Boat Buddy II Review

[Ewok]

So a friend of mine recommended the Boat Buddy since he has had it on many of the MC's he's owned over the years. I relied on him to teach me about general launch & retrieval on inboards and he suggested I get a Boat Buddy on the trailer. I went online, read the good and the bad, and decided; it's only $100 and the promise of my wife not getting her feet wet convinced us to try it.

The Boat Buddy is a spring loaded pin which is triggered by your boats bow eye and secures the bow eye to the bow eye stop. It makes a pretty loud snap sound when it is activated by the bow eye so you know the boat is on the trailer. Many people pull the boat out of the water only held on by the Boat Buddy but I have been reaching over the bow, attaching the winch strap and taking the pressure off the Boat Buddy.

It's made or at least seems to be made and sold by Kodiak Trailer Components and is also available through Bass Pro Shops and Overtons. Most retailers market the Boat Buddy for bass boats but it's also standard on many MC trailers. You can see how helpful it can be for a closed bow boat.

Pros: Lets you know when the boat is in the proper position to turn off the engine, lets you easily attach and tighten the trailer winch.

Cons: plastic is not very strong and does not take abuse well. Plastic housing can leave smear marks on your bow but it is easily removed with Babe's and a little elbow grease.

My friend helped me and showed me how deep I have to put the trailer to use just a little power to finish the last few inches and get it to snap. You can experiment on your own to find the correct water level/trailer depth to have an easy contact and not destroy the mechanism, but you might break your Boat Buddy in the process.

From the MC forums I have learned it works very well if you attach bunk carpet to the top of the unit that contacts the boat and prevents smear marks on your gelcoat. I plan to do that soon.

I also keep my original roller in the boat just incase the Boat Buddy breaks and I need to revert back to the original bow stop.

Here are a few pics: I'm going to keep it on the trailer and use it gently. My crew likes it and we have incorporated its function into our launch/retrieval process.

[talltigeguy]

Another comment, IIRC, is that there is a limit for what the boat buddy is recommended, so it is rarely seen on 24 footers. I could still see it being used on bigger boats, but then the real strap put on once you got to the wipedown area.

[Cloud]

I know this is an old post, but should I replace my boat buddy ii with a roller? Talltigeguy mentioned it's rarely seen on 24 footers and mine is one. Should I be worried? I don't even really know how it works so I'm leaning towards switching it with my Stolz Ultimate. Plus I never power my boat up. I always winch the last foot.

[sandm]

had one on my old 20ft supra and after a season of use, it was bent up. had to replace it after 2 seasons and when i sold the boat, the second one was bent up as well. once the locking pin has a slight kink in it, it's very had to get it to stay locked open to work as intended. I would purchase again if I had a sub20ft bowrider or an aluminum boat, but on anything 20ft+, I'd pass. it was convenient but I found it was not built up to the standards for a weighty wakeboard boat.

[thtrog]

This is the one I want to try, supposed to be more durable than the Boat Buddy. They say there is a slight modification in the works for use with Boatmate trailers.

http://www.ramp-n-clamp.com/

[Ewok]

I know this is an old post, but should I replace my boat buddy ii with a roller? Talltigeguy mentioned it's rarely seen on 24 footers and mine is one. Should I be worried? I don't even really know how it works so I'm leaning towards switching it with my Stolz Ultimate. Plus I never power my boat up. I always winch the last foot.

From those pictures I added bunk carpet to the parts of the boat buddy that touch the hull and it helps a lot. However, when I moved from TX to WA I ended up taking it off. In WA and ID it's against the law to power load your boat on the trailer. So what I do now is drive my boat at idle speed onto the trailer, leave the boat in gear and just enough forward throttle to NOT make lots of thrust bubbles behind the boat, and I each over the bow and winch it on the last 3-4'. Anytime you can't power load this boat buddy and like products are useless.

I did use the boat buddy for about a year and it didn't get beat up as I've heard it could. I think it all has to do with finding the perfect depth to dip the trailer and having the carpet on the plastic so the hull slides up the buddy a little better.

[Dave S]

"it's against the law to power load your boat on the trailer" ?

Just when I think I've seen it all, I read something like this - what is the thought process on this law?

[supremedevice]

Not sure what the thought process is on a law, but I do know regular power loading makes it difficult to launch at one of my favorite lakes. The force of the prop wash erodes the sediment directly in front of the concrete launch, creating a deep hole. Sediment and rocks then build up directly behind it, creating a shallow spot that can and will ding your prop. I then need to approach the launch at an angle to prevent hitting bottom

[supremedevice]

^^This does a good job of explaining what I mean.

[sandm]

"it's against the law to power load your boat on the trailer" ?

Just when I think I've seen it all, I read something like this - what is the thought process on this law?

I boated in idaho for 6 years and have not ever heard of this. all the ramps at the places we boated at had concrete ramps that went over 100ft down into the lake. no signs anywhere and marine patrol have a person staged at each ramp at the marina all day sat/sun for visibility. might be a law at some odd lakes but not all of idaho, or should say not enforced at any lakes I went to

[JLG]

prop wash is extremely bad at our lake and the picture above is exactly what it looks like. I know it frustrates me that we have it at our lake and wish ppl weren't so damn lazy and would ratchet the boat on. It is extremely noticeable at the moment as our lake is down several feet and 2 of our 3 ramps aren't in operation as they are loaded with sand dunes more less from years of "power loading" So please ratchet your boat on if you have a sandy bottom lake!!

[tigeidaho]

A little clarification for everyone. In Idaho it is not illegal to power load as a state law. It is however illegal on a county by county basis. The reason that Ewok thinks it's illegal is because it is in the county that he boats in. Kootenia county is the panhandle of Idaho and is the only place that I am aware of in Idaho that has outlawed it.

[boardman74]

Ours was exactly like the picture last year from all the idiots. The hole was about 5-6 feet deep and a boat length behind it was so shallow when i tried to push the boat off the trailer the rudder stopped me. So I am guessing 12-18 inches was it. I would Have to hold the boat while the wife pulled the trailer out from under it, then turn it around in the hole and walk it around the artificial sand bar.

[skippabcool]

Good explanation axisidaho


Update your avatar pic

[Ewok]

Thanks for clarifing tigeidaho, it is written into the Kootenia County boating laws that I get handed every year at the Spokane boat show. It was the first time I had heard about the no-powerloading laws which I understand are mostly in western states where the water level fluctuates quite a bit. You can imagine in that picture above how the prop wash sandbar can be difficult to overcome but thats when I ask, what are my launching fees paying for? If it gets so bad that you can't launch then you need to get a backhoe or dredge and pull that sandbar back to the hole it came from and add another slab or two of concrete to keep it from happening. I pay 60 bucks a yeat for the WA discovery pass, 40/year for the Kootenai County parks and recreation pass, 22 for Idaho invasive species sticker, and 60/year for the Hayden Lake season pass. Out of all the fees these two states and counties collect they could at least add some more concrete to the ramps and let people load the boats as they were designed. It takes so long for people to walk their boat up to the trailer, and float it on, and have someone in the water holding it straight as they pull the trailer out of the water. It can take over an hour sometimes to wait in line to pull my boat out of the water on a busy afternoon.

Everywhere else I boated I "power loaded" and I'll be off the ramp in less than a minute, and I never experienced the prop wash hole as depicted above. I don't know if the other states keep the ramps better maintained or used more concrete slabs or the bottom of the lake was a different material but it's way more convienient and safer to power load than to have people in the water, slipping and falling trying to hold onto a boat as it gets pulled out of the water.

I know, first world problems, and I deal with it here, it's the law and I follow it, and I don't blame the water cops here either, I just don't see the utility of the law in conjuction with all the fees I pay to use the facilities.