Trailer Positioning

[caine]

hi

im experimenting with different trailer posistions. and was wondering if anyone would be kind enought to offer some advise.

i brought the boat forward a bit.

as i was concerned the transom was not supported enough.

but now the boat is much more difficult to move around (on my own) and wilst reducing the weight on the axle. im now concerned about the down weight on the cars tow ball.

i guess my 2 questions on this are!!!

How close to the transom does the rear roller have to be?

and what is the maximum weight i should have at the tow ball?

the other problem i have it i cant drive onto the stupid thing. i think the trailer is designed for a fibre glass boat!

what happend is when the bow hits the rear rollers. the front section bounces up and catches the lip on the bow of the boat. making it impossible to drive on or even winch the boat any further. i have actually popped off the offending roller a couple of times.

I cant see how to fix this other then replacing it with skids.

lastly the winch post seems wrong but i have replaced the wire with super rope and will give that ago. previously i was forced to run the winch wire over the roller.

man i miss my old tilt trailer on my old crap boat!!!

Any advise would be apreciated. Heres some pics

Edited January 20, 2008 by CaineS

[johnno]

very nice boat caine nice and clean

What i think and i have not stuffed around with trailers alot but

i don,t like the idea of the super rope why couldn,t you run the wire under as you have the rope now.

I would move the winch post more forward to get more on the trailer roughly 100mm more.So the roller is closer to the transom.And you have as much boat on the trailer as possible.

You need to remove weight off your tow ball i think.

your trailer can do this you need to lossen the u bolts and slide the whole assembly/wheels every thing forward

i would think around 50kg weight on your tow ball. please check this figure but.

hope that helps

[RodnReel]

Hi Caines

The height between the winch and the roller seems to be wrong.

I can see what they are trying to achieve with the roller and the two hook positions with the roller locking in between them. really locks the nose of the boat in tight.

You could get another piece of steel tube and put it under the winch to allow the rope to clear the roller.

Regarding the towball weight be carefully as this will affect the way the trailer tows less weight will cause the trailer to sway at speed. More weight will upset the ride height of your car.

On my setup I am towing 2000kg, I have 170kg at towball and it tows beautifully.

A small movment of the boat can make a big difference so all you can do is move it a bit and take it for a drive.

[pelican]

Get the boat positioned correctly is the first thing.

You can always move your axel slightly forward on a trailer like that if you had to. Nothing wrong with a bit of towball weight.

Measure your towball weight with a set of bathroom scales on a milk crate or something the same height as your towball

A tinny like that shouldn't be very hard to move around - is you jeckey wheel OK or seized?

[Chris 55]

I've got a Sales trailer also and there are some things that could be better

I think you may have it right about the trailer being for a 'glass boat as the

rear roller on mine is adjustable so the keel will seat

see the pic of the rear of trailer showing keel and hull roller positions

just measure up the distance from the roller pin centre to new pin centre near

the transom then move the axle plate (the angle piece) were the u bolts go

through forward the same distance that way when you move the axle forward

it's the same distance you have moved the boat forward

BTW get some protection under your tie down straps

Chris

[tonyt]

if you wanna drive it on yo should get a set of those retreive a mate rollers fitted i had them on my old tinnie and loading up was a breeze

[paulg]

Cain,

the winch cable should go under the roller not over,

you should push the winch up to allow this to happen.

roller trailers are more suited to fibreglass boats as the rollers can dent the aluminium as there is more load concentrated at the roller. It may be abetter idea to install two skids and remove the rollers.

the rear roller look ok with regard to the transom, 200-250mm is an approx measurement from skid to transom or roller to transom.

the weight on the tow bar should be 10% of the total weight you are towing.

the fact that you moved the boat forward, you need to push the axle and wheels forward to obtain 10%o f the total weight at the coupling.

hi

im experimenting with different trailer posistions. and was wondering if anyone would be kind enought to offer some advise.

i brought the boat forward a bit.

as i was concerned the transom was not supported enough.

but now the boat is much more difficult to move around (on my own) and wilst reducing the weight on the axle. im now concerned about the down weight on the cars tow ball.

i guess my 2 questions on this are!!!

How close to the transom does the rear roller have to be?

and what is the maximum weight i should have at the tow ball?

the other problem i have it i cant drive onto the stupid thing. i think the trailer is designed for a fibre glass boat!

what happend is when the bow hits the rear rollers. the front section bounces up and catches the lip on the bow of the boat. making it impossible to drive on or even winch the boat any further. i have actually popped off the offending roller a couple of times.

I cant see how to fix this other then replacing it with skids.

lastly the winch post seems wrong but i have replaced the wire with super rope and will give that ago. previously i was forced to run the winch wire over the roller.

man i miss my old tilt trailer on my old crap boat!!!

Any advise would be apreciated. Heres some pics

[caine]

Cain,

the winch cable should go under the roller not over,

you should push the winch up to allow this to happen.

roller trailers are more suited to fibreglass boats as the rollers can dent the aluminium as there is more load concentrated at the roller. It may be abetter idea to install two skids and remove the rollers.

the rear roller look ok with regard to the transom, 200-250mm is an approx measurement from skid to transom or roller to transom.

the weight on the tow bar should be 10% of the total weight you are towing.

the fact that you moved the boat forward, you need to push the axle and wheels forward to obtain 10%o f the total weight at the coupling.

thanks everyone! any idea what my boat would weigh???

[RodnReel]

The total weight of the trailer and boat should be on the ID plate on the trailer.

[pelican]

The total weight of the trailer and boat should be on the ID plate on the trailer.

The plate on the trailer will show the trailer weight at production and what weight it was designed to carry but it doesn't tell you what weight is actually on it. Weighbridge is the exact way or look up motor weight and hull weight on a website and add it all together along with all the other items like fuel and stuff. It will give you a good idea though. Since it is unbraked it should be below 750kg all up gross weight.

[a boat]

Hi CaineS, alot of good info but honestly the best thing to do would be to plan a trip to the Hawkesbury and stop by and I can show you what to do-easier than over the net.

If not, you really want the boat further forward-have the rollers as close to the transom as possible. If then to heavy on tow ball-you want about 10% of the total rig weight as a rule of thumb and I am guessing your rig would weigh about 700KG. Hopefully it is not over that becasue then you have the problem of not having brakes and being illegal. If it is too heavy then move the axle forward to get about 50-70KG on the towbal, or when you can easily move it. All this is not that hard and can be done at home.

Also the bow roller could come up so that the top bow eye of the boat is where the winch rope/wire connects to and the safety chain runs on the bottom bow eye.

Other than that is looks OK and as mentioned a nice tidy little rig you have got.

Cheers,

Huey.

[caine]

Hi CaineS, alot of good info but honestly the best thing to do would be to plan a trip to the Hawkesbury and stop by and I can show you what to do-easier than over the net.

If not, you really want the boat further forward-have the rollers as close to the transom as possible. If then to heavy on tow ball-you want about 10% of the total rig weight as a rule of thumb and I am guessing your rig would weigh about 700KG. Hopefully it is not over that becasue then you have the problem of not having brakes and being illegal. If it is too heavy then move the axle forward to get about 50-70KG on the towbal, or when you can easily move it. All this is not that hard and can be done at home.

Also the bow roller could come up so that the top bow eye of the boat is where the winch rope/wire connects to and the safety chain runs on the bottom bow eye.

Other than that is looks OK and as mentioned a nice tidy little rig you have got.

Cheers,

Huey.

Thanks Huey this site is lucky to have you contributing!

I will have ago weighing at the tow ball (im guessing weigh it wilst at normal towing height?)

at the same time ill move the winch post. if i still cant drive on i'll come see you and see about swapping the rollers to skids.

Thankyou very much all who offered advise

[achjimmy]

Thanks Huey this site is lucky to have you contributing!

I will have ago weighing at the tow ball (im guessing weigh it wilst at normal towing height?)

at the same time ill move the winch post. if i still cant drive on i'll come see you and see about swapping the rollers to skids.

Thankyou very much all who offered advise

Also keep in mind that 750kg GVM for brakes only applies to vechiles not already rated for towing! Some vechiles have a maximin towing wieght rated with and with out brakes. IE my Kluger is only rated to 1500kg max and 700 kgs with out brakes. I have heard of other vechiles only rated to 550 kgs without brakes.

[pelican]

Also keep in mind that 750kg GVM for brakes only applies to vechiles not already rated for towing! Some vechiles have a maximin towing wieght rated with and with out brakes. IE my Kluger is only rated to 1500kg max and 700 kgs with out brakes. I have heard of other vechiles only rated to 550 kgs without brakes.

Really good point - some cars and vans are fitted with really lowly rated tow bar or nudge bars that are only designed for bike racks- Don't know why they bother as a higher rated brand name one is only a couple of hundred extra with wring. All towbars should have rating and compliance plate on them these days.

[ATrezise]

I may be wrong here, but I thought an Ali boat was supposed to be set up on the trailer so that 99% or more of the weight sat on the keel rollers, and the side rollers or skids stop it from rolling side to side.

It looks to me in those transom pics, that the keel isnt supported, the side wobble rollers are set too high, or the keel rollers are set too low, which may/will go a long way to also explain the bow catching on the rollers when trying to put the boat on the trailer. If the keel at the bow is resting on that low keel roller the wobbles are way too high.

All the other advice, esp re calling to see Huey, is good.

BTW I have the same hull as you Caine, only mine is the Tiller steer version, Stessco Catcher, great hull.

Edited January 22, 2008 by AndyT

[achjimmy]

Really good point - some cars and vans are fitted with really lowly rated tow bar or nudge bars that are only designed for bike racks- Don't know why they bother as a higher rated brand name one is only a couple of hundred extra with wring. All towbars should have rating and compliance plate on them these days.

Not just the towbars Pelican but the towing specs of the vechile are down rated, as mentioned it does not matter what towbar is fitted to the Klugers they are rated to 1500 kg max and 700 kg w/o brakes