Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

[smassey22180]

First post in the trailer forum so let me if there is a better search term for what I am asking.

These new houses have the smallest garages. I have a little less than 20 feet to work with. If I put the swing away forward of the winch I am still just over 20'. Is it safe to put it after the winch?

I am also open to using an insert in the 3x3 to make it as strong as possible. That would make it more of a bolt on rather than a swing away but I am willing to deal with the extra effort. As a backup plan I may go with some thing bolt on that I use just for winter storage.

The point I would cut aft of the winch is 48" back from the coupler. My 17' boat/motor/gear is around 2000 lbs. Tongue weight is less than 100 lbs. There is not a lot of stress when winching on the ramp. My 8 year old cranked it up last weekend . Thanks for the help.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

it would be fine to put it behind the winch strength wise but would be a real pita as you would have to unbolt an remove the winch stand to fold it every time. Maybe you could have a custom winch stand made that attached further back and angled forward... also understand that the jack needs to be behind the pivot as well

 

[colbyt]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

48" from the center of the coupler is the absolute max for a 3x3 tongue and I think that varies downward as the tongue gets smaller. I think both the jack and winch need to be on the non folding part.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

Maybe you need to cut a hole in the wall and build a little extension for the motor/ drive to fit in.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

Maybe you need to cut a hole in the wall and build a little extension for the motor/ drive to fit in.

Wouldn't be the first time.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

I agree with swapping out the winch post. The post on my trailer is only 6-12" past the bow, and the swing tongue is even with it when folded back.

Something like this:

Maybe you need to cut a hole in the wall and build a little extension for the motor/ drive to fit in.

Nah, just leave the hole open. When the family comes over for Thanksgiving, you won't have to haul them all the way out into the garage to show off the new SS prop.... It will be poking through the dining room wall for everyone to enjoy! :laugh:

 

[smassey22180]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

I agree with swapping out the winch post. The post on my trailer is only 6-12" past the bow, and the swing tongue is even with it when folded back.

Something like this:

I like the setup in the pic as it seems like the safest thing to do. Do you know what model winch post is shown? Most post I see are mounted at an angle rather than straight up. Thanks

 

[limitout]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

I agree with swapping out the winch post. The post on my trailer is only 6-12" past the bow, and the swing tongue is even with it when folded back.

Something like this:

I agree, go with something like this then you will have the room you need for the swing away.

also the way your bow stop is mounted in your picture, it doesn't lock your bow in place. the bow stop should be directly in contact with the top of the bow eye with the strap under the bow stop so the bow cant bounce.

 

[limitout]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

I like the setup in the pic as it seems like the safest thing to do. Do you know what model winch post is shown? Most post I see are mounted at an angle rather than straight up. Thanks

I found these: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trk...r+Winch+Stand+(Galvanized)&_sacat=0&_from=R40

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

Wow...that end of that tongue is a long way away from the bow of the boat. Assuming your tongue weight is ok, seems to me like you could get away with shortening what you have.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

Before you get too excited, is the transom even with the back of the trailer? If not move the boat forward till it is... Next, if you DO need to mod your winch post, looking at your pic, all you need is to take a hacksaw to your existing winch post at the red lines drill a couple holes for the bow stop and bend in at the blue and out at the purple lines n mount it in the black square or possibly a little forward

 

[limitout]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

Before you get too excited, is the transom even with the back of the trailer? If not move the boat forward till it is... Next, if you DO need to mod your winch post, looking at your pic, all you need is to take a hacksaw to your existing winch post at the red lines drill a couple holes for the bow stop and bend in at the blue and out at the purple lines n mount it in the black square or possibly a little forward

View attachment 218037

smoke is right about moving your winch post though, I think maybe it would be better to move the winch directly onto the winch post itself otherwise it would be very close to a knuckle buster when winching all the way in if he cut his existing bow stop bracket shorter.

 

[smassey22180]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

Thanks to everyone for all the great posts. In the end I probably will use a combination of many of these ideas. I checked the rear and the transom is close to even with the rear of the trailer. The bunks do stick out 6 inches beyond the end of transom (pic attached). Is that correct? One has a soft spot at the end so I will be replacing it over the winter.

 

[limitout]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

Thanks to everyone for all the great posts. In the end I probably will use a combination of many of these ideas. I checked the rear and the transom is close to even with the rear of the trailer. The bunks do stick out 6 inches beyond the end of transom (pic attached). Is that correct? One has a soft spot at the end so I will be replacing it over the winter.

you shouldn't have more then a few inches (2-3) so if the board is ok at that point then just cut it at that spot to remove the bad section so you only have an inch or two past the transom. if you are careful, unstaple and pull the carpet back so you can reuse it and you wont even need new carpet for it.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

The boat looks too far back on the trailer.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

yep, if you have clearance between the bow and the front of the trailer that boat needs to move forward... the bunks sticking out the back do nothing.... cut em off if you want

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

looks like too long a trailer under the boat.

the bunks are only a few inches longer than the trailer. I agree the boat should be forward a bit, however then the rear overhang past the axle on the trailer is a bit long.

 

[limitout]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

The boat looks too far back on the trailer.

I think that's because the trailer is much bigger then needed for that boat, the transom looks to be positioned correctly over the rear frame of the trailer so he wouldn't want to move the boat forward even though I agree there is too much trailer out in front of the bow.

my concern with it would be in how close the bow is to coming in contact with the forward yoke/crossmember because it sits so low on that oversized trailer.

I think he would be better served by getting the correct trailer that fits the boat better and sell this one instead of trying to make the wrong trailer work.

 

[smassey22180]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

I think that's because the trailer is much bigger then needed for that boat, the transom looks to be positioned correctly over the rear frame of the trailer so he wouldn't want to move the boat forward even though I agree there is too much trailer out in front of the bow.
.

After staring at the picture I am also starting to think the trailer is a little too big for the boat. I don't want to move the boat forward as the tongue weight is perfect now. Also, the bunk mounts are perfectly positioned to distribute the load from boat to trailer. The bunks are mounted to the cross beams of the trailer so there are no options to move them. I want 15" wheels anyway so this may be a good excuse

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Need swing away tongue. Can I put it aft of my winch. Pic included

I don't want to move the boat forward as the tongue weight is perfect now.

What is your tongue weight? Have you measured it.

Also, hard to tell but it looks like you can also move your axle if moving the boat forward disturbed your tongue weight too much.

I don't think you would need to touch your bunks at all.