Looking for advice on a trailer tongue extension. Buy or build? I have the standard trailer built for the Seaward 17. If you have photos and directions on how to build an extension that would be great. Thanks.
Trailer tongue extension
- Thread starter Dhamil6490
- Start date
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,042
This is a good question, but I find it impossible to answer. I do not know your skill level with mechanical things. If you find screwing in a light bulb to be taxing then I would suggest you buy. If on the otherhand you are a master welder and know you way around a auto shop with out getting hurt, then I would guess you could figure out the engineering needed to buld the extension on a trailer.
Let us know your decision and how it comes out. You do not want it coming apart as you try to drive the boat down the freeway at 60mph Behind your vehicle.
Let us know your decision and how it comes out. You do not want it coming apart as you try to drive the boat down the freeway at 60mph Behind your vehicle.
I would buy one say from etrailer: https://www.etrailer.com/Hitch-Adapters/Reese
Find a local trailer parts supplier or trailer builder. They can weld you up one quickly.
I don't need a whole lot of extension, so I used off-the-shelf parts to extend my hitch rather than extending the trailer tongue. See here: Trailer tongue extension
It should be noted that this increases the lever arm on the hitch ball, effectively increasing the tongue weight. (If I had a big heavy boat or a light tow vehicle, I'd be more inclined to use a tongue extension instead.) Also moving the ball farther back from the rear axle of the tow vehicle increases the steering sensitivity when backing.
It should be noted that this increases the lever arm on the hitch ball, effectively increasing the tongue weight. (If I had a big heavy boat or a light tow vehicle, I'd be more inclined to use a tongue extension instead.) Also moving the ball farther back from the rear axle of the tow vehicle increases the steering sensitivity when backing.
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a picture of the boat on a trailer is worth a thousand words. Use to design sailboat trailers
simple enough, especially if you have some welding skills, or access to someone who does. you'll need a hoop welded or bolted on the trailer itself to capture the tail end of the extension, but other than that it's pretty self explanatory.
. well it could easily be done with nuts and bolts also I recon' Are you SURE you want to make a hitch extension? rather than a tongue extension? anything more than a couple feet on the hitch side is going to be wicked to back up under the best conditions and dangerous under the worst. depends somewhat on your tow vehicle, and strength of your existing hitch, but I would be VERY cautious about that one. ~1700 lb boat?
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Look in ODAY 26 section. I added jpgs of my trailer I modified from a power boat trailer. My extension is stored in a 4x4 box steel welded to the tongue. Unpin and pull it out and repin with same pin. It already has a ball coupler on it and a stop bolt at the end to keep it from coming all the way out. It's easy, self storing and works great. I've used it several times on my ODAY 26
Thanks for your concern and advice. I've built the hitch extension from square steel tubing. I plan on making a test run in my driveway. If I find that backing is affected too much, it'll be back to the drawing board. And yes, the boat weighs about 1700 lbs.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 22,042
1700lbs... Backing up... No problem.. Get a couple of big guys and dead lift the trailer back in line with the direction you want to launch. See it attempted at the Marina Launch all the time. Usually after a couple of failed backing attempts.
Here is a candidate for one of your helpers.
Here is a candidate for one of your helpers.