Know of a few people who got ticketed for power loading thier boat's after a tournament the boy's were there in a "un-marked" dnr vehicle! I think the fine amount's are over a 100.00, be careful over here in cheeseland. Junebugman

What do you mean by "power loading"? Driving their boat onto the trailer?

Isn't it pretty much necessary to give the boat a ton of throttle to get it to come up the bunks on most new model trailers?  Is that what you are referring to? 

That is exactly how my friend and almost everyone else that has larger bass rigs load their boats.

No its not necessary.  Just put the trailer in a little farther. 

I have seen a lot of guy's over do it with the power loading, like the guy said, you just have to back your trailer a little farther in the water, but i've seen a few speed boat's do it too, what this doe's is the force of the prop wash washes or blow's out the end's of the ramp's and create's a serious drop off on the end of the ramp > this can break your axle or bend it or just stick you there! I have seen this happen, also the dnr or local authoritie's have to come out to repair it or dump rock to fill it and eventually it get's taken out of my wallet which i'm not happy with, in increased license fee's etc. Junebugman

No its not necessary. Just put the trailer in a little farther.

not always that easy. the angle of the boat ramp dictates how deep my trailer sits in the water. winch your boat the last foot, thats what i would do.

as far as the OP goes, still not sure why power loading would be illegal.

skunked_agein, you can be sure that illegal power loading occurs when the law states it is illegal to do so. It's really that simple. It was passed into law for the reasons junebugmn stated. I've been to several bodies of water around the country that have that rule posted at specific ramps and bodles of water. It's usually not an issue on man made lakes where the ramps were created before the lake was formed or lakes with fluctuating water levels that have very long ramps that have lots of concrete in the water at normal pool. Wisconsin has mostly natural lakes/rivers without the possibliy ot creating long underwater hard surfaces without great expense. It is an expense to repair the damage.

The washed out area caused by that practice is called a "blow hole". It is a good fish holding area where they occur.

Power loading.  It occurs to me that most, if not all bass boats and their trailers are designed to be loaded that way.

At the proper depth, you only need to be approximately aligned with the center of the trailer.  The boat will then center itself on the trailer.

Too much depth, and the boat may not center itself.  Side beds may help, but you do not want the boat to travel down the road with the boat's high tech finish in contact with the side bunks.  Chaffing can and will occur.

I fish on a couple of ponds that don't allow power loading.  It can be a pain at times to winch the boat onto the trailer. 

The bow has to lift considerably in the last few feet, and winching it is a struggle.  Put the trailer deep enough to do it reasonably, and the boat can load off center, particularly when there is a stiff breeze blowing off and across the pond.

In cases like that, I tie a line to the stern cleat on the windward side of the boat and have my buddy hold it centered against the wind while I pull out.

Even then, there have been times when I've had to back it down to move the boat an inch or so one way or the other.

Power loading, for me anyway, always results in the boat being accurately centered on the bunks.

I believe it's a $50 fine at Wallum lake in Mass. DEP has been there in their lawn chairs watching everyone.

Power loading. It occurs to me that most, if not all bass boats and their trailers are designed to be loaded that way.

At the proper depth, you only need to be approximately aligned with the center of the trailer. The boat will then center itself on the trailer.

Too much depth, and the boat may not center itself. Side beds may help, but you do not want the boat to travel down the road with the boat's high tech finish in contact with the side bunks. Chaffing can and will occur.

I fish on a couple of ponds that don't allow power loading. It can be a pain at times to winch the boat onto the trailer.

The bow has to lift considerably in the last few feet, and winching it is a struggle. Put the trailer deep enough to do it reasonably, and the boat can load off center, particularly when there is a stiff breeze blowing off and across the pond.

In cases like that, I tie a line to the stern cleat on the windward side of the boat and have my buddy hold it centered against the wind while I pull out.

Even then, there have been times when I've had to back it down to move the boat an inch or so one way or the other.

Power loading, for me anyway, always results in the boat being accurately centered on the bunks.

