. Rear view camera helps even more. Driver should stay in the motorhome, let the other two disconnect and launch the boat. Same goes for retrieving it.

As somebody mentioned finding somebody to launch & retrieve with a truck is a good idea. I watched an older guy with about 2 dozen cases of beer in his cargo bay do this. Said it was the cheapest way to launch/retrieve a boat since he didn't leave it in the lake over night.

Pic of our setup launching at Chief Timothy on the Snake River. Once we filled with water we lined up and launched easily, even with just my son and I. But this wasn't a steep ramp, for other steep ramps I'd never leave the motorhome cockpit.

[rgatijnet1]

Boat Ramp video 1

Remember, the boat goes in the water first:


It may not end well:


I'm not sure that CoachNet can help:

[smacdiesel]

Here's a clickable link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sDq--9e1lg

[smacdiesel]

Go for it, this guy did!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sDq--9e1lg

[msmith1199]

Depends on the ramp. I haven't done it before myself, but I would do it if the ramp was wide enough to drive straight down and turn around at the bottom. But I wouldn't try and back it down a tight fitting ramp or a really long one. I've seen people do it before and it can be done. I also would not try and do it at a crowded ramp where I'm going to back everybody else up.

[mccsix]

Slick ramp+steep grade=bad utube video

[Cloud_Dancer]

"Anything's possible",.....but you will find out it's not worth it. I've even done it with my big Dutch Star. And, 4 motorhomes ago I tried a front hitch arrangement. I found out it's not the way to go either.
The only way I will do it now is for me to tow the boat with the motorhome, and for my wife to follow me with the GMC 4x4 Envoy. My Envoy is the perfect vehicle for launching the boat, and the perfect vehicle for running around when living in the motorhome, and the perfect vehicle for towing behind the motorhome (on non-fishing trips), and the perfect vehicle for use as my daily driving when we are at the home base.

[wolfe10]

Were it me, I would offer to pay someone at the ramp with a truck to launch and retrieve.

[bluwtr49]

If you have a DP, I would be concerned about the possibility of getting the engine that close to the water. On the other hand the weight of the engine would help traction on a slick ramp.

A gasser might not have enough rear weight bias to prevent wheel spin.

I too would like a beach chair and beer. I's always been great fun to long around launch ramps anyway, this would be doubly entertaining.

[Colo_Native]

valhalla360 wrote:
Can you post the time and place so I can get out there withy my lawn chair to watch? (just kidding)

It can certainly be done but will not be as convienent. If there is a large rear overhang, the trailer will react far more quickly than with a truck and you will likley need more space to manuver due to the length of the combined rig.

I'm assuming the rig isn't horribly underpowered. It would be embaressing to not be able to pull the boat up the ramp. There should be plenty of traction for the rear drive wheels.

X2

[valhalla360]

Can you post the time and place so I can get out there withy my lawn chair to watch? (just kidding)

It can certainly be done but will not be as convienent. If there is a large rear overhang, the trailer will react far more quickly than with a truck and you will likley need more space to manuver due to the length of the combined rig.

I'm assuming the rig isn't horribly underpowered. It would be embaressing to not be able to pull the boat up the ramp. There should be plenty of traction for the rear drive wheels.

[RayChez]

You can do it if it is a gasoline motorhome. You can not do it if it is a diesel pusher. Your engine would be under water in some launch ramps with a diesel pusher.