Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

[jim j geezer]

I recently bought a 12' Alumacraft semi-vee on a pretty sorry-looking trailer. I decided to do some spruce-up. The trailer had after-market brackets installed to mount planks onto so you can walk out to "help" the boat on or off. <--Good idea.
It also has the... gizmo/thingy.
At the end of the trailer opposite he hitch there are three closely-mounted wheels. So far, so good. Up near the winch mount there are two more wheels - fairly closely spaced, to support the front end of the boat - just where the bow curve flattens out. <--Those two wheels are spring-loaded. And this's the part that's driving me nutso: The torsion spring drives the wheels DOWN.

Just guessing here, but if the spring held the wheels UP, absent the boat, then that would make sense. Kind of a mechanical helping hand to lift the front of the boat a bit to help slide it off the trailer. Then, when the boat is loaded onto the trailer, the spring 'loads' as you winch the boat down for transport.

Some pics. The hitch is toward the right.



In the 1st pic I've manually increased the load on the spring by using a wedge-shaped piece of wood. Note that the "J"-shaped piece of bar stock under the trailer frame is lifted away from the frame at the 'hook' end of the "J". The other end of the "J" slides forward a bit.

The 2nd and 3rd pics show the gizmo in its normal, static state - with or without the boat on board. Note also how the two wheels are noticeably elevated in the 1st pic.

I spent a couple of hours trying to reconfigure... to no avail. I'd dearly love to get this thingy to work as I think it should.

Anybody?
Beuller?

 

[jim j geezer]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

Found out it's a Holesclaw.

Good grief! Over 150 views and not one single reply!

*HALP*

 

[daydreamer152]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

NO expert here but first thought comes to mind is that someone put the spring or mechanism on wrong.....maybe reversed? Looks like an entertaining puzzle.....any boat yards in your area that have people that have been there say 40 Years?? Wish I could be of more help....

 

[lakelover]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

Found out it's a Holesclaw.

Good grief! Over 150 views and not one single reply!

*HALP*

Never saw anything like it.

 

[lmsmith]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

What does it do?

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

A little google research ...
Holesclaw is the manufacturer of the trailer, Not the name of the gizmo/thingy!

It is a spring mounted roller.

Asuming this is for a flat bottomed boat, as you go down the road and hit a bump, the rollers will push down slightly and bend the J spring giving a bit of cush to the ride.
It is going to take a lot to move them and they do not move very far.
I guess it is better than nothing.. but not much ... considering they never caught on.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

I've seen some strange trailer setups, but never seen this one before.

I really don't think is worth fretting over.
If it was really something beneficial, I think we would be seeing them on more trailers.

 

[jim j geezer]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

Note to UncleWillie: That "J" is 1/4" X 2" bar stock. and about 8 - 10" in length. It DOESN'T bend!
The torsion spring is about 8 gauge wire.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

Note to UncleWillie: That "J" is 1/4" X 2" bar stock. and about 8 - 10" in length. It DOESN'T bend!
The torsion spring is about 8 gauge wire.

the "8 gauge wire" is the damper, the J looking thing is the spring. put enough load on it and it does bend. I suspect its made of the same spring steel that your leaf springs are made of.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

I have a Hoseclaw trailed and it is rugged. I was even able to replace the shocks right off amazon. I made some modifications on mine to accommodate some home-brew side bunks......

What type hull are you hauling? How do the rollers contact the hull now? That spring roller is designed to guide and support.......... your trailer is probably a tilt trailer and that will make some difference on that spring loaded roller.

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

Note to UncleWillie: That "J" is 1/4" X 2" bar stock. and about 8 - 10" in length. It DOESN'T bend!
The torsion spring is about 8 gauge wire.

As Scott also stated...
The 8 gauge spring keeps it from flopping around.
The J spring will not bend with your 200 lb weight on it, but it will move a little with a 1000lb boat bouncing over some railroad tracks.

The rollers only need to move an inch or two before they are below the trailer frame. (Bad)
A massive hit is only going to move them a half inch.

To quote myself, "It is better than nothing.. but not much!"

Can you post a picture of the overall trailer so we can see the complete geometry?

 

[Chip Chester]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

It's interesting that the rollers support on each side of the keel, rather than supporting the keel itself. Probably OK for your aluminum boat, but not for a wood boat. Like UncleWillie said, your 12' aluminum may not weigh enough to activate these devices... turning them into low-profile keel-side rollers, where most trailers have keel rollers that are about 2" taller overall. If the bottom of your boat does not have 'dents' where the wheels rest, then it's probably OK to keep using them. If there are indentations, that means the metal is flexing also, and some other method of support would be better. Either on the keel, or a wider contact area elsewhere.

Chip

 

[64osby]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

My take with a few assumptions; the spring is under a light load (compression) as it sits. There is a slot in the wheel support arm that rides on the bolt that attaches to the frame. There is a spring on the opposite side that is a mirror image.

Try moving the spring(s) as pictured here.

The force of the spring should push the wheel support arm so it rests on the bolt on the RH or hitch side of the slot, wheel up. As the boat is loaded the added weight pushes on the wheel and the arm travels to the LH side of the slot, wheel down. Pink arrow shows the force of the spring

It acts as a mini shock absorber.

 

[jim j geezer]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

64osby: I already tried your idea of relocating the spring and rejected the idea because it will simply load the wheels DOWN, except in a more aft position.

I need/want the unloaded wheels to ride *HIGH* unloaded. Then as the weight of the boat and the force of the winch are brought to bear - to 'load' the torsion spring and press the wheels downward.

UncleWillie: As I said: The "J" bar does *NOT* bend/flex. We're talking about a boat that might weigh 125# - not 2000#.

Somewhat related: I happen to own a 2nd Holesclaw trailer. I'm getting ready to put together a package for Craigslist:
10' jonboat
7-1/2HP Sears (McCulloch) outboard
Trailer

I've never seen this kind of winch arrangement before:

 

[64osby]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

No clue on the winch.

Second attempt on the wheel

 

[crackedglass]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

Its hard to tell by your pics but what is actually holding the whole thing to the tongue?
Is that a hole in the rear of the J bar? Is the lower bolt on the roller assembly fixed to the J bar?
For some reason it don't look right.
Does the tongue on the trailer tilt?
Could this thing have been part of another set of keel rollers? Sort of an under roller assembly?
I've seen a few older Holsclaw trailers which had a row of keel rollers down the middle that rose up and tilted with the rear of the trailer.
That assembly is painted different than the tongue, could it have been off another trailer put there by a former owner and miss-assembled?

 

[Expidia]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

Just take it off and throw it away! Buy a new roller if you need support in that area, they are cheap enough!

 

[jim j geezer]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

Here's some details: The rollers rotate on welded shafts. Each roller assembly (roller + shaft + bar) pivots independently on the rod that passes through the center of the frame rail - onto which the torsion spring coils ride. The "J" bar has a rod welded to it, which passes through holes near the ends of the roller assemblies - thus 'marrying' the two roller assemblies to travel in an arc as a pair. Note that the spring coils are mounted outboard of the roller assemblies. The rod onto which they're mounted is longer that the shaft welded to the "J" bar. Consequently, logic dictates the spring coils MUST wrap around the pivot rod. Why else would it be so long?
There is a hole in the "J" bar, which opens an avenue for questions: What if... some kind of coil spring were to press down the straight end of the "J" bar, and further loading the torsion spring? That would raise the wheels and keep them up until weight on the wheels caused the coil spring to compress. This is not a tilt trailer. The mismatched paint is my own. I spray painted the "gizmo" and brush painted the trailer.

64osby, your latest spring configuration still loads the wheels DOWNWARD.

 

[crackedglass]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

The fact that the thing is pinned through the tongue limits travel too much for it to provide any real 'suspension' action to the boat hull.
I'm more inclined to believe that either it's not all there or not set up correctly.
It almost looks like maybe it should be a fixture on a bow stop to cushion the boat when loading or something similar?
It wouldn't make sense to have a bