New trailer no tongue weight options...pic

[jonny rotten]

I just put my boat on new trailer and can lift the tongue with one finger. I have a few ideas and could use some advise.

A few measurements:

From axle to back of boat as it sits I have 6 ft
From the axle to the rear roller is 16"
From the back of the trailer to the back of boat is 21" as it sits.

(#1) I was thinking of drilling new holes in the bar the rollers are mounted to and sliding it forward so I could bring the boat further forward. The problem with that
would be right now the bar is centered and shifting it forward would put a lot of stress on the front side of the bar as it would be way away from the mounting bolts.

(#2) Leaving the bar as is and drilling holes on the top of the bar and moving just the roller setup towards over the axle. Which would still leave all the weight over and in front of the bracket...possible stress on the bar like in (#1)

(#3)Eliminating the bar altogether and mount the rollers to the bar bracket somehow. But that would eliminate the front rollers. Would that put stress on the hull with less rollers? Is this a standard setup and is there brackets I can get that are designed for this setup?

Its a Mercruiser 4.3. Any idea how far I'll need to move everything forward. All I have to work with is 16". Being I can lift the tongue with one finger and the back of the boat is 6 ft behind the axle will I need all of that 16".

The back cross member swivels to ride under the hull. If I remove/shorten the back half of the bar will the hull hit the cross member?

Moving the axle back seems not doable. The guide for the leaf spring is welded to the frame
Have room to move the winch post forward

ANY ideas are welcome....Thanks

 

[Scott Danforth]

that trailer may be new to you, however it is in by no means a new trailer.

my guess the trailer is not meant for the boat that you have on it. trailer was most likely for a boat with a small outboard. not enough rollers for an I/O anyway.

you could add more rollers and either move the axle back about a foot, or move the boat forward about a foot.

 

[jonny rotten]

that trailer may be new to you, however it is in by no means a new trailer.

my guess the trailer is not meant for the boat that you have on it. trailer was most likely for a boat with a small outboard. not enough rollers for an I/O anyway.

you could add more rollers and either move the axle back about a foot, or move the boat forward about a foot.

So you think moving the boat one foot forward will give me enough tongue weight? Which brings me back to how to adjust trailer. Moving the axle is out.

It has 16 rollers. There is another set in the front. 19 ft 2500 lb ....I thought that would be OK but have no idea. Its a Shoreline trailer that is out of business so I cant get any help there.

 

[TyeeMan]

The boat needs to come forward until the rear rollers sit directly under the transom. Some even have about 1/4 of the roller sticking out past the transom. That might buy you a little tongue weight and will be the easiest adjustment, , just move the winch stand.

Presuming your trailer is long enough. . .

 

[ahicks]

That's what I was thinking. Most winch stands are just clamped to the tongue. If there's room in front of it to slide it forward, that's where I would start....

 

[jonny rotten]

I only have 6" from the back of the roller to the back of the boat. I was thinking it would take much more than that with such little tongue weight and the weight of the I/O.

If I climb in the back of the boat the whole boat and trailer does a wheelie very easily

Plenty of room to move winch and is simple to move.

First time with a roller trailer. I thought it needed to be overhanging the roller a bit but was wrong....so thanks for that info

 

[bruceb58]

Why is moving the axle out? You can cut mounts off and get them re-welded. You aren't going to get enough tongue weight moving the boat forward 6"

 

[jonny rotten]

No Title

After going back out to check the leaf spring mounts I realized the entire leaf spring assembly and fender mounts are all one unit that slip under the frame of the trailer. Around a 30" sleeve. I was only looking at the rear welded guide.....just got the boat on yesterday and jumped the gun....Sorry for misguiding you all.

So the next question is how for should I slide it back. And how much tongue weight should I have. I could just slide it back till I have the correct tongue weight but I have no scale to measure tongue weight...should I go buy a cheap scale....is that how its done or should I just give it the lift test and say that feels about right

 

[tpenfield]

I don't think that you have much room to move the boat forward, and if I recall correctly in another post showing the tongue, it is not able to go forward any further. You want to have the rollers close to the transom, but have a couple inches of leeway.

I think that the trailer may be a tad small for the boat, and if you want to try to use it, then you will want to move the whole axle assembly back. I did this sort of thing on my sailboat trailer, but the tongue was too heavy vs. too light . . . I did a bunch of measurements, guesstimates and even took out my calculator . . . moved the axle assembly about 7" from its original position.

Since you have no tongue weight right now the Center of Gravity (CG) for the boat itself is slightly behind the axle as the boat sit now. You could try to move the axle back a bit . . . maybe 6" or so and see how much tongue weight you get.

Got any measurements to share?

Ball hitch to axle?

Boat weight (approx)?

Trailer weight (approx)?

 

[bruceb58]

First thing you really need to do is to weigh your rig to see how much it weighs and then you can figure out what 10% for tongue weight would actually be.

Then get a scale and use the method here as published on the E trailer site

For the time being, you can remove your wheels and use jackstands at various locations to simulate where the center of the axle would eventually be and use the scale to determine when you got 10% tongue weight. Then all you would have to do is move the axle to where your jackstands are and then you are done. Only have to move the axle once.

 

[jonny rotten]

I don't think that you have much room to move the boat forward, and if I recall correctly in another post showing the tongue, it is not able to go forward any further. You want to have the rollers close to the transom, but have a couple inches of leeway.

I think that the trailer may be a tad small for the boat, and if you want to try to use it, then you will want to move the whole axle assembly back. I did this sort of thing on my sailboat trailer, but the tongue was too heavy vs. too light . . . I did a bunch of measurements, guesstimates and even took out my calculator . . . moved the axle assembly about 7" from its original position.

Since you have no tongue weight right now the Center of Gravity (CG) for the boat itself is slightly behind the axle as the boat sit now. You could try to move the axle back a bit . . . maybe 6" or so and see how much tongue weight you get.

Got any measurements to share?

Ball hitch to axle?

Boat weight (approx)?

Trailer weight (approx)?

I have close to 2 feet to move the winch forward so no issue there.
The boat weighs around 2600. with a 2" ball
Its 19' 3" from ball to last roller where the transom will sit
With winch adjusted for transom to sit on last roller it will be 17 ft from bow stop to last roller.
No clue what the trailer weighs...should have weighed it before I put the boat on but didnt

 

[jonny rotten]

I'll weight the boat and trailer and use the method above.......Thank you for all your help!

 

[Bondo]

So the next question is how for should I slide it back. And how much tongue weight should I have.
The boat weighs around 2600.

Ayuh,..... 'bout 6" at a time, til yer tongue weight is 350/ 400 lbs,....

I find wagons tow the Best with 10% to 15% of the weight on the ball,....
Any less, or anymore, the tail likes to wag the dog,....

 

[tpenfield]

Just going by the various figures that you have posted, it sounds like there is about 14 feet from the ball hitch to the axle. If you have virtually no tongue weight now, then the C.G. is over the axle.

​If we assume that the trailer and boat are in the range of 3200 lbs.

​Then to get about 10% tongue weight, you will need to move the axle back about 17 inches (+/-), which seems like a lot. Maybe get the boat up about 6" and move the axle back 8-10" and see where that brings the tongue weight.

 

[bruceb58]

Just going by the various figures that you have posted, it sounds like there is about 14 feet from the ball hitch to the axle. If you have virtually no tongue weight now, then the C.G. is over the axle.

​If we assume that the trailer and boat are in the range of 3200 lbs.

​Then to get about 10% tongue weight, you will need to move the axle back about 17 inches (+/-), which seems like a lot. Maybe get the boat up about 6" and move the axle back 8-10" and see where that brings the tongue weight.

That's assuming the weight is uniform. Since most of the weight in a sterndrive boat is in the rear, it may be less than that.

 

[ajgraz]

I agree with the suggestion you start by moving the boat (and winchstand) forward until the rollers are more flush with the transom. Get a baseline tongue weight then. If still not what you want, got to move the axle. Do I understand that you can move the axle?

Now for my recent (and hopefully helpful) experience...

Personally, I like 5% to 7.5% tongue weight on a single-axle trailer for a boat in that size range.

A couple weekends ago I moved my 17' CC forward about 4" on the EZ Loader roller trailer to get the rearmost rollers flush to the transom. Whole rig including trailer, OB, gas is ~2750#. Tongue wt went from ~205# (which was IMO already at my preferred top end at 7.5%) to 285# (way too high, IMO at >10%). Then I moved my axle forward 3", measured tongue weight at 220#; then another 3" forward, measured 165# (6%, perfect for me...will go a touch higher when I load ice and gear forward of the console)

It tows so much more smoothly at this 165# than it did even at just 40# higher.

I lost 20# of tongue weight per inch of axle movement, your boat is a little bigger, will probably be more like 25# per inch for you.

BTW, I moved my axle by loosening the u-bolts (use penetrating oil!), chocking tires front and rear, and pushing the frame backward over the suspension carriages (i.e., like what you show in the pic in post #8 above) three inches at a time, with the truck (trailer hitched to the truck); unhitch, check with jack stand (zeroed out) on a 300# max bathroom scale.. Once I got the tongue weight I wanted, I replaced all the u-bolts one at a time, and then torqued them down. Just make sure there's no wires or guide posts or anything going to get in the way along your frame rails. Also, put chocks/bricks whatever in the path of the truck's tires, about the distance you want to move at each increment, to prevent over-doing it!

Sounds quite redneck, but it worked for me.

 

[robert graham]

Maybe put a large cooler in front of boat and fill with water/ice/beer/whatever while towing.....it's an easy way to get 200 to 300 lbs up front more over the tongue....think about it...

 

[jimmbo]

Tell the mother-in-law she has to ride in the bow of the boat, that should help with the tongue weight

 

[bruceb58]

Personally, I like 5% to 7.5% tongue weight on a single-axle trailer for a boat in that size range.

That's on the very low side. Depends on where gear is generally stowed for trips and where the fuel tank is located relative to the axle. Better to be closer to 10%. Stability increases dramatically with higher tongue weight.

 

[ahicks]

I usually set up travel trailers and stuff with a lot of side area using the 10% rule. Lighter stuff, like boat and uncovered utility trailers, don't need to play by the same rules. This allows the use of lighter tow vehicles and doesn't seem to have much in the way of a downside. Generally, as long as it's not swaying your OK with something like this. 5%, or maybe "it takes BOTH hands to lift" rules work fine in my experience.