Too far past the bunk ends?

[Joolz]

In order to lighten the tongue weight a bit I moved the boat rearwards from the trailer 6cm. Was this a mistake? Given all the weight on the transom (this is an outboard) should the boat be flush with the end of the bunks? If this was an error and you folks think it should be moved back to its original location, can this be done "dry" or will I need to first unload the boat next time we head to the lake? What I mean is, would I be able to crank the boat forward once I move the stop pole ahead? The lake is 70km away and if you think having the boast extending this much past the bunk ends to be a bad idea, it may not be wise to drive that far before rectifying things. I rather ask first then to make more mistakes.

 

[jimmbo]

Not good. The transom is now unsupported. The bunks should be at minimum, even/flush with the transom, some prefer an inch sticking out past it.
How much tongue weight are you looking at? Between 5 and 10% of total trailer weight on the tongue is the norm, if you want an easy to tow trailer
The standard way to adjust tongue weight is to move the axle, or for minor adjustments, move ballast around in the boat

once you place the Winch Stand in the proper location, you should be able to slide the boat forward using the winch.

 

[Joolz]

Thanks for confirming what I had suspected. Good to know I should be able to winch the boat the 6cm ahead, despite it being on dry carpeting. I suppose I could always prop up the rear using a car jack and a 4x4 (to distribute the pressure on the transom) to make it easier to move the boat ahead. I'll do this before heading out to the lake, as driving this way may not be wise.
I'm making some other changes to move weight back a bit since I cannot adjust the axel position in this trailer. Simple things like moving the spare tire further back, adding gear to the back of the boat, etc. Tongue weight currently sitting at around 9%, so it's not horrible. But since my TV is small, keeping the tongue weight to around 80kg would be ideal. Will also be nice to regain the bit of extra space given my very small garage. Thanks for the quick feedback.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I would move the boat forward, and if you go a bit over 10%, not a big deal.

 

[Joolz]

Done! Had good o'l Jack assist me as I didn't think it looked safe to put all that pressure on the bow eyelet by dragging the boat atop dry carpeting. So it was a lot of back and forth, cranking up the rear and moving it ahead a cm at a time. Glad this is now out of the way. Hoping to go for the first outing of the season this Sunday, lots to do still.

 

[JimS123]

Most Americans don't understand the English to Metric system very well. If your variance was only 6 centimeters, I don't think you did any harm. In fact, I doubt you made a significant difference in the tongue weight anyway.

If you are in within the 5-10 % range, you should be good. If you travel at city speeds (~50 KPH or less), then the 5% limit may not even be necessary.

If you want to move the boat forward, move the winch stand and then crank her up....no need to be in the water.

 

[ahicks]

The right way to set the boat up on a trailer with the tongue weight that suits you, is to locate the boat on the trailer properly (e.g. with transom supported properly), then move the axle to where it needs to be to set the tongue weight..

 

[SkaterRace]

I'd just put it back where it was that small of difference I doubt would make any noticeable impact on the trailer but does on the transom. Had this issue with a roller trailer, boat was so heavy I got 'dents' (hooks?) on the hull bottom. If I were you I'd rather a bit more weight up front than a damaged hull.

 

[dingbat]

Euro transoms and bracketed motors don't require trailer support but you can't cantilever 6 centimeters (2.3") of a hull off the back of a trailer for fear of damage? Humm..

In a perfect world, I would shoot for the bunks/ rollers to match the length of the boat, but I'm sure as not going to waste time and energy worrying about an inch or two either way.

 

[Joolz]

To clarify, moving the boat back the 6cm relieved about 5kg off the tongue. Or to put it mathematical terms, 5.6% less weight on the tongue. But the downside of this is that it made it that much harder to place the boat in my very limited space. This, combined with possible worries about transom stress prompted me to put it back in place. Will look for other ways to alleviate some of the weight off the tongue. Will also look at cutting a portion of the trailer's arm off, in order to shorten the LOA.

 

[JimS123]

Once again 5 KG is a piddly dink amount. Not even worth talking about. If length is a problem, put it back where it was. Cutting off the trailer tongue would be a very poor way to solve your problem, and it seems you don't have a problem anyway.