I like the padding Idea, definitely do not want to nick the mast, or worse.I had to do this to transport my mast to a fabricator for repair after I launched once. My trailer has a tongue extension. With the extension, fully extended, the mast only overhung past the back of the trailer by a few feet. The mast was a pretty close to the hitch at the front. Do use padding or at least wood blocks so you don't end up with marks on the trailer or mast