trailor tongue longer ?

[canman]

hi all . i would like to make my trailor tongue longer . i was thinking about another 2 feet longer than it is because of the water being so low at the boat ramp . would this be ok ? .

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: trailor tongue longer ?

I have done it on 2 trailers. You will need to move the wheels a bit to ensure proper tongue weight on the hitch.
I use a bit of overkill: I drill and tap 2 pieces of 1/4 inch steel about 1 foot long for the inside of the tube (assuming square or rectangular tubing. ) and use 2 ea. 1/2 inch bolts each piece and each side. I re-use the existing holes for the coupler in the original tongue. Then I try to use another piece of 1/4 inch steel on the bottom. The advantage to this is that you can eventually remove the extension if you want or need to. And 12 one half inch bolts are going to be stronger than the rest of the trailer.
If you weld the extension on, be sure you are an expert welder or hire one and specify full penetration welds.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: trailor tongue longer ?

here is another option.

http://www.extendahitch.com/

 

[sc_shane]

Re: trailor tongue longer ?

Wow. I've never seen one of those before, but what a great idea! I've never had a problem launching my boat but definitly see the advantage of the device. Check out the link below. This guy launched from the side of a river! How cool is that!?!

http://www.extendahitch.com/images/xwebb23.jpg

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: trailor tongue longer ?

thanks, shane, i haven't seen that.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: trailor tongue longer ?

I was behind a guy in line a few weeks ago that had one, it's a great idea, but his was either stuck, rusted, or just had too much weight on it. He was towing with a minivan and only trying to launch a small boat, but the ramp is shallow and ends to short.
He lauched with it unlocked, it then extended when the boat slid back, and followed the boat in. He finally got the boat off, and then had to climb up the ramp with the tongue extended about 9 feet, the tongue bottomed at the top of the concrete ramp sticking him there without the ability to pull it over. Someone had to finally drag him off the ramp. It would work better if there was a way to retract it in those cases.
It's a nasty ramp for a lighter tow vehicle, it's a tad steep and the water is shallow. The ramp also has a sharp drop at the end that can be near imposible to get back up on if you go too far.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: trailor tongue longer ?

in other words, pick you ramp. it sounds like a ramp i would drive 20 miles to avoid.

 

[Motor Boater Bill]

Re: trailor tongue longer ?

You could use the trailer winch to pull the trailer back up to the vehicle--just a thought.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: trailor tongue longer ?

almost 30 years ago we launched a 19' cobia on a small lake, gravel ramp, used very little. end of the day we got to load. now problem, ford ltd wagon, went to pull out, all it did was spin, walked out into the water, the trialer had sunk into the silk. off loaded the boat, car would not pull trailer out. disconnected, pull car up, pulled trailer out with a double come-a-long. had to hold foot on brake so all 4 wheels would hold or the car would side back. ended up dry loading a 19' cobia w 115 johnson, thank god for tilt trailers. we didn't catch any fish either.

 

[jeeperman]

Re: trailor tongue longer ?

I have done it on 2 trailers. You will need to move the wheels a bit to ensure proper tongue weight on the hitch.

I need to do this to my trailer by about 2 feet also. However my tongue is 3x6 galvanized tube that is bolted in with nothing welded on it.
If it is currently setup with proper tongue weight, won't adding more weight (not much) at the tongue make it that bit more tongue heavy?
No matter how long of tongue you add?
Or do you mean move axle back a bit?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: trailor tongue longer ?

as long as you stay in the 10-15 % range your good. you can always move the bow stop back a couple of inches, as long as the bunks are long enough.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: trailor tongue longer ?

When you add two feet, you are increasing the leverage so the tongue weight decreases. Just like using a long breaker bar to bust loose a nut. Assuming ( and we all know that assume makes an *** of U and ME) you decrease enough for tongue weight to go below about 10% of trailer weight and assuming the boat is set properly on the trailer with no forward adjustment, then you would need to move the axle rearward a few inches. Sounds counter intuitive, but when you move the axle rearward, more weight is forward of it and thus more weight is on the tongue.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: trailor tongue longer ?

