So about the MacGregor bump....

[trainmanjess]

hello

when i got my Mac 25, i had to buy a trailer for it. i purchased an EZ Loader #6,000 lb trailer with wobbly wheels for the hull. my Mac25 looks good on it. it is an older trailer built in 79, but it is strong and durable. it had 2 rubber V bumpers on the front, and the winch is between those V's. sitting in my backyard, i can grab the tongue and lift it by myself with little effort, but also, i have had 4 people in the cockpit and it doesn't tip back either. there is alot to say about a tandem trailer. i like it much better than the single axle trailer they put it on. and i found my tandem axle trailer for $300 too... so i think it was a good investment.

thanks
Jess

 

[Dogleg]

Doc Holiday
I can't speak for no one but my self but yes I have done the bump. I try to do it faceing down ramp ( we have some long ramps in texas ) It's not that drastic of an event just barly moving and a quik stop will do it with the carpet wet. I did not know it was called The Mac. bump till I read this tread. I only thought of it as another tool in my bag of tricks. I don't think it is in the manual.
Thanks Dogleg

 

[sumrvl]

the so called "macgregor bump" is about the harshest way to get the boat where you want it on the trailer. it is hard on the trailer and everything in the boat. probably wont hurt the boat too much unless you have a catastrophic failure of the bow stop/winch pedestal.
you can add strips of starboard to the bunks over the carpet so it slides easier and then it will be far simpler to use the winch to pull it up....
BUT.... the simple modification of moving the bow stop roller to a position below the winch can help a lot also.
when I got my boat i found the boat only had about 25lbs of tongue weight when it was loaded on the trailer and against the bow stop, and then when the boat was off the stop after pulling it out of the water, it was almost perfectly balanced..... so I moved my axle back 13.5 inches (to the very end of the trailer frame) and this gave me about 200 lbs of tongue weight.... 250 when all my gear is loaded in the boat in its proper place.... and now when I pull the boat out of the water, if it hangs back a few inches, I dont worry about it. it rides fine like that. the boat sits very firmly in place on the carpeted bunks and it wont take corners any better against the bow stop, and the bow stop has no bearing on whether it slides off the back of the trailer..... the bow stop is mostly a reference point on where the boat rides best and to keep it off the winch in an extreme braking situation...
if I were to get into a panic braking situation it will move forward against the stop and thats fine, it wont hurt anything anymore then than if I did it in the parking lot... and if I should ever ass end something so hard the boat comes over or thru the stop, well then I will have all sorts of other, more severe problems to worry about..... but the trick is to secure the boat at the bow, and a safety strap across the middle to the rear of the trailer and then drive sensibly and safely.... and it doesnt have to be against the stop.

I suppose a cutting torch is needed to release the axel from the frame and then re-weld it to the frame closer to the rear. Does the frame need reinforced where the axel was removed. I am a new Mac 25 owner, sailed two times last fall and is stored at the lake 90 miles from home for the winter. It seems that the trailer tongue is short too and steps sure would be handy. My tongue weight now is about 20 lbs with the 10 HP outboard mounted on the transom. It does make it easy to manhandle the unit in the parking lot. That is way to light of tounge weight from what I read about towing specs. I have only towed the unit for 20 minutes at max speed of 50MPH and it towed fine. But I am concerned about how it would tow at 65-70 MPH. My trailer has surge brakes, so that is another issue of plumbing the hydalic lines.

 

[Sumner]

I suppose a cutting torch is needed to release the axel from the frame and then re-weld it to the frame closer to the rear. Does the frame need reinforced where the axel was removed..

The frame should not need any reinforcement where the axle was if it is like....

...the above and that picture shows taking the spring mount off. More here....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor-trailer/trailer-mods-9.html

Cutting the mounts off and moving the axle back should be a very fast job for a welding shop. I could do it in under 2 hours and they should be able to do it in less than that. I'd go get a bid and the mounts are not much.

If your springs are old this would be a good time to replace them and they are pretty cheap. Cheaper than having them break on the road ,

Sum

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