Boat on Trailer

How should my boat fit on my trailer? What I mean is how should my transom line up with the back of my trailer?

Right now it over hangs somewhat and the boat and trailer just fit in my garage, and this is where I'd like to keep it. I'm just wondering what's going to happen when I put an outboard on it.

This is the dimension that I need. With the boat right against the wall, there is only about 4" from the hitch and the garage door. From the trailer lights to the bottom of the transom is about 12"

Could you snap another picture,underneath/back to?
That would show your bunks and they should be supporting all your stern and maybe acouple inches of overhang.

Here you go. My boat is a 1448 jon and the bunks are 76" long.

Your bunks need to support the transom.They should be even or and inch or 2 out from the transom.A hull hook will occur after you add the outboard.Hull hooks can be very dangerous and aluminum boats are easy to develop this problem.The transom will sag and the hull will hook down right where the floor and transom meet.This cause the hull to wanna nose dive the faster it goes and slowing down from speed can make the nose dive really bad.

ben2go said:

Your bunks need to support the transom.They should be even or and inch or 2 out from the transom.A hull hook will occur after you add the outboard.Hull hooks can be very dangerous and aluminum boats are easy to develop this problem.The transom will sag and the hull will hook down right where the floor and transom meet.This cause the hull to wanna nose dive the faster it goes and slowing down from speed can make the nose dive really bad.

Click to expand...

So what your saying is that I can adjust my trailer and pull my boat up 3"?

I'm trying to gain ever inch I can. I think I'm going to have trouble getting it in the garage once the outboard is on.

Thanks,
FG

Fly_Guy said:

ben2go said:

Your bunks need to support the transom.They should be even or and inch or 2 out from the transom.A hull hook will occur after you add the outboard.Hull hooks can be very dangerous and aluminum boats are easy to develop this problem.The transom will sag and the hull will hook down right where the floor and transom meet.This cause the hull to wanna nose dive the faster it goes and slowing down from speed can make the nose dive really bad.

Click to expand...

So what your saying is that I can adjust my trailer and pull my boat up 3"?

I'm trying to gain ever inch I can. I think I'm going to have trouble getting it in the garage once the outboard is on.

Thanks,
FG

Click to expand...

Yes.Should not be a problem as long as you can turn with out the boat hitting your vehicle.

That won't be a problem for sure. I think the trailer we handle a 16' boat.

Thanks for your help. I'm sure I'll have 100 more questions before I'm finished with this project. I'm going to post some pics on how the project is going a little later.

Thanks again,
FG

Regardless it you gain another 3", that 7" isn't gonna fit an outboard. You'll still need to take the motor off to fit in the garage unless you consider adding a swing away tongue. Here is a coupler where you just cut your trailer tongue off and bolt this on. Weld it if you prefer.

https://www.marineexpressusa.com/proddetail.asp?prod=220-HDPB330101

flounderhead59 said:

Regardless it you gain another 3", that 7" isn't gonna fit an outboard. You'll still need to take the motor off to fit in the garage unless you consider adding a swing away tongue. Here is a coupler where you just cut your trailer tongue off and bolt this on. Weld it if you prefer.

https://www.marineexpressusa.com/proddetail.asp?prod=220-HDPB330101

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After seeing the failures associated with those firsthand, I doubt I will ever invest in anything like that. A tongue that telescopes, on the other hand, is a more sound option, in my opinion.

Bassboy,

Are you referring to the add on ones or all of the swing aways in general? My trailer has a factory installed swing away tongue I have had no issues with it.

I slid the boat up so the transom is even with the bunks, but like someone all ready said, 7" isn't going to be enought room for an outboard.

Factory mounted on larger glass boats. Not a pretty sight. The whole idea of it, combined with the frequency of these being used surprises me that there aren't more. I guess the three failures I know of out of the number being used, as half the boats on steel trailers these days have them, isn't bad odds, but the things scare me. Relies solely on pins, as opposed to much of the weight being in the telescope like in a receiver hitch or a telescoping removable tongue.

flounderhead59 said:

Bassboy,

Are you referring to the add on ones or all of the swing aways in general? My trailer has a factory installed swing away tongue I have had no issues with it.

Click to expand...

Same here. No problems. The Trailstar trailer I had with my Tracker had a swing-away tongue, and the trailer (made by Karavan) I have with my Lowe rig now also has a swing-away tongue. I'm pretty sure (although ca't provide documentation) that the pins used in the tongues have some type of [shear strength] rating for them. Now, I would be worried if it was just a plain old bolt.

Waterwings said:

I'm pretty sure (although ca't provide documentation) that the pins used in the tongues have some type of [shear strength] rating for them. Now, I would be worried if it was just a plain old bolt.

Click to expand...

On the failures I saw, it wasn't the pin that failed, but the hole the pin went through. The whole trailer load is placed on those two little bitty steel eyes, which twisted off, and were real mangled. The pin in your hitch receiver has a similar load, but the eye is much stronger (kinda what I hinted at with the telescoping part) as the eye is the whole receiver, and some of the weight is elsewhere, so it is not stressing the pin hole at one little bitty point.

Is there any other kind of alternative? I'd hate to have to take everything out of my garage so I can get my boat in and I really don't what to leave it outside.

Actually. Karavan had a recall on the swing away tongues . My 03' Bayliner has one on it and there was a bunch of them failing. they came out and added an extra piece on it and now there is double eyes when the bolt/pin goes through. I wouldn't worry too much with a small aluminum boat though , My Bay's dry weight is 1900 lbs . loaded with junk and fuel about 2500lbs and when I go camping more like 3500 lbs......lol..I've never had any issues with it at all and the pin doesn't even show any signs of wear..

Only other thing you can do is either cut a hole in your garage wall the size of the outboard... or build you an outside shed to put it in/under.

You could take the motor off when you put it in the garage and set it on a saw horse... then put it back on when you're ready to leave. PITA, but you don't have that many options.

Are you able to move the bow stop up more towards the front of the tongue? You might get a few more inches that way, but you'd have to be careful with the clearance when you got to make turns while driving. I have about 8" hanging over the ends of my bunks, but I'm not carrying a motor either

I'm sure I'll figure something out. I have a little while to go before I hava an outboard on it.

The kick in the pants is I have an huge RV parking spot in my yard that I rent to my neighbor so he can park his ski boat there. I'll let him enjoy it while he can, next year I'm planning on a 2 bay garage. It sure would be nice to have something my boat and truck would fit into.

You could try putting it in the garage at an angle if you need a few inches.

hey bassboy1 how bout this? weld this piece to trailer,https://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200336461_200336461, then weld hitch on this piece and have a removable hitch.https://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200180474_200180474.