Another towing tail

[NiceAft]

I'm sure that all of us will be looking at our hitches more closely, before the next trip.

That's for sure

Ray

[Kelly Hanson East]

Seahouse - Ill have a look at my 2002 trailer and see if I have a 'positive lock' or 'spring loaded' trailer hitch. Given the heavy loading of these boats, it is certainly prudent to get these things right.

[Tom Root]

(Quote)Sea Horse, said....
"My personal habit, with lighter trailers of course, is to lift up by hand on the tongue after it is hitched to make sure it is engaged and there is slight free play. But hard to do with a Mac-sized load!"

That is close to what my personal method is, but I go a step further and use the Tongue Jack and lift it up till I see movement of the tow vehicle going up. I have never had a disconnect ever happen with many trailer hauls for decades and many 100's of thousands of miles from RV Bumper pulls, and two 40', 5th Wheels, I make it SOP for about as complete peace of mind as I can get!

I never was a proffessional Truck Driver, but Dad was for 45 years, so I think he taught me well, in that respect!

Look in the Archives, you will find the problem I DID have one time. That MacGregor Tongue on ANY of his trialers made, including the new Alum/Steel combo are disasters waiting to happen, been there, done that, when they corrode through!

I bit the bullet, and purchased a new Tandem Aluminum trailer to solve most any issue.....trialer wise!

[Kelly Hanson East]

You can actually lift the hitch (tongue weight 350-400# when correct and feel for the looseness associated with the ball not being clamped in the hitch - you will hear it too, btw.

[c130king]

If the weather and the flights cooperate I get in to Jax on Saturday night at 8:00. I will take a taxi to the Navy Base where my boat and truck are stored. I will spend about an hour "prepping" the boat/trailer for the trip:
- Remove Tire Covers
- Remove tie down ropes (4' augers drilled down into the ground)
- Remove the tarp cover from over the motor
- Reconnect the battery so I can raise the motor
- Move a few things inside towards the front (for weight distribution)
- Move tool bag to inside the truck
- Check tire pressure
- And ensure everything is all tied down and secure inside & out

Then I will drive to my hotel for the night with a quick stop to top up fuel and air in the truck.

Then Sunday morning (6:00 if everything goes well) I will drive back to the boat, hitch up, and drive away (with quick stop at the base gas station to top up the air in the trailer tires if necessary).

I have about 470 miles to go almost completely on I-10. I work my way up to 65 MPH if the trailer is behaving. Figure it will take about 10 hours with stops for gas and trailer/tire checks every 90 minutes or so. I have a spare trailer tire, a hydraulic jack...and most importantly I have BoatUS trailer/towing insurance.

Phase 1 of my Christmas Sailing Trip was a great success. Everything went exactly as planned (I think I just jinxed myself... ). The truck cranked right up (I was worried about that since it has sat unused for over 3 months). The boat and trailer were in good shape...just a little dirty. Topped up the air in the tires this morning at 4:00 am and hit the road. Averaged 65mph on the Interstate. Actually did 500 miles in 9 hours. Checked the air pressure, tire temp, and bearing temp 4 times...everything was good everytime.

Thanks again to everyone for all the trailering tips...I felt very prepared.

Got in early enough to get the boat washed today. Will launch and start sailing tomorrow.

Cheers,
Jim

[Québec 1]

Go Jim go and keep us posted!

[Uncle Jim]

Congradulations Jim, Merry Christmas and safe home

Jim

[Boblee]

This may have been posted but haven't they all got a pin lock to hold the tongue down?

[c130king]

I have a "pin" that locks my "hitch latch" (terminology????) in place. I also stick a padlock through that same hole to "lock" my hitch when the trailer is sitting unattended.

Here is a pic of the tow beast and König on it's trailer at the Love's fuel stop in Foley, AL. The second pic is of my hitch set-up...you can just see the "lock pin" or at least the ring-ding on the end of the lock pin just forward of the black painted part of the trailer brake control. The electrical umbilical is sitting on the ring ding.





And just to add some excitement to my adventure today I will rig and launch the boat solo...never done that before...always had an assistant. I have never seen the ramp/marina where I am going so hopefully it will be user friendly.

And yes, it is early here in Mississippi, but my body clock is still on London time. I have been up since 3:00...

Cheers,
Jim

[bastonjock]

its looking great Jim,im so glad that its all going well

[Kelly Hanson East]

Nice tension on those chains Jim....

ll have to retract my post on adjusting the latch - yours is completely different than mine. Ill post a picture of mine when I get a chance.

ss

[c130king]

Like I said...I jinxed myself.

Today I towed the 50 miles to the Long Beach Marina. Fixed piers about 5 feet above the water...it was low tide but the tide range was only about 1.3 feet. And the ramp...I was told by the Harbour Master was only about 2-3 feet deep. So I executed back-up plan 2483X (you guys all have a back-up plan don't you... ) and diverted to the Keesler AFB Marina. Very nice...floating piers...everything is less than 2 years old.

Rigged the boat all by myself...went very well. Launched solo...went...not so well. Actually the launch was okay but when I pulled the trailer out of the water here is what I saw



And this is the other side...also rusted but still connected.



This is the cross piece forward of the axle. Rusted out on the ends. Does anyone know exactly what the purpose of this piece is? My theory...the ramp was steep. I had the ballast valves open. I backed down until the tongue was just to the edge of the water. The aft end was just floating but the bow was still dry and sitting in the bunks. I had tied the docklines loosely and then unhooked the bow-eye from the trailer winch strap. Then I back down another couple of feet and the boat came off the trailer. Due to the steepness of the ramp I am thinking that maybe as it backed off the trailer and the stern rose, the bow may have dropped or slightly dug in and hit this cross piece breaking it.

Or maybe it was broke the whole way from Florida. I really don't know.

I will try to find a welding service and see if they can fab me a new cross piece and weld it on. Hopefully I can get it fixed in the next two weeks over the holidays...I have to be back in Jacksonville NLT 3 Jan. I see a new galvanized dual-axle trailer in my future if/when I move back to the U.S. in 6 months.

But I did get some sailing in today. It was a good day even with this issue.

Cheers,
Jim

[bastonjock]

it looks to me like it is a support brace,i find a local welding service and have the guy weld a new piece back on,then once the weld has cooled,paint primer on to the area of exposed steel and later once dried,paint the area.The area around the original weld spot may be weakened so i would have the welder add a plate over the area

I would also suggest,having the insides of the box sections checked,it may be corroding from the inside out

i dont want to jinx your well deserved and much dreamt of sailing trip err i meant planned but id get the box sectioned checked before you do the return leg.

on the brighter side,i suppose that you are enjoying the sunshine whilst we shiver in the snow and ice

[Kelly Hanson East]

Jim - could that piece just be something to catch the daggerboard from falling down on trailer??

[Boblee]

I think that bar is just to stop the dagger board hitting the road if it comes loose but it is a trap for water, just check it is drilled in the centre bottom to let water out.
One of the good things about the Mac trailer is that there is nowhere for water to collect as it doesn't have box section like many except at the front behind the brake actuator and this should be clear although I did have brake fluid build up in there from a split pipe at one stage so it's a good idea to drill the bottom of this also both front and back.
This bar snapped at one end on our trailer too so I just tied it up for the last 4000k's but will fix it properly prior to heading off this year, it also stops flexing of the main frame so if you have extra post rollers mounted on there it might pay to pack them off the boat before re welding otherwise they will be too close and rub on the boat.