unless you want to use it for 27 years in salt water. But, it finally had enough. On Sunday, turned the corner onto Simmons St to launch at shem creek and the axle gave out right behind the hub. Could have fixed her but upon closer inspection I would need 3 new cross members, axle, springs and still wouldn’t have trusted it. Now the proud owner of an aluminum all stainless hardware trailer, no springs whooohoooo! from the Trailer Shop in Mt. Pleasant. Tommy and Harris are great guys. Even met me at the shop on Sunday to open the gate for the flatbed.
My new trailer! I think I’ll lower the bunks so she rides on the trailer a bit lower.
84’ 18 Privateer
08’ Yamaha 90
There are always greater fish than you have caught, always the lure of greater task and achievement, always the inspiration to seek, to endure, to find.
Hey, could have happened at a worse place at a worse time for sure. Low speed and off the beaten path, you were fortunate. Glad no one or the boat was hurt.
Hey, could have happened at a worse place at a worse time for sure. Low speed and off the beaten path, you were fortunate. Glad no one or the boat was hurt.
So true. The day before I was under the trailer repairing some dings. If the axle decided to give way then....safety was the main reason I got a new trailer. I could have repaired the old trailer for about $1000.
There are always greater fish than you have caught, always the lure of greater task and achievement, always the inspiration to seek, to endure, to find.
27 Years, you owe that trailer a decent burial and Flowers:)
You should take that old trailer out in the ocean and drop it to the bottom to enhance one of the existing artificial reefs. That would be a perfect way to bury that awesome old trailer…let it keep on giving, even in its afterlife.
Just trying to learn every bit I can about saltwater fishing…
Posting on a message board all the time doesn’t make you smart. Frankly, it just means you probably need to get a life.
Perhaps it’s just the angle at which the picture was taken, but it looks like the new trailer’s axle is farther forward in relation to the boat’s console. Is the tongue weight still about the same?
Perhaps it’s just the angle at which the picture was taken, but it looks like the new trailer’s axle is farther forward in relation to the boat’s console. Is the tongue weight still about the same?
Your right. Is this bad? I do want to lower the bunks so the boat sits lower to the water and also slightly angle the back bunks and adjust the front small bunks so the deck will drain well when hitched up. I have to figure out something to put on the inside of the wheel covers. Someone suggested a strip of starboard.
There are always greater fish than you have caught, always the lure of greater task and achievement, always the inspiration to seek, to endure, to find.
Whatever you do, you want to make sure you have sufficient tongue weight (~7-10% of the loaded trailer weight) otherwise you risk having problems with the trailer fish-tailing or (worse case scenario) the coupler coming off the hitch ball. Adding tongue weight can be accomplished by moving the winch stand forward or the axle back OR both may be needed in some cases.
I don’t see you being able to move your winch stand much farther forward, but again I wouldn’t worry about it unless you don’t have enough tongue weight. Each boat is different depending on the location of the fuel tank. For example, on my Key West I didn’t have sufficent tongue weight and ended up having to pull the entire tongue & winch stand out 10-12" to get my tongue weight right to keep the coupler from snatching on the hitch ball when going over bumps.
Good info. So, boat dry 1250, 150 lbs fuel, engine 361, other stuff 200 = 1961. Call it 2000 lbs. Should have no more than 200 lbs and no less than 140 lbs of tongue weight. I think the wife’s bathroom scale will be put to good use this weekend…
Thanks from me (and the wife).
There are always greater fish than you have caught, always the lure of greater task and achievement, always the inspiration to seek, to endure, to find.
The boat looks like it is sitting too far back on the boards. My guess is either the people didn’t ask about or check the boat before selling you the trailer. Just looks a little short to me for a 18ft boat.If you need more weight on the front see if the axle will slide. I wouldn’t slide it no more than 4" at a time.
Thanks for your responses. Not what I wanted to hear though…
The trailer is rated for 3500lbs. At this point it is what it is.
boat dry 1250, 150 lbs fuel, engine 361, trailer 700 lbs, other stuff 200 = 2661 lbs. Call it 2750 lbs. The tongue weight is 192 lbs. That’s a little over 7%. Maybe a bit light. I can probably move the boat up about 4" further on the trailer. That should help.
Over the weekend I reset the bunks so the boat rides a bit lower on the trailer and the deck will drain when hooked up.
There are always greater fish than you have caught, always the lure of greater task and achievement, always the inspiration to seek, to endure, to find.
There is some quality criticism in the previous posts. But, I would not interpret it as your having a bad fit, trailer to boat. I don’t think you’re far from a perfect fit. You generally want your bunks to reach back under the boat to the transom or very near the transom. It appears to me that your transom is behind the end of your bunks. That causes ‘shear’ stresses in the hull due to the concentrated weight of the motor on the very back end of the hull. The fix is to move the bunks back (or get longer ones), or, slide the boat forward. Since your tongue is on the light side, I’d move the winch stand forward a little. That way you get a little heavier tongue and the hull moves a little further up on those bunks giving the transom better support. I think you’ll be good. No setup is perfect.
I like those old Privateers, too. Hard working boat. Just not terribly dry.
Thanks Palmer. The ■■■■■■■■ is great and agree with the needed support her @ss end. She’s old. I’ve conceded to moving the boat up on the trailer. Probably have to adjust the front bunks again. A bit of a job.
Her hull design has what I call a big strake down each side. Does a great job of knocking down the spray. But, the deck is always wet. My one complaint. Privateer still makes this same hull but with a deck and transom redesign to make it self bailing with the heavier 4 strokes. I repowered last year and really wanted a 4 stroke but after talking with Privateer they advised against it. Replaced an '84 Johnson 115 with a 2008 90 2stroke.
There are always greater fish than you have caught, always the lure of greater task and achievement, always the inspiration to seek, to endure, to find.
No choice but to keep the moter trimmed up while trailering. The boat rode low on the trailer. Had everything adjusted down to float in less h20. Never once forgot…I know of at least one member who forgot. You know who you are. I’m sure he can outfish me with a skegless honda…
There are always greater fish than you have caught, always the lure of greater task and achievement, always the inspiration to seek, to endure, to find.
