tongue jack

A

angler00

Seaman
Joined
Jun 26, 2011
Messages
60
hey guy's...
looking to get a new tongue jack for my trailer looking on ebay and the net.
what I have now being level I have 17" from the ground to the bottom of the tubing on the trailer..
my question will a jack that say's 10" travel will that be enough of travel??
problem is I cant just go out and measure my trailer because it is in Delaware and I live in Pa
any help would be great..
 
Monterey10

Monterey10

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 13, 2007
Messages
194
Re: tongue jack

Without the trailer in front of you, you may try calling the trailer manufacturer.

Regarding jacks. Generally, I've had more problems with them being installed wrong and hanging two low. Going down over a launch ramp, the jack wheel hits the berm and tries to lift the trailer off the ball. (!) A jack wheel is nice for lighter boats, but consider a flat skid on larger boats to hold the boat in position. Also, the skid will rise higher, giving you more clearance.

IF you have a boat much over 5000 lbs, the jack will be geared very low. To raise a heavy boat off the ball, the jack climbs very slowly, and 20 minutes of hand cranking, the boat is off and you're worn out. The electric powered jacks are nice in this case. I didn't think much of them until I used one. I'm sold on the idea.

Electric jack.jpg.
 
A

Alan_Scott

Seaman
Joined
Nov 25, 2011
Messages
69
Re: tongue jack

Wife says I put it on in the spring of '09 and it'd not showing signs of rust yet, although we live in the high desert.

The one thing I don't like is the lack of a channel for the bottom leg, I have to hold my foot against the wheel when there is no weight on it otherwise it just turns when cranking it up or down.

The pivot point is holding up well and hasn't developed any play in it but since it sits in the dirt all of the time, we've never tried moving the trailer around by hand.

Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to put one on my boat, it's also a 21' but sits on a tandem.
 
cribber

cribber

Lieutenant
Joined
May 29, 2008
Messages
1,338
Re: tongue jack

It's a case of you get what you pay for... check the reviews on the Harbor Freight website. it was about 50/50 of previous purchases that went bad. HF are good for things that will see limited use. Fulton makes great trailer jacks that seem to last.
 
S

Silver Eagle

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Mar 16, 2010
Messages
852
Re: tongue jack

I bought the one for $29.95 at HF and put it on my pontoon boat on Saturday. It sure is heavy duty. I had to use my 3/4 in wrenches to bolt it on with. I only had 1/2 in. on my 1000 lb. one
 
2

2300max

Seaman
Joined
Sep 21, 2010
Messages
54
Re: tongue jack

I picked up the 1500 lb jack at HF for my trailer which is a tandem that carrys my 24' maxum. No problem so far and it appears to be well made and moves up an down with no issues. I know some folks have issues with HF but I've always make sure to do the research and had positive results.
 
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