Didn't know we weren't allowed to spell a** in the forum .will remember for next time. sorry.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: trailor tongue longer ?

I've gotten lucky on a few of mine and just was able to go down to one of the local marinas and found a longer tongue for a few of mine, both were tilt trailers that used just straight 3x3 and 3x4" tubing, I simply unbolted the old one and bolted on the longer one and then swapped over the tilt latch and bow stop.
I also just did one that was all welded, I just cut the old one out, found the appropriate size tubine to match the frame, and welded in a longer tongue. I left the axles in place since the added length was only about 40" and I re-adjusted the boat on the trailer to rebalance the rig and regain the right tongue weight.
You sort of have to judge each one case by case. I tow with a smaller truck so I have no choice but to keep the trailer long and the tongue weight down. My heaviest boat is only 4000 lbs, and with a 4x2 4 cylinder Ranger, that's about the limit, especially without brakes. My main concern is not having enough traction to pull up a slick ramp, so I try to keep my tongue weigh on the high side but not to the point that the truck is sagging. About 300lbs is the limit to tow comfortably. I also don't go far and choose my ramps carefully, there's a few I wouldn't dare try with a 4x2 or light truck. I like long gradual ramps with no drop off at the end. Unloading is never a problem, but pulling it out can get hairy at times. With a 4 cylinder stick and 2 wheel drive, and a 4000 lbs boat its putting the old Ford to the test. It has never let me down yet. I have two full size vans that I used if I have to go farther or use a steep ramp, but they aren't the best for traction either. The Dodge gets stuck on flat ground in wet grass.

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: trailor tongue longer ?

I have a 4 X 2 S10 towing around 32-3800 and there have been times when I had to hunt up logs and stones to throw in the bed. At a populated ramp, if I have trouble I just ask 3 or 4 people to jump into the bed.

But I also have those @#$%^ Tiger Paws. If it even gets cloudy, they skid on the road.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: trailor tongue longer ?

One of the problems here is that a lot of the ramps are either steep or sandy, that combined with the angle that the boat is on the trailer while sitting on a steep ramp, it decreases the tongue weight quite a bit. I backed down one ramp with my old truck, a full size 4x2 p/u, and noticed the rear end raise up as soon as the boat was heading down hill on the ramp. On level ground that boat would squat my truck a bit, but on the ramp with the boat trailer hanging down hill the weight of the outboard seemed to offset the tongue weight.
I didn't even try to launch there, I pulled out with some difficulty and went elsewhere.
That boat had everything in the rear and center, the angle of the steep ramp combined with the 40 gallons of fuel dead center, shifted the weight to the rear when on the ramp. I got it out of there, but barely with lots of side sliding and wheel spin, and I had at least 1000 lbs int he bed. That truck had good tire, a posi rear, and plenty of power, but the boat outweighed the truck by about 1100 lbs.
My current boat is lighter, but so is my truck, when fuel prices jumped up I moved towards a lighter truck and boat. With the light truck, I also tend to put all of my boats on oversized or at least longer trailers. Some of the places I plan to launch my bass boat have nothing by clamshell paved ramps or just dirt. They are gradual, but many drop off into deep water rather quick too. So the tongue has to be long and the wheels set forward to allow the boat to float before the wheel drop off the edge. What I did before there was to add a weight box to the tongue, it allowed me to tow without the sway and keep the axle forward. My tongue on that trailer is about 6' out in front of the boat and the bunks extend 28" past the frame. The axle is about 1/3 of the way back in relation to the boat. We can only run electric motors here, so there's no outboard on that boat, only a trolling motor, and I hang that once in the water or ready to launch. I add as much as 100 lbs to the tongue if I am towing on the highway, if not the tongue is too light and the trailer will sway.
I can put that boat in without even getting my back wheels wet.