Tilting Trailer with Safty Chain

[prawln]

Hey guys,

You are probably going to think im nuts and yes somedays i think i am also haha but i do manly beach launchs which have no ramps and has very little slope. Alot of the guys that launch boats have tilt trailers and they make it look so easy!

So here comes the nuts part, My trailer isnt a tilt trailer and my budget doesnt stretch as far as buying a new trailer. So I have brought a power winch, UHMWPE to put on my bunks and will put a keel roller at the back of the trailer to help lift the boat up. But tilting it even just alittle would make lift so much better so I was thinking of when the trailer is in slightly in the water Id unhitch the coupling and lift the trailer up so the safety chain is stopping it from going all the way up.

Apart from hitting into the truck if it gets pushed forward and comes back down, is this something that would work? or am I a nut case for even thinking it haha :lol:

Thanks in advance, I'll get ready to run and hide!

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Tilting Trailer with Safty Chain

Yep it could work..... might be tough to get hitched again tho and COULD even be dangerous if the trailer came down on you instead of the truck.

Maybe you could consider a ball mount for your hitch with a 6" or more rise/drop and get the ball up as high as possible... Also consider shorter tires/wheels for your trailer.

 

[Mi duckdown]

Re: Tilting Trailer with Safty Chain

What size Boat? Pics of trailer would help. I see you are thinking out of the box. which is good. there may be a ways to make it a tilt trailer. But without Pics ?????
Prawln don't post twice for the same problem. it just confuses everyone trying to help You.

 

[prawln]

Re: Tilting Trailer with Safty Chain

oh sorry I thought this was more a seperate issue of trying to tilt the trailer. Sorry mate.

 

[Maclin]

Re: Tilting Trailer with Safty Chain

....i do manly beach launchs which have no ramps...

Your new method you describe would certainly be a MANLY launch...

 

[jbetzelb]

Re: Tilting Trailer with Safty Chain

I have a set up where I pull my jetski off the trailer onto the bed of my truck and back to the trailer when the trip is over. It works great and is impressive to see but the trailer being loose is the only downfall. I doubt you want to chance the toung moving around. Like mentioned above, maybe you would be wiser to build a temp drawbar with a ball on it at what ever height you think would be usefull. Lock the trailer to the ball and load. Then unhook from that drawbar and put the normal one back in and hook up to it.

 

[Wind dog]

Re: Tilting Trailer with Safty Chain

How about fabricating some sort of ramp?

 

[sccatfish]

Re: Tilting Trailer with Safty Chain

Would a longer tongue help? I think I'd try to either modify the trailer to be a tilt trailer or make an extendable tongue before tilting the entire trailer with the boat on it.

You might be able to sell your trailer and buy another trailer and be better off than trying to modify your current trailer. That may involve having the leave the boat on blocks for awhile if you can't float the cash to buy a different trailer before you sell your current one.

 

[Alwhite00]

Re: Tilting Trailer with Safty Chain

As soon as the boat started comming off of the trailer it would push the tounge directly into your tow vehicle or possibly YOU. Keep it hitched to the truck.

LK

 

[tazrig]

Re: Tilting Trailer with Safty Chain

Once the boat starts to go off of the trailer that tounge is going to go into your tow vehicle or up into your teeth. Leave it secured to your vehicle. Another option to modify your trailer is to put a second winch on it. Hook up a pulley in the center off of the last cross member on the trailer. (closest to the back) Then run the strap from the winch through the pulley and back to the winch hook in the front of your boat. When you tighten the second winch it will pull the boat off of the trailer. I've seen this method used at many small boat yards for when they put boats up on jack stands for the winter.

 

[Quit It]

Re: Tilting Trailer with Safty Chain

Would a longer tongue help? I think I'd try to either modify the trailer to be a tilt trailer or make an extendable tongue before tilting the entire trailer with the boat on it.

Extend a hitch boat and sailboat trailer hitch extensions

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Tilting Trailer with Safty Chain

I experimented once with a hitch ball one size too small (popped off violently), and also I once forgot to latch down the trailer. This with a fairly light 17' boat. The force against the safety chains was frightening. What you are proposing is way to dangerous and hard to control. Also why you use safety chains just as much at the ramp as going down the road.

I've used tilt trailers a lot. I think the difference is that the tilt trailer merely adjusts the angle without taking all the weight of the boat--the stern is in the water so it's not a complete see saw. Your suggestion has the whole rig teetering.

You got the power wince now complete the deal and get a tilt trailer.

 

[prawln]

Re: Tilting Trailer with Safty Chain

cheers guys for all your suggestions. Looks like ill be pulling the boat off the trailer over winter and making the trailer a tilt trailer. Sounds safer then just letting the safty chain take the weight!

 

[halfmoa]

Re: Tilting Trailer with Safty Chain

Hey guys,
UHMWPE to put on my bunks and will put a keel roller at the back of the trailer to help lift the boat up.

Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene? Sorry....second job kicking in there...:facepalm:

Anyway, yeah...tilt trailer. Around here the concrete ramps are pay-per-use. Sand ramps are free. Thank you Gator Trailer!

 

[Captain Caveman]

Re: Tilting Trailer with Safty Chain

Aside from the danger and damage as described above, to answer your question - yes, it would work. However, I would be wary about unloading a boat in a manner as described because it doesn't sound like you've got the water/launch necessary to load the boat back onto the trailer. How are you going to reverse tilt the boat back onto the trailer?

 

[Quit It]

Re: Tilting Trailer with Safty Chain

cheers guys for all your suggestions. Looks like ill be pulling the boat off the trailer over winter and making the trailer a tilt trailer. Sounds safer then just letting the safty chain take the weight!

Did you consider this?

Extend a hitch boat and sailboat trailer hitch extensions