Extending The Boat Trailer Tongue....

Fred McIntire

Fred McIntire

Active member
It seems like no matter what watercraft I have owned over the years, the darn trailer never went back far enough into the water to easily launch the craft. It was a problem last year with my duck boat but it won't be a problem this year !

I'm ordering this fold away bolt on hinge kit and extending the trailer tongue 36"to 48". I found it on Amazon for $58.78, with free shipping. Its rated for up to 5,000 GTW so its more than strong enough to handle my 160 pound duck boat.

http://www.fultonperformance.com/ProductPhoto/500/HDPB230101.png

Fred
 
Hi Fred. Having the same problem as you I installed one of those on my boat two years ago. While it solved the length problem it did increase the amount of flex in the tongue while driving down the road. I moved the axle to readjust the tongue weight and ended up doing that twice trying to solve the flexing problem. First I went to the correct amount (I needed to adjust the tongue weight before the extension was installed...just lived with the extra weight) and then I put some extra tongue weight back on when the boat seem difficult to tow. I could never get the feeling to go away so I gave up and bougth some tubing that allowed me to remove the hinge and weld the extension solid. 90% of the flexing went away so I have to assume that the hinge joint was the source of most of the flexing?

I see your boat weight is much less than mine but I was really dissappointed in how my set up towed with the extension installed with the hinge. My boat, motor and tlr was around 1900 lbs.
 
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I used one of those to make my fishing boat fit in the garage but not to extend the tongue. I have thought about making a telescoping tongue for my Broadbill trailer but haven't really needed it. Let us know how it works out.
 
I used one of those to make my fishing boat fit in the garage but not to extend the tongue. I have thought about making a telescoping tongue for my Broadbill trailer but haven't really needed it. Let us know how it works out.
Click to expand...


I like the telescoping tongue that I have on the Yakima. I may drill a couple of extra holes in it to make it customizable.

Mark W
 
I had a budddy bend my tounge so we took it off and got a 12ft piece of square tube and put that up there. That was the best thing that I could have done. It rides so much better going down the road and it doesent allow a lot of bouncing. The only downfall is that it makes it that much harder to go thru the drive thru at dunkin.
 
You mean you shouldn't have all 4 tires in the water before it floats off? Thank goodness for solid bottoms.
 
Tongue weight, balance weight can be adjusted by moving axle and moving boat position fore or aft. My southbay bounced at higher speeds, moved the boat aft and readjusted brackets and winch. Took two tries to get it right. Make sure the boat is tied down well. On long trips I tie the bow down to the tongue, winch strap around the cockpit cover to frame and regular rope over stern.
 
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