canoe/kayak
Recruit
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2011
- Messages
- 4
Looking for some help with a trailer idea and stumbled upon this site. The knowledge level seems pretty high here, so I am hoping someone here can set my straight.
I have a small utility trailer that I'd like to extend to carry a couple 16'-17' canoes and/or kayaks. The trailer i have is a 4x6 tilting utility trailer. It has 12" tires and has a load rating of 1700 lbs. http://www.tractorsupply.com/traile...oor-trailer-1-700-lb-payload-capacity-1011070
The tongue is just 2x3 rectangle tubing, with a 1-7/8 coupler welded on and appears to be 1/8" thick. It is approx 4-1/2' overall length and connects to the trailer with a 5/8" bolt and a 5/8" pin ( removal of the pin allows it to tilt to drive a riding mower unto it). Approx 18" of the tongue goes underneath the trailer, leaving 3' sticking out. So right now, the total trailer length is about 9' from coupler to end.
My thinking is I can unbolt and remove the existing tongue, then get a piece of 2x3 tubing about 10' long and make a new tongue from that. I would simply use two 5/8" bolts to attach it to the OEM mounting spots. With 18" of the new tongue under the trailer, this will give me a tongue that is about 8-1/2' long (total trailer length of 14-1/2').
I realize that adding the longer tongue will reduce my tongue weight, so i am thinking i could offset this by using 1/4" tubing instead of 1/8", and could always mount a spare tire up near the coupling if more tongue weight is needed. I was planning to use aluminum to build my crossbar boat supports, to keep the weight down. The heaviest canoes weight about 80lbs each, and I'd like to mount a plastic tote to put PDFs in, so for the sake of arguememt lets say my max load will be 350lbs.
I'd like to leave the trailer as "intact" as possible, so that if I needed it to take my riding mower to the shop, i could just remove the 2 tongue bolts, remove the 10 footer, put the shorter tongue back on, remove my wiring harness extension, and it would be just like it is now.
Any thoughts or recommendations? Is this just a bad idea? Thanks in advance
I have a small utility trailer that I'd like to extend to carry a couple 16'-17' canoes and/or kayaks. The trailer i have is a 4x6 tilting utility trailer. It has 12" tires and has a load rating of 1700 lbs. http://www.tractorsupply.com/traile...oor-trailer-1-700-lb-payload-capacity-1011070
The tongue is just 2x3 rectangle tubing, with a 1-7/8 coupler welded on and appears to be 1/8" thick. It is approx 4-1/2' overall length and connects to the trailer with a 5/8" bolt and a 5/8" pin ( removal of the pin allows it to tilt to drive a riding mower unto it). Approx 18" of the tongue goes underneath the trailer, leaving 3' sticking out. So right now, the total trailer length is about 9' from coupler to end.
My thinking is I can unbolt and remove the existing tongue, then get a piece of 2x3 tubing about 10' long and make a new tongue from that. I would simply use two 5/8" bolts to attach it to the OEM mounting spots. With 18" of the new tongue under the trailer, this will give me a tongue that is about 8-1/2' long (total trailer length of 14-1/2').
I realize that adding the longer tongue will reduce my tongue weight, so i am thinking i could offset this by using 1/4" tubing instead of 1/8", and could always mount a spare tire up near the coupling if more tongue weight is needed. I was planning to use aluminum to build my crossbar boat supports, to keep the weight down. The heaviest canoes weight about 80lbs each, and I'd like to mount a plastic tote to put PDFs in, so for the sake of arguememt lets say my max load will be 350lbs.
I'd like to leave the trailer as "intact" as possible, so that if I needed it to take my riding mower to the shop, i could just remove the 2 tongue bolts, remove the 10 footer, put the shorter tongue back on, remove my wiring harness extension, and it would be just like it is now.
Any thoughts or recommendations? Is this just a bad idea? Thanks in advance