2007 Hunter 25-2 Trailer Questions

[ChrisJV25]

Hello,

I purchased a H25 in central Florida in December 2025, and both the boat and trailer needed repairs. The trailer had severely corroded axles and crossbar supports, with cracks and rust streaking down from where the center bunk board sat. Because of that, the axle‘s and crossbar supports had to be replaced.

The repairs were completed and I picked up the boat and trailer in April from the Load Rite dealer in Florida and brought it to Louisiana. Once I had it home, I started working on a few additional items myself.

One of the items on my list was replacing the trailer winch. When I released the winch, the bow of the boat shot straight up 2 to 3 inches. After looking closer, I realized the front of the keel is no longer sitting on the center bunk board. The front side bunk supports are 2inches higher than the rear side bunk supports. Also the keel is 16 inches toward the bow from the center bunk board and the rear of the keel is touching the center bunk board. Another project on the list is to change the side bunk boards and brackets when I adjust the boat on trailer.

It seems like the boat is sitting too far forward on the trailer, which might explain why the front axle bearings were noticeably warmer than the rear axle bearings on the drive home.

Please see attached photos.

There are no Load Rite dealers near me in Louisiana, and I really don’t want to haul the boat all the way back to Florida just to fix the placement of the boat on the trailer. I’m hoping someone here can help me understand how to correctly position the boat on the trailer so the keel is properly supported by the bunk and the weight is balanced.

Any guidance, diagrams, measurements, or photos from other H25 owners would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[Timm R Oday25]

The trailer tongue weight should be roughly ten percent of the loaded trailers weight . From way over here , it appear that the boat was moved forward to keep the trailer's tongue weight correct . I would concentrate more on positioning the boat evenly than I would be about moving the boat rearward . Hopefully this makes sense

 

[ChrisJV25]

Hi Timm,

Thanks for the info.
When purchased the boat I did not receive any literature from the previous owner.
Sailboat Data website says the boat has a displacement of 3700 lbs.
Load Rite dealer that did the repairs to trailer said the trailer weight was 1600 lbs.
and that the trailer tongue weight would be 600 lbs. I calculate around 530 lbs.

As of now the front of keel is not touching the centerboard and is sitting forward about 16 inches. I am thinking about moving the boat towards the rear of trailer about 6 inches
and dropping the front side supports down about 1 inch and see how the boat sits on the trailer.

Thanks for your help,

Chris

 

[Timm R Oday25]

A few questions .
I'm not sure what you mean when you say the front of the keel is not touching the centerboard.
On our shoal draft ,centerboard , the front of the centerboard needs clearance from the keel for it to move .
Our boat is listed at 4500 pounds .
On a certified scale , on the trailer it weighs in at a very hefty 7200 pounds !
Lets get your boat to a scale ,shall we ?
How about a photo from the side perhaps a few feet away ?
Your tongue weight seems about right .
I learned quite some time back to only make one change at a time

 

[ChrisJV25]

The Hunter 25-2 is a fixed shoal draft keel boat with a two foot draft. It is not a water-ballast or swing keel boat.
When I purchased the boat the front edge of the keel was sitting on the very front of the centerboard.
Since having the axle’s and crossbars replaced at a dealer in Florida, with the boat sitting 16 inches forward of the centerboard
I now have a lot more tongue weight. The dealer told me that this is the correct position for the boat. Pictures of other boats I found online show the boat sitting even with the front edge of centerboard like the boat was when I purchased it or some pictures of boat sit about six inches forward of centerboard.

As far as the front of the keel not sitting on centerboard, the front bracket of the side bunk boards are two inches taller than the rear brackets and I think this is causing the front of the keel to be sitting two inches off of the centerboard.

I will have to take the boat and trailer to a certified scale to find out what the weight of the tongue is.

 

[Timm R Oday25]

I am really having a very hard time understanding what you mean by the phrase the front of the keel is not sitting on the centerboard .
Are you referring to a board on the trailer itself ?
Normally ,we refer to the board that drops down from inside the keel as the centerboard . This provides resistance to side slipping .
Please provide some pictures so we can understand how to best help

 

[ChrisJV25]

Ok sorry about that, I miss spoke. Looking back at the previous post i had mention centerboard. What I meant to say was the Bottom or center bunk board on trailer. The first and second pictures in the original post show the front of keel not sitting on the bottom bunk board. The rear of the keel is touching the bottom bunk board but the front of the keel is not touching.
If it should ever stop raining every day down south where I live then I would pull the boat out and take pictures of the side of boat from a distance further back.