Fold away hinge kit

[mdunn]

So I've decided to buy myself another 30" of garage space so I ordered a fold away hing kit from the Iboats store this week.
Now I'm wondereing how much harder the boat will be to maneuver around if it's in the "folded" position.
What have you folks with that folding feature experienced.
My tongue weight at the ball is about 250.
Thinking maybe the SeaSense Big Wheel would help.
Thanks

 

[Benz Mondi]

Re: Fold away hinge kit

Installed the Fulton full version (hinge and complete tongue with chains- $45) which shortened my set up by 24". No noticable difference in moving the boat within my garage. I have the most basic tongue jack.

Al

 

[mdunn]

Re: Fold away hinge kit

Installed the full version Fulton set up ( came with hinge, chains, and complete tongue with ball cap $45).

No noticable difference in moving the boat within my garage.
I have the most basic tongue jack, also.

Al

Is your tongue jack on the swing portion?
Thanks!

 

[Benz Mondi]

Re: Fold away hinge kit

No, it's on the the main beam behind the hinge and just ahead of u bolts for the jack. If you mount the jack on the folding tongue there would be too much stress on the single hinge pin that remains while the hinge is open.

Al

 

[Craig W]

Re: Fold away hinge kit

You need to move your jack behind the pivot point of where you install your swing tongue (hinge), so keep that in mind as well before you cut. On my current trailer (and my previous one) I had the jack installed on the front section of the trailer near the 'yoke' - just before where the 2 outside sections join to the winch area and tongue. Have not had any problems manouvering my boat around in the garage. Just keep in mind that you don't want your jack extended too far (bow up too high - exposing longer leg of jack) if you are rolling around too much. You could bend the jack "leg" when it's outside the sleeve.

 

[DJ]

Re: Fold away hinge kit

As you can see, my trailer tongue is removable. The jack/wheels is mounted on the A frame. It actually makes it easier to manuever. The swing radius is much shorter.

 

[sublauxation]

Re: Fold away hinge kit

I put on the Fulton swing tongue a couple years ago and it's been really easy to deal with, that 30 inches makes a big difference in the garage. Just make sure not to cut to much length off the trailer tongue. When I open the tailgate on my Expedition it misses the bow by about an inch, just about perfect because I wanted to shorten the trailer as much as possible.

I'm amazed at the strength of the pivot on the swing tongue but if it ever broke I'd do what DJ did on his with the removable square tubing.

 

[jayrat86]

Re: Fold away hinge kit

Installed the full version Fulton set up ( came with hinge, chains, and complete tongue with ball cap $45).

No noticable difference in moving the boat within my garage.
I have the most basic tongue jack, also.

Al

Al, where did you find it for $45. I need to get one and everything I've found is at least $75.

 

[mdunn]

Re: Fold away hinge kit

You need to move your jack behind the pivot point of where you install your swing tongue (hinge), so keep that in mind as well before you cut. On my current trailer (and my previous one) I had the jack installed on the front section of the trailer near the 'yoke' - just before where the 2 outside sections join to the winch area and tongue. Have not had any problems manouvering my boat around in the garage. Just keep in mind that you don't want your jack extended too far (bow up too high - exposing longer leg of jack) if you are rolling around too much. You could bend the jack "leg" when it's outside the sleeve.

Well, I went ahead and did the install prior to reading all these posts and to maximize the length of the hinged portion I installed the hinge just forward of the winch mount, which is right at the Y on my set up.
It works though because once I back into the garage I stick a jack stand just behind the hinge and take the load off the hinged tongue so that I'm able to easily swing it back.
Thanks for the replies.

 

[Benz Mondi]

Re: Fold away hinge kit

"Al, where did you find it for $45. I need to get one and everything I've found is at least $75. "

My local west marine store. I went in to buy just the hinge and saw it on the shelf for $60. Just below it, I saw the complete setup with 24" tongue, chains and ball cap for $55, one left. I took it up to the counter and asked about the obvious pricing mismatch. He scanned the box and said that the price was even better. The whole set up was $45!

Don't really know why, but I couldn't get the money out of my pocket fast enough.

Even at the $75 that you've found though, it's worth the cost to have the room. Unless you need to refresh your ball cap, and chains, the hinge only set up is really all that's needed. I believe it comes with the inner mounting plates that really beef up the strength of the hinge. Just torque the bolts to the proper setting, mark the bolt head position with some paint so that you can tell quickly if they've moved and re-check the torque before leaving and you shouldn't have any problems. It's been a terrific addition to my set up.


Al