Sailing friends some help please. My 1974 Venture 23 cutter came with a great looking trailer. But... to head down the road with it I must pack everything into the bow to get any tung weight at all. The tung on the trailer is ajustable, from 6" out to about 36". The gentleman I bought it from tells me he thought in to tow (6") and out (36") to launch. I'm thinking tow with the tung pulled out to help transfer some weight forward. Stuffing a 15 hp motor into the bow is not fun. PLEASE ANY IDEAS?
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Rick Webb
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Jack
Toe in
Check the toe in on the trailer. If it is zero or toed out you will have a hard time keeping it from swaying. It needs to be toed in.
Check the toe in on the trailer. If it is zero or toed out you will have a hard time keeping it from swaying. It needs to be toed in.
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Tom Boles
Weight & wheel alignment are important!
I can't comment on how to adjust toe-in on the trailer. I think it's pretty well fixed when the spindles are welded to the axle. Unless the axle tube is bent, I think you are sort of stuck with weight distribuition. Or.... Have you measured the ball weight? You can use the bathroom scale trick directly or with a support block on one side to divide the weight in half. Are you towing level? The trailer should be level under tow. Use an offset receiver to bring it level if it's not already. Is your vehicle up to the task? (follow what the Mfg says, not what a friend or someone in your boat club says). Is your hitch appropriate? Are the trailer & tow vehicle tires at the right pressure? Are the trailer wheel bearings greased & adjusted right? Do you have brakes? (you should with that size boat) are they adjusted right? Finally, if you do need to have more weight on the ball, you may want to move the boat forward on the trailer, if at all possible. The ball weight should be between 8-12% of the trailer weight for best results. The prior owner of my Laguna 18 had a 3" thick chunk of plywood U-bolted to the trailer winch upright and that's where he mounted the outboard when towing. It did tend to crack the outboard bracket a bit, but it made the ball weight correct. I took it off the front and put it on the floor of the cabin, and it was still OK. Then, one time for a week long trip I loaded the cockpit with heavy ice chests, BBQs and food boxes and nearly lost everything when the trailer started to sway REAL bad going down a hill on the freeway. I was sure it was going to flip the car and put a big dent in our vacation plans. I slowed down, got it under control and went back and cramed everything into the cabin. That solved the problem. Good luck!
I can't comment on how to adjust toe-in on the trailer. I think it's pretty well fixed when the spindles are welded to the axle. Unless the axle tube is bent, I think you are sort of stuck with weight distribuition. Or.... Have you measured the ball weight? You can use the bathroom scale trick directly or with a support block on one side to divide the weight in half. Are you towing level? The trailer should be level under tow. Use an offset receiver to bring it level if it's not already. Is your vehicle up to the task? (follow what the Mfg says, not what a friend or someone in your boat club says). Is your hitch appropriate? Are the trailer & tow vehicle tires at the right pressure? Are the trailer wheel bearings greased & adjusted right? Do you have brakes? (you should with that size boat) are they adjusted right? Finally, if you do need to have more weight on the ball, you may want to move the boat forward on the trailer, if at all possible. The ball weight should be between 8-12% of the trailer weight for best results. The prior owner of my Laguna 18 had a 3" thick chunk of plywood U-bolted to the trailer winch upright and that's where he mounted the outboard when towing. It did tend to crack the outboard bracket a bit, but it made the ball weight correct. I took it off the front and put it on the floor of the cabin, and it was still OK. Then, one time for a week long trip I loaded the cockpit with heavy ice chests, BBQs and food boxes and nearly lost everything when the trailer started to sway REAL bad going down a hill on the freeway. I was sure it was going to flip the car and put a big dent in our vacation plans. I slowed down, got it under control and went back and cramed everything into the cabin. That solved the problem. Good luck!
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Mark Fogg
Thanks for your help, BUT...
Thanks for your great respondes. The thing is, why is the balance so far off on a factory trailer. The boat does need to come forward about 3 inches on the trailer. If I climb in to the cockpit, without blocking up the rear on the trailer, the bow and tung fly up and the stern comes crashing down. This can't be right. Also, I'll never be able to tow this boat with my van unless I pull the tung out (because of the bowspirit). More ideas? AND THANKS!
Thanks for your great respondes. The thing is, why is the balance so far off on a factory trailer. The boat does need to come forward about 3 inches on the trailer. If I climb in to the cockpit, without blocking up the rear on the trailer, the bow and tung fly up and the stern comes crashing down. This can't be right. Also, I'll never be able to tow this boat with my van unless I pull the tung out (because of the bowspirit). More ideas? AND THANKS!
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Chris Gonzales
Proper tongue weight
The tongue weight of the trailer with an unloaded boat on it should be in the 10-15% range. Example: 3,000 lb trailer/boat=300 to 450 lb tongue weight. Any less you will end up with the trailer steering from its wheels and swaying behind the tow vehicle. Dangerous! When you load the boat you should be sure not to overload the rear part of it and lighten the tongue to much. Of course, this is more critical on lighter weight boats than heavier. If you don't have a 10-15% tongue weight when the boat is unloaded it is IMPERATIVE you move the axle(s) back to add weight to the tongue. Why a trailer/boat combo would come from the factory improperly balanced beats me, unless someone made a mistake or the setup was changed by a previous owner. Chris
The tongue weight of the trailer with an unloaded boat on it should be in the 10-15% range. Example: 3,000 lb trailer/boat=300 to 450 lb tongue weight. Any less you will end up with the trailer steering from its wheels and swaying behind the tow vehicle. Dangerous! When you load the boat you should be sure not to overload the rear part of it and lighten the tongue to much. Of course, this is more critical on lighter weight boats than heavier. If you don't have a 10-15% tongue weight when the boat is unloaded it is IMPERATIVE you move the axle(s) back to add weight to the tongue. Why a trailer/boat combo would come from the factory improperly balanced beats me, unless someone made a mistake or the setup was changed by a previous owner. Chris
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Mark Fogg
29 pounds tung weight
Thank you friends for your ideas. I'll have to do something before I get this thing up to 60 on the highway.
Thank you friends for your ideas. I'll have to do something before I get this thing up to 60 on the highway.
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David Walters
Not a perfect fix but...
If you put a motor mount near the trailer tongue, you can A) more easily store your outboard, and B) add 100 lbs. to your tongue weight. The best answer is to move your axles back or the winch stand forward by the 3"- 6" you need to get the weight forward.
If you put a motor mount near the trailer tongue, you can A) more easily store your outboard, and B) add 100 lbs. to your tongue weight. The best answer is to move your axles back or the winch stand forward by the 3"- 6" you need to get the weight forward.
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Doug Ross
Moving boat on trailer
Caution about moving the boat forward on the trailer, especially if it is has rollers. You want to have your bulkheads/stringers supported by the trailer. If you have the trailer supports holding the hull at a location other than directly under a bulkhead you will see your hull distort. On power boats you need a support directly under the transom. As far as getting the weight forward, I agree that the motor should be put on a mount up by the trailer winch. The fuel can should be taken out of the back of the boat as well.
Caution about moving the boat forward on the trailer, especially if it is has rollers. You want to have your bulkheads/stringers supported by the trailer. If you have the trailer supports holding the hull at a location other than directly under a bulkhead you will see your hull distort. On power boats you need a support directly under the transom. As far as getting the weight forward, I agree that the motor should be put on a mount up by the trailer winch. The fuel can should be taken out of the back of the boat as well.
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