Why does a small trailer have a jointed tongue?

[petertay]

40-year-old single-axle for a 16-foot boat. Why is the tongue jointed? It has a slide lever which allows the back end to drop down to ground level while hitched to the car. What is the advantage of doing that? --Thanks

 

[ondarvr]

So you can load the boat on the trailer from a sketchy launch.

 

[Big Gee]

They used to be real popular before public boat ramps sprang up everywhere.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Tilt trailer. Basically it was how most of the trailers in the 40's, 50's and 60's were built. As ondarvr mentioned, its for launching and retrieving from questionable launches

 

[ahicks]

Yes, older, and to be honest, for a much lighter boat than what is seen on the average boat ramp nowadays. Winching an 18'-20'+ boat up onto one of those in the tilted position is going to stress everything - including it's owner. Floating the boat on a MUCH better plan!

 

[roscoe]

Years ago, trailers were built narrower.
Narrow frames sitting on top of narrow axles, meant that the boat sat up on top, very high in the air, often over 24" above the ground.

Modern trailers are wider and the boat sits lower, maybe 12-14" above the ground.

Easier to float the boat on/off the trailer.

So tilt trailers were made back then, because it was cheaper to make the tongue hinge, than to build a wider and lower trailer.

So, if the launch is shallow, try using the tilt feature to launch and load your boat.