Odd trailer design?

[reelfishin]

I picked up a freebie boat today. An old Starcraft trihull that's most likely headed for the dump. The motor was good and will find a new home here on something else, but the trailer is sort of odd, it's a very narrow, 62" overall, tandem axle bunk trailer. The frame is made of 2x4 square tubing, its forms a narrow V about midway and extends into a fixed tongue about 4 ' long. The boat on it was an 18', the tongue could be moved to easily take anything from a 15' to 22' boat. It uses independently hung axles, each axle looks to be about a 2500 lb or so unit and both axles are mounted permanently at the very rear of the frame with 13' wheels. The boat on it didn't even begin to compress the springs, and I can't imagine what it was built for? The bunks mount to 5" angle iron crossmembers welded below the two main frame rails. The bunk brackets are about 12" tall supporting two 6' 4x6" beveled bunk boards. It says Web-On trailers, PA The paperwork with the trailer identifies it as being a 1976 model

My question is what would it have been built to carry?

The boat would have to be less than 48" wide to fit between the fenders, so I take it that's why the super tall bunks, but this puts the boat pretty high up. The second axle is within 30" of the rear of the trailer. The separate hung axles are also odd, as is the axle placement. If I toss the rear axle and make it a single axle trailer, the front axle would still be a bit too far rearward for most boats.
The frame is also super heavy, the cross members are made of 5x5" angle iron at least 1/4" thick, there are 6 cross members with the front three being very close together and very short. The angle of the V is about 70 degrees or so. It has good suspension travel, but the large diameter axles would also prevent me from flipping them on top of the springs to lower the trailer. That would limit the suspension to only a few inches of travel at best. The tandem fenders are welded on, and also would have to be raised to lower the trailer.

I am thinking that maybe it was for some sort of bass boat or long narrow speed boat? With a huge engine putting all the weight at the very rear? It's also got a small 1 7/8" coupler, which is a formed part of the tongue, not a bolted on unit. The outer frame starts to form the V section right past the front axle. It's even too narrow for most skiffs, and way too high. If I were to lower the bunks, not many boats would fit between the fenders. Like it is, it would be hard to launch any boat in all but the deepest water. (On the trihull that was on it, the 90HP Evinrude's skeg cleared the ground by 28" with the motor down, I could pull the drain plug without bending over, and I'm over 6'2" tall). Although it was a trihull, the rear hull was a normal V hull, so the bunks are pretty universal is spacing. I'm thinking of maybe switching to a lower tire and lowering the fenders a bit to match and lowering the bunks about 6 inches if I keep it.

Anyone ever heard of Web On trailers? Their logo is red and black with a spiderweb pattern on both frame rails. The address on the frame say Pennsylvania but a web search puts them in Miami, FL.

 

[AZMinyard]

Re: Odd trailer design?

Pictures would sure help . . .

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Odd trailer design?

Here's a few pics, taken at night under a light but I haven't been home during daylight for over a week.

The boat on it now is a 15' runabout with a 40" wide bottom. The tongue is another 4' long beyond the picture shown. I have the bow stop all the way back as far as it will go to hold the boat on it now. (Free hull if anyone is interested).
The part I find so odd is how heavy duty the frame seems vs. having only 1 1/16" straight spindles and 2" axles. (I replaced the U bolts, the original ones were rusted away).
Note the triangle shaped U bolts holding the bunk brackets to the angle iron too.
If the bunks were normal height, a normal width boat would hit the fenders. I will most likely lower the fenders. They sit a bit high now, there's another set of holes or two I can move them down to. I wouldn't want them any closer to the tires than the frame has travel though.

I've considered flipping the axles to the top of the springs but that would limit my travel to about 2" due to axle tube to frame interference.
What ever this was built for must have been very stern heavy, very narrow or a super deep V, and pretty long. There's enough tongue to put a 20-21' boat on it. Note the odd upper position of the winch mount too.
The entire frame is hot dip galvanized, including the bow stop. The lower shelf wear most winches mount isn't drilled and has an instructional decal on that surface. The upper mount is galvanized with the stand, not added or just welded on. It's sort of an odd set up too, the winch cable drags along the bow stop V block even though its spooled under the pulley.

Pretty much it is what it is and I can modify it to work for just about anything, and it's in good enough shape to rely on. My plan is to lower the fenders, add some new LED lights, maybe shorten the tongue just a bit, and add some roller brackets and fresh rollers and use it as a spare since it can handle such a wide range of lengths. My main concern is being able to clear the fenders. The way the fenders are now, it would take 15" tires with no problem. There are three more sets of holes to allow me to lower them all down about 4". (I have to remove them to straighten them a bit anyhow, someone must of mistook them for a step).

http://i38.tinypic.com/zl4tuf.jpg

http://i34.tinypic.com/2zqgeop.jpg

http://i38.tinypic.com/68anu9.jpg

http://i35.tinypic.com/2zs5oh0.jpg

 

[jaxnjil]

Re: Odd trailer design?

it kinda looks like a trailer we had for a swing keel sail boat we had several years ago.
if you can put the axles on top of the springs like you said it would be easier to launch. wont have to back into the water so far. the long tongue will help with that too though

 

[reelfishin]

Re: Odd trailer design?

I can put the axles over the springs but it only leaves 1 7/8" of room for suspension compression. The axle tubes are almost 3" in diameter. It would work if the axles were smaller. The frame itself isn't all that high, its the fact that its so narrow, the fenders would end up hitting the hull if I lower the boat.
I have considered smaller wheels, that would lower it and let me really drop the fenders or mount four separate fenders. I would guess the spring capacity is probably about 1,000 to 1,200 lbs each. The frame is heavier built than the suspension. I didn't give much thought to it being a sailboat trailer, the bunks are too close together to clear a keel. It actually worked pretty well under one trihull I hauled on it with an I/O the bunks sat between the hulls and the outer hulls just cleared the fenders. The boat was a bit heavy for the suspension though.
What happens when the weight is too far back is that the rear axles takes all the weight, then the trailer leans back. There's no ability to equalize the weight between the springs.
It tows great, and maneuvers good in tight areas without tearing up the yard like my other tandems.

I think if I lower the fenders closer to the tires, leaving just enough room for tire clearance I should be able to mount a set of EZ Loader roller quads on it. They sit tall enough to still clear the fenders. The way it sits now, it would be a real hassle to pick up a blocked up boat with the bunks so high.

I get a lot of boats that don't have trailers or those which the trailers are in really bad shape. I'd like to make this an all purpose trailer that can grab anything with little adjustment. Most of the boats I get are in the 15 to 18' range, I could even shorten the tongue a bit to lessen the tongue weight a bit. Even with the trailer empty, you can't lift the tongue very easily. The empty trailer has at least 350lbs of tongue weight. To much of the frame is ahead of the axle and the frame tubes are made of 1/8" wall tubing. It will probably never rust out or bend. I was shocked to see how heavy the frame tubes and angle iron was. It's heavier than my 7500 lb GVW Shoreline tandem.