Trailers...
I have pictures of my trailer in the photo forum. Someone also emailed me recently (the email is at home right now, I am not) asking about specifics to my trailer. It's a Shore Land'r, 5000 lb cap. for a motorboat. The previous owner had the place he purchased it from modify it to accept the O22. First off, before I get into the details of the trailer, let me say I have nothing but problems launching and retrieving it! The reasons why are many, shallow launches, record low water on Lake Michigan, poor placement of the boat on the trailer, a low trailer hitch, etc. To alleviate this problem, I have moved the boat back on the trailer about a foot. This has equaled out the weight to about where it should be, but the boat still sits too high on the trailer. Also, this has caused the front to sit lower because of where the rollers are placed. I am going to move the front rollers inward soon. I am also going to get a 4-inch rise hitch because the one I have is just too low. It would be a decent setup if it were tweaked a bit. Others have made the point that without a bunk for the keel, I am risking damage. After looking at the trailer some, I don't know if I could get a bunk in there to support the keel without some heavy modifications. There are only two cross members on the trailer, and they are situated directly under where the rollers are mounted. This is about a ten-foot span, and I don't know how I'd mount a bunk to cover this that would still be able to hold up the boat. I suppose I could weld a 1000 lb I beam in there... The trailer I have works, but the boat sits high. It could be lowered, but there’s little I can do with the boat on it. As everything is welded into place, I can't really take it down to the marina tie it off and complete the work there. I'll suffer through it for now. If you want specs for the trailer still I can give them and the suggested modifications I would do. The trailer is overbuilt for this boat, which is something I like. Dual axles, surge brakes, heavy all welded construction...the boat supports just need to be modified some more... Josh