That is exactly what I was getting at in my post.  Thanks.

No its not necessary. Just put the trailer in a little farther.

not always that easy. the angle of the boat ramp dictates how deep my trailer sits in the water.

Yeah, a lot of people think backing their trailer deeper solves everything. Not true, all ramps are different. If you're loading you need your hull to hit the trailer so it kicks the nose up higher than the roller. If the nose doesnt get higher than the roller (like when you're backed in too deep) it presents problems and can cause damage. I found out the hard way a long time ago. Pretty much ripped my dad's Motorguide right off the front of his old Ranger. 

I have always backed the trailer in deep enough to wet the bunks then pulled up so that the boat will center.  Then just give it a little throttle and all is done.  For me the deeper the trailer the more problems I will have.  I have witnessed some disasters. 

at what point is it considered power loading and you getting a ticket?  Is powerloading considered using any amount of throttle to get the boat up on trailer.  Just  wondering, because at some ramps i have to really gun it and others the boat just about drifts on depends on angle of ramp.

So what your saying is its just more of an inconvenience to not power load? 

Sure angle of ramp matters, but if you can get your boat off without a motor you can get it back on without your motor being hammered down.  I launch in strip pits which are electric only some of the time, and they have some of the steepest ramps you'll ever see.  YES it is harder to load the  boat, depending on the angle of ramp and wind... especially with a TM only.  But its usually always possible.... just get a running start and winch the rest of the way if you don't make it. 

If you frequent lakes where your bunk setup dosnt allow you to do it properly, you can always add side bunks to keep you from floating off sideways, thats what they're for.

I just get annoyed with the guys who have rigs that just want to hear their big engines run and give it alot of gas at the ramp, even when they don't need to. 

So to some it up....  Yes powerloading can be semi-useful, but it is completely unnecessary 99% of the time.  Its more of a convenience thing... and even then it is over done.

I understand what you are saying tommy but for me I would rather give my bass boat a little throttle and ease it up then hook the winch and put that much strain on the fiberglass.  My boat is a 99 procraft and with her age I take many precautions.  I also have a tracker grizzly that I have no problem cranking up.  It is much lighter and easier to work with.  I understand that if people are doing this to show off but for me with the ramps I use I load with the motor.  I never stomp it just enough gas to get me up.....Just my 2 cents.....

I think it is up to the officer's discretion what actually constitutes "power loading". I would doubt they would have issue with someone steadily idling their boat up onto the trailer. I think the issue comes in with the WOT kick to get them up when the trailer is barely in the water.

I have never had to powerload, I feel it is completely unneccasary, yet see people do it all the time at the ramp. I have a 21' procraft. Once I noticed this guy watching me trailer my boat and afterwards he came over and said "I hope you didn't mind me almost staring at you but this is our first boat and I my first time trailering it, so I was watching everyone else first, to get some kind of idea. I noticed you and a few others didn't have to power up." I replied "Naw, its like kissin' your sister ain't nothin to it!" I gave him a few pointers and noticed he trailered like a pro, in his bay boat.  And he also didn't have to power up. That's why they call it a winch strap. You are putting an extra amount of fatige on your bow arm on your trailer. Just my opinion.

I guess i would just have to take the ticket! i just broke my winch trying to pull my Astro that last foot or so to avoid power loading. At MOST ramps i can just back up enough to wet the bunks and it will go on with almost no throttle. At others though it requires almost full throttle.

Back when I had a boat.......   :-[  yes, I'm boatless now.

I fished a local lake that had a ramp so shallow that the truck was half into the lake and winching was still a real pain.  Firing up the OB there was a no-no.  TM's only.

It really depends on the ramp itself and the angle.  Steep ramps can be every bit as bad as ramps way too shallow. 

I guess in Wisconsin there's no such thing as a "drive on" trailer any more. 

It seems all kinds of tricks are needed to compensate for ill designed ramps; now we have fines to control the tricks. Sounds like the government is involved.