position of boat on trailer and tongue weight

[Travis71]

So I looked at the video in the sticky and I understand how important tongue weight is now. As you can see from the pictures the bow of my boat is up against the front bumper (?), the hull is making good contact with the bunks, and the rear of the hull is hanging off the back about 6 inches. I can lift the tongue of the trailer pretty easily, I would say 50 lbs or less of tongue weight, which I am thinking is too light because I can feel/hear the tongue of the trailer trying to lift up off the ball when I am going down the road and hit a bump.

So as a new boat owner I have some questions...

1. Is that the proper position of the bow on the bumper? In other words, is that loop that the winch strap is attached to supposed to be below or above the bumper?

2. Should the aft hull of my boat be hanging off the bunks at all or should it be more or less flush with the back end of the trailer?

 

[alldodge]

1. Is that the proper position of the bow on the bumper? In other words, is that loop that the winch strap is attached to supposed to be below or above the bumper?

It should be as shown (below) so it keeps the bow from riding up, helps keep it down

2. Should the aft hull of my boat be hanging off the bunks at all or should it be more or less flush with the back end of the trailer?

It should be flush if not a slight bit further forward. The transom needs to be supported, and without sufficient support it can crack the hull. You don't have enough tongue weight and this will cause the boat to fishtail when being towed. Loosen the bow eye support and move it forward

 

[Bondo]

You don't have enough tongue weight and this will cause the boat to fishtail when being towed. Loosen the bow eye support and move it forward

Ayuh,..... By the looks of yer pictures, it appears you can move the winch stand ahead, 'bout 2 or 3", to put the transom at the end of the bunks,....

 

[GA_Boater]

What AllDodge and Bondo said. Also you should add a safety chain from the bow eye to the trailer frame. If the winch fails or the strap breaks and you hit a good bump, the bow can bounce out of the bow stop and off to one side or slide back on the trailer. It's happened.

 

[Travis71]

Thanks gentlemen for the detailed answers. I will get-er-dun!

 

[ahicks]

Moving the winch stand and boat forward on the trailer MAY result in too much tongue weight. If that's the case, with any luck your trailer is set u to allow you to move the axle forward - enough to set your tongue weight properly.