A guy that I chat with on a similar forum noticed this picture of my boat. he suggested that based on the pic i should detach and move the winch system forward near the spare so I would have less of the stern hanging off the end of the trailer, right now I would say about a foot or so hangs off the back, I called the guy at the marina that works on it and he said that doing this would add tongue weight but that my boat already has good tongue weight and he wouldn’t worry about it? Any advice? Thanks
Barry
IMHO I think the boat/trailer setup you have is a bit arse heavy. It looks as though there is more weight behind the wheels than in front (factoring in the engine weight). When you hit a hump in the road it seems to me that the boat would want tip off the back, and would do so if it weren’t tied down. Also, when you travel over a short but significant dip in the road the back end or foot is more likely to scrape the pavement.
If that were my boat and trailer setup, I would move the boat up a foot or two. You may have to adjust the bunks as well.
OK so we got 2 different opinions? This is my first boat and i don’t want to be oblivious to an obvious issue, addtionally I don’t even know what getting a hook in the hull means? Sorry and Thanks Additionally where would I go to get help with whatever course of action is selected?? Thanks
I have always heard that you should have about 200lbs of weight on the tongue. I don’t think you can get a “hook” in the hull of a fiberglass hull, maybe a crack!
No cracks detected, I loosen the cross over strap except when dragging it down the road. It is really a light boat and when lifting the tongue it is pretty darn heavy, I would say 200 easy, the boat does not lift up when unhooked, I even unhooked the bow while it was on flat ground and it just sat there in place?
strongest portion of a boat??? transom
bunks should be sticking out slightly past teh transom
as for tounge weight, I think its something like 5-7% of total towing weight.
the easy fix would be to move the winch post. if that makes the tounge to heavy, then you may have to get longer bunks, or possibly move the bunks aft.
OK so how tough is moving the winch post do I have to put the boat in the water or can I unbolt it and slip it forward a bit/tighten and crank the boat forward a few inches?
Moving the winch post is easy and takes about 5 minutes. It’s usually only 4 nuts.
I took mine down to a ramp that wasn’t busy, backed the boat up on the trailer far enough to take the tension off the bow and moved it at the ramp.
Don’t do this on a busy day.
New Boat
“FLIGHT RISK”
Lightning fast 31 Fountain
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Old Boat (For Sale)
“Hanapaa”
Dry and Steady Key West 2020 WA
Fuel Sipping Yamaha F150
Agree with moving the winch forward a bit as well. Easy to do and you can more then likely just winch the boat up while on dry land a bit once you move winch if going to a ramp isn’t convenient. If there is not enough tounge weight the trailer will start to fishtail at speeds over about 30 or so, sounds like there is snough tho.
Russ B.
God is great, Beer is good, People are crazy
Support the transom! It supports most of the weight. The bunk should go all of the way back to the transom, flush with the back or a littl bunk hanging out, but for sure under the transom.
Don’t know if I’d move the axle up.
The shorter the distance between the tongue and the axles, the more likely it will be to sway while pulling and the more difficult it will be to back up.
If there’s too much tongue weight, you should probably get longer bunks or look at trading for a bigger trailer.
New Boat
“FLIGHT RISK”
Lightning fast 31 Fountain
Thirsty twin 275 Verados
Old Boat (For Sale)
“Hanapaa”
Dry and Steady Key West 2020 WA
Fuel Sipping Yamaha F150
what chris said. transome needs support so bunks need to be at least even with the stern of the boat or the stern can be an inch or so past the bunks. tongue weight 5-10 percent. and as noted the appropriate tongue weight keeps down sway.
OK so after work I let loose the bow strap and bow moved about an inch or so above the winch roller, so I decided to undo the winch really quick moved it up about 6 inches and cranked the boat up a few extra inches, so now the boat is only about 5 inches sticking off the back, so the reason i can’t move it further up is the spare tire, no problem I can side mount it to the trailer and get the winch up a few more inches so the stern/transom will be even with bunks, question where do you advise the side mount spare tire to be placed on the trailer? thanks so much for the help!
Several things…Your axle looks to be all the way to the back of the trailer (I seldom see them that far back) and we don’t know how long the trailer tongue is so, we don’t know just how far you can move the stand forward. Moving the winch stand forward (like you did, and maybe some more) is the best thing. Moving the axle a few inches forward WILL NOT noticeably affect backing or swaying IF you have adequate tongue weight. If you can’t back that trailer with the axle moved forward up to 6", then you don’t need a boat. You can move the bunks farther back if you need to, just make sure they will not hit the tabs in the event you forget to raise the tabs before loading it onto the trailer. In 10+ years of boating with trim tab-equipped boats, I’ve yet to load a boat with the tabs down and all of the trailers had bunks extending beyond the transom. It’s something you learn…sort of like putting the plug in before you launch.
As for the side mount spare, just get one of those large u-bolts that they sell at any marine store and secure it to the side or top of the tongue behind the winch stand. The one on my 22’ CC is mounted on the top of the tongue behind the stand and the one on my 15’ Scout is on the side behind the stand (opposite side from the winch handle).
A guy that I chat with on a similar forum noticed this picture of my boat. he suggested that based on the pic i should detach and move the winch system forward near the spare so I would have less of the stern hanging off the end of the trailer, right now I would say about a foot or so hangs off the back, I called the guy at the marina that works on it and he said that doing this would add tongue weight but that my boat already has good tongue weight and he wouldn’t worry about it? Any advice? Thanks
Barry
If it swims throw a fly at it!
Trailer actually looks too short for the boat, but I agree with these guys. I'd pull that boat forward on the trailer till the bunks are even with the rear edge of the transom.
I wouldn’t worry too much about tougne weight. The boat only weights 1500-1800 lbs. From the looks of the way it’s sitting it tough to believe the trailer tougne doesn’t head for the sky when it’s unhooked from the truck.
How much tougne weight do you think you have?? Weigh it with a bathroom scale. If it’s more than 50lbs I’d really be surprised.
What is your tow vehicle???
With a boat that light enen you get to 250-300lbs of tougne weigh it’s not going to hurt anything. The more tougne weight you can stand on your tow vehicle the better the boat will follow you on the highway.
I used to tow a 20ft Robalo behind an 84’ F250HD way back when. I used to run about 600lbs of tougne weight, about 20%… The boat was married to the truck. The whole rig handled like a sports car.
