Trailer extensions

[oldiesrocker2001]

My V21 is my second trailered boat and both boat/trailer rigs have one thing in common - too short. My Mac trailer(apparently an original) has me backing up till the water nearly comes into the drivers's door on launch/recovery. This is with a Chev Venture(informally named Mis-adventure) Mini-van. My older trailer even had the same situation with a full sized Ford Van.
Is there an adaptation of an extended trailer that can be purchased/built for launch that disconnects for towing? While my trailer is old and fender-less, I'd rather find and adapting extension rather than replace the whole rig if I can help it.

 

[RichH]

Consider to take the trailer to a welder/fabricator and have the tongue (the single center bar) made longer. Fairly cheap job u sing square mechanical tubing.

Having a longer trailer tongue will also promote the loaded trailer to become 'more stable' when towing at higher speeds.

 

[Brian M H23]

Options:
-Rich's idea is a good one. An extra couple feet won't hurt

-Small tires on the trailer

-An extendable tounge: a piece of smaller box tubing that would slide INSIDE the current tounge. This you would slid out 6 feet or so before launching, but never trailer with it. Less fabrication work and cheaper, more maintenance, but keeps the trailer shorter if storage size is an issue.

-Depending on how much clearance you have between the axle and frame, consider putting the axle on top of the springs and reinstall with new U bolts. I just did this on my hunter 23, and it lowered the boat 6"

-Reciever for the van: I'm going to make a guess that you have a RISE reciever for towing the trailer. Switch it for a DROP reciever (trailer will have the tounge very close to the ground) before launching - on the ramp, the trailer will be level and the boat will float off earlier. Also makes alignment for haul-out easier because the boat isn't shifting as much with respect to the trailer.

 

[Jim V]

I have trailer extensions on my O'Day 26 trailer and on my Amphibi-Con trailer. I installed both myself as well as building the AC trailer. The extensions are essentially a 20 foot steel box tube 3 by 3 with a 1/4 inch wall. On the end I welded a trailer coupler to take the ball on my truck. The extension in both cases rides next to the trailer tongue and is contained by two larger box tubing sections about 4 inches in length. One welded near the winch bracket and the other back on the framework. I drilled a half inch hole through these containing sections and through the extension bolting them together with a class 5 - 1/2 inch bolt. Pulling out to the max. length I then drilled a hole for the bolt to hold the extension in place when fully extended. My boats weigh 5100 and 4900 pounds respectively so you might get by with smaller tubes of the weight is less. My Class E Scow has a 1-1/2 inch round extension on its trailer. I think the extensions/couplers/larger tubing cost me about $135.00 total. It is a great help in the heartland when the reservoirs are low and the ramps don't drop off as they do during higher water. I get about a 12 - 13 foot extension this way. Different trailers will give you different dimensions. Good luck. If you, want email me off list and I'll send you pictures of the set up if this description if too confusing.

 

[Wayne M]

I had

the same problem launching my pontoon boat. I solved my problem by buying a longer extention. All I had to do was drill holes in my trailer and bolt it up.

 

[Wayne M]

The web

address is http://www.xtend-a-hitchnorthwest.com/

 

[Timo42]

I like the extendahitch but...

it's kind of pricy for what you get imho. My trailer has an extendable tongue built in. The p/o built the trailer with a 2' piece of receiver tube at the front and installed the hitch on the end of a 8' long piece of 2" square thickwall tubing, drilled 2 holes in the receiver for pins to go through, 4 holes in the extension. When I get to the remp, I put the jack down to support the front end of the trailer, block the wheels on the trailer, pull the pins and pull the truck forward untill the second set of pins line up. Maybe $60 in materials and a little welding. Tim

 

[Roger (Ninette Manitoba)]

If you belong to a yacht club or marina, suggest a wheeled extender

At our yacht club the water levels drop in the fall. That coupled with owners who have boats deeper than the ramp accommodates for regular launching has led to the creation of a wheeled tongue extender. It puts the trailer way out there for launching. Attached is a picture. I have also attached a picture of my sliding extension. It slides out about another 7 feet from this length.

 

[oldiesrocker2001]

All good ideas...

Thanks for the response group.
While I was originally thinking of having the tongue permanently extended, I think there would be a limit to how long i would make it if I had to keep the boat at my current home lake. It's set up for trailer storage (called field and launch elswhere) and some of the sites are pretty narrow which leaves little maneuvering room to back into the hitch without hitting the rudder of the boat in front of you. I also asked asked a trailer shop about it and they didn't think it would be possible - but considering after the fact that they ruined the bearings that they removed in replacing procedure and gave the rig back to me with NO grease in the bearing buddies....
Perhaps only a couple of feet would suffice though....
I agree with Timo that the ready made extensions are pretty pricey at even the smallest extension size. From what you describe with your setup, the square tubing slides through where the original ball reciever was but is supported through the center and then drop pins(perhaps a variation of the pin for hitch recievers) secure the hitch both for launching at the extended length and then a towing length as well?

