How to Tie Down a Personal Watercraft on a Trailer
Personal watercraft (abbreviation is PWC) is commonly known as jet ski, you can have a lot of fun with it on the sea by sitting or standing on it. If you already own a jet ski and are ready to spend your holiday with your family on the sea, you will need to transport the PWC to the sea.
Now, you are facing how to properly and safely tie down a jet ski on a trailer. You will need some equipment to help you, they are a jet ski trailer strap, a winch, another safety strap, or a chain for jet ski securement. So, today we will talk about the complete guide including how to secure a jet ski to a trailer, how to load and unload the jetski to the trailer, and some other related information.
Safely Secured Your Jet Ski on A Trailer
When we talk about the jet ski, people always think we need to train a lot about how to ride personal watercraft on the sea and what precautions we can take while riding. But it’s easy to forget how to tie down a jet ski to a trailer securely and transport it safely to the destination. If the PWC does not secure properly, it may sway from side to side, jump up and down, the jet-ski will hit the trailer or fall if you brake suddenly, or even be stolen by others. So, let’s take every step in detail.
What Kind of Trailer Do I Need for A Jet Ski
According to different needs, you may need to transport one jet ski, two jet skis, three jet skis, four jet skis, or even more to the beach and you will need single jet ski trailers, double jet ski trailers, or even larger trailers to tow 3 jet skis, 4 jet skis, 6 jet skis, etc. No matter how big your jet ski trailer is, you will find the trailers in 3 different materials, let’s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of them.
Painted Steel Jet Ski Tailers
Pros:
- Very low price
- Various colors
Cons:
- Maintenance cost is high
- Low Durable
- Easy to rust
Galvanized Steel Jet Ski Tailers
Pros:
- Less maintenance than the painted one
- More durable than the painted one
- Not easy to get rust
Cons:
- Higher price than the painted one
Aluminum Jet Ski Trailers
Pros:
- Lightweight than the steel one
- Less maintenance than the steel one
- Not easy to get rust than the steel one
- Resale value is better than the steel one
- Better for small vehicle towing
Cons:
- Higher price than the steel one
If you decide to buy a jet ski trailer, we suggest the aluminum PWC, because although the purchase price is high, the overall cost will be lower than the steel jet ski trailer.
Safety Instructions for Personal Watercraft Trailers
- Driving the car with or without a trailer is totally different, so if this is your first time driving the car and towing the PWC trailer, you’d better open space or the empty parking lot to practice tight turns, forward, and reverse.
- Most personal watercraft trailers don’t have brakes, so don’t drive too close to the car in front of you, keep a certain distance.
- Inspect the towing car and trailer before driving.
- Inspect the tie down straps for jet skis in your hand, if they are in good condition. This is very important in securing your PWC.
About Jet Ski Tie Down
Some trailers have built-in rear tie down straps, but regular one doesn’t. Also, the trailer should equip with the jet ski trailer winch and boat winch strap which is installed at the front of the trailer and used to release the jet ski into the water and pull the PWC up to the bunk of the trailer. Sure, another safety strap or a chain to connect the trailer and jet ski front bow eye is also necessary.
Which Type of Tie Down Strap is the Best for Securing My Personal Watercraft
Definitely S hook ratchet straps and winch straps for boat trailers and let’s take a look at them in detail.
S Hook Ratchet Straps
S hook ratchet tie down is one type of ratchet tie down straps that attach the S hook to secure the jet ski on the trailer and transport it to the sea.
The webbing material is a polyester fabric which is strong and durable. Even the jet ski trailer strap always goes in and out of the water, but this material is waterproof.
The short end of the tie down strap is always attached with a ratchet device which is used to control the movement and tighten the strap.
The long end of the strap is always attached to the S hook and normally the S hook is vinyl coated which adds extra protection against rust.
Winch Straps for Boat Trailers
Winch strap for boat trailer is made up of winch device and the securing strap. It is used to pull the jet ski which is in the water or release the jet ski on the trailer bunk into the water.
So, you should properly tie down the jet ski both at the front and rear to prevent the PWC fall off or slide off from the trailer.
How to Tie Down Jet Ski (Step by Step)
Once you loaded your jet ski on the trailer, you will need to use the jet ski trailer strap to tie down the back end of the jet ski to the trailer. The winch strap at the front of the trailer has a hook that will attach to the front bow eye of the jet ski to strongly secure the PWC on the trailer. The ratchet tie down strap has S hooks at both ends, one hook attached to the trailer and another hook attached to the jet ski.
- Use the long end of the ratchet tie down strap with S hook to attach to the one rear corner of the trailer.
- Use the long end of the strap to through the S hook closed end and secure the strap to the towing hook on the back of the jet ski.
- The same, short end of the ratchet also needs to hook to another rear corner of the trailer.
- Open the ratchet and through the long end webbing into the ratchet slot.
- Ratcheting the device to tighten the strap. If you buy a very long ratchet strap, you need to tie off the remaining webbing after tightening.
We recommend you to stop your towing car and take a look at the trailer and jet ski after driving for a period of time. This is for checking if your jet ski is still safely secured on the trailer.
The Weight of Jet Ski on Your Trailer
As you can see there are a lot of jet ski trailer sizes on the market and they are designed for different sizes of PWC to fit in. No matter you own a small jet ski or a big jet ski, you need to evenly placed the PWC onto the trailer bunk, so keeping the center of gravity is very important to ensure smooth and safe driving. Most of the weight of the jet ski is in the engine part, so when you load your PWC onto the trailer, please make the rear of the jet ski as flush as possible with that of the trailer.
How to Unload Your Jet Ski
Now, you are ready at the boat dock and please pay attention to leave space for others also have fun around you. Especially during the holiday, the boat dock is crowded. Before you go into the water, you can have a try with dry start near the dock to try if the jet ski can work properly and then start to go into the water.
- Back up your trailer down the ramp and stop before entering into the water.
- Disconnect the electrical between the towing car and trailer.
- Release the jet ski tie down strap at the back end.
- Loosen the winch strap at the front of the trailer and let the jet ski back into the water.
- Be sure there is someone to help you drive the trailer away from the ramp.
How to Reload Your Jet Ski onto Your Trailer
We do not recommend you ride the jet ski directly to the trailer unless you are an experienced jet ski rider.
- Double check if the electrical plug is disconnected between the trailer and towing car.
- Double check if the bunk is properly placed onto the trailer.
- Back the trailer into the water until covers half of the bunk.
- Avoid the water into the exhaust pipe, so please keep the exhaust running.
- Same as the loading part above, push the jet ski onto the trailer and centered it on the trailer evenly.
- Tie down the jet ski with the jet ski rear straps and jet ski winch straps at the front of the trailer. Once done, check if the strap is securely tied.
Knowing how to load, reload, unload, and tie down jet skis on a trailer is very important to ensure you have fun with your PWC. The proper jet ski trailer strap, winch strap, and safety chain will help you safely secure your jet ski to the destination.
