Can I lengthen this trailer?

[ngt]

Got this trailer. Want to get a boat that's 2 feet longer. Looks like everything is bolted on. Can I unbolt that stuff and just slide it up towards the front? Will I need another roller for the bottom of the boat?

thanks

 

[badbowtie]

Re: Can I lengthen this trailer?

Would need more pictures of the trailer to tell. There doesn't look like there is even two feet of room in the front to move it all that far. What is the weight of the boat you want to haul on it? How much is the axle and tires rated for and what does the trailer weigh? These are things that need to be figured out to decide.

 

[ngt]

Re: Can I lengthen this trailer?

I'd like to go from a plain 12 foot aluminum boat to a plain 14ft aluminum boat. No flooring. Not sure on the weight. The tounge weight on the car is 200 pounds, max 1000. The car pulls the 12ft like nothing. If I could get a foot and a half, a 14 ft boat would only hang off of the back about 3-4 inches. Boat's only going to have a couple batteries, 9.8hp motor, 2 trolling motors, anchor, couple of oars, bimini top, and a fish finder in it. I would have 2 feet to move it up if I put the little wheel dolly thing up past that little metal square thing on the front that the chains wrap into, or if I took that off.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Can I lengthen this trailer?

Sure, you can move the post clear to the front of the trailer. You can put the jack behind the winch post if need be, or adapt something else.

As light as that rig will be, you will only need 80 lbs or so of tongue weight. You could get by with a flip down stand and a strong back.

If you're going down the road with it, or on anything resembling a rough road, the boat needs to be supported directly under the transom or you will damage it. Just use your imagination, but don't miss that detail.

hope it helps
John

 

[sublauxation]

Re: Can I lengthen this trailer?

You'll probably need to add more rollers to the front to keep the hull from scraping across the trailer frame. If it's a bunk trailer can you lengthen the bunks to let it hang back a bit further, or if it's a roller trailer can you slide those back? I moved mine forward about half the distance in front and added the other half to the back by moving the rollers.

 

[LippCJ7]

Re: Can I lengthen this trailer?

The way things look in front I think you will be fine but as Bowtie said I would like more pic's, specifically of the back, in order to keep your geometry the same your going to have to split the difference between the front and the back so the majority of work will most likely be at the back of the trailer. Just by pure numbers your adding 2 feet in length so its likely you would need to move the winch stand 1 foot forward possibly a bit more, then add 1 foot to the rear bunks to finish the stretch, I also agree with J_martin you really have a very light boat so the weight isn't much of an issue but by splitting the difference between front and back your not changing the geometry of the trailer to dramatically and should see very little difference in how the trailer tows.

More pics though please!!