 

[Roger (Ninette Manitoba)]

There is a drop pin that locks the extension in, or out. Another version is a similar square tubing that simply folds alongside the tongue. Still another version just uses square U bolts to clamp to the underside of the existing tongue. There are lots of variation on the design depending on how much money you want to spend on labor welding, parts etc. The chapest is likely a box steel tube, with a ball coupler and a couple of square U bolts. It would be more labor intensive each time however, and if you are using the 'field and launc' method each time you go sailing throughout the season, this may get tedious. I think it cost me $75 to have a slide in tongue extender, and locking pin mechanism manufactured. That included the cost of the parts, excluding the ball coupler that was simply moved to the extension. Attached is another picture of the pin mechanism. That's a wheel jack and spare tire on the right. Pin is held in place by an upright tube so that the mecanism can be extended without the help of a second person. The pin is pulled up and rotated a 1/4 turn so that the flat steel seen rests on top of the tongue. The tongue extension is pulled out slightly, and the pin rotated back so that the handle is off to the side of the tongue. The extension is then pulled slowly out the rest of the way, and when the hole lines up with the pin, ... plunk... gravity drops the pin into the hole and locks the extension in place. When shortening the extension, the same procedure is used. The trailer wheels need to be blocked if you are using your vehicle to extend or retract the extension, but it can also be done by hand. I credit my welder with this design; I only thought of the upright tube to hold the pin in place. The chain simply keeps the pin from taking a walk. For highway trailing, I have a hole through the pin under the tongue that accepts a scissor clip so that the pin does not jump out at highway speeds.

 

[Joe11688]

Check out "Small Craft Advisor" magazine #53 Sept./Oct. issue, for a trailer tongue extender that you can build.
Joe

 

[Timo42]

Oldies, that is the basic idea, I like Roger's setup with the tube to make it a one man operation, may do that this weekend. The only issue is with rust in between the tubes, I pull the extender and set it on the frame when in storage so not too much of an issue, just clean and repaint , with a little grease in the receiver tube, and I need to pull the tube anyway so it doesn't stick out into the sidewalk. You are in freshwater? so not as much of an issue. Tim

 

[Eric M]

One more option not yet mentioned is a tow strap between the trailer and the tow vehicle. I have personally used this 100+ times launching a J/24 and seen it used hundreds of more times on boats as large as a J-80. When I bought my J/24, the trailer had already been modified with a sliding extension as several others have mentioned, but I found the tow strap method to be easier to use. The only two things you need are 1, a robust tongue wheel, and 2 a tow strap rated for the weight of your boat+trailer.
Here is the process.
Back the boat down the ramp till the tires are just uphill from the water. Block the trailer wheels and un-hook from your vehicle. Keep the safety chains on till your are certain the wheel blocks are holding.
Hook the tow strap between the trailer and your vehicle. Drive uphill in your vehicle till the strap is tight. Remove the blocks and lower the tongue wheel all the way down till the tongue is just a few inches off the ground. (they are stronger this way).
Back down hill slowly, gravity will pull the boat and trailer down into the water.
Reverse the process to get the boat back out of the water.

 

[Roger (Ninette Manitoba)]

rust between the tubes

I am on a fresh water lake so the issue is somewhat diminished. What I did do however is pulled the extension tongue all the way out, and used Tremclad (same as Rustoleum) to coat it several times. This does not coat the inside of the outer tube, but at least stops the inner tube from rusting to it. Another solution would be to keep it well greased, but that might not be something you want to be rubbing your 'yachting whites' against. Mine is only painted (not greased) and I have not had problems in the two years it has been in service.

 

[oldiesrocker2001]

More and more food for thought..

Thanks much, Roger and Timo. This boat will hardly ever be in salt water and so I might get away with merely painting the extender bar. I had the aforementioned trailer shop re-weld the the hitch ball reciever to the trailer a few years ago, and so I may have to have it evaluated to see if there is still enough of the original center tube to do the slide-thru extension thing without major hassles but it looks like the way to go. Roger, the tube shown in the picture is shown without the pin at that moment? Looks like a great idea with the tube to keep the pin upright long enough to drop into the hole.

 

[Roger (Ninette Manitoba)]

Oldies... the pin is down. When up, the flat iron looking strap is turned a quarter turn to have the lower tip of the handle rest on the top of the tongue. This lifts the pin inside the upright aligning tube and disengages it from the tongue extension. Hope that answers your question. I was down there yesterday and took a few more pictures that hopefully are a bit clearer.

 

[oldiesrocker2001]

Aha! the pin is part of the assembly(for some reason I thought what I was looking at was a type of guide for the pin). I had a bit of time today to look at the front of my trailer and found that there is no square tubing already running back from the reciever to run the extension tube through. Would I then need to first have an outside tube constructed with proper tolerances to allow the smaller tubing to run through(there is about 10 ft between the hitch and the bow edge but it's all open until the front keel rest)?

 

[Roger (Ninette Manitoba)]

This was from a neighbours boat. I did a bit of a walk around of the marina to see how others extended their hitches. It really does not matter how it looks, as long as it functions to place the trailer in deeper water without soaking the tow vehicle.

 

[Roger (Ninette Manitoba)]

In this position the pin is not engaged in the inner sliding extension which allows it to be slid in or out. Moving the extension a few inches, then rotating the pin so that the handle is no longer supported on the outer frame allows the pin to sit on the inner extension ready to fall into the hole when the extension slides into position.

The only drawback is sliding the extension too fast so that the pin accidently 'skips' over the hole. This happened this fall when retrieving the boat, and the pin had dropped behind the extension tube. When I went to pull the boat and trailer out of the water, all that came was the extension. Thank goodness it was only knee deep, and we were able to pull the trailer, replace the tongue, and try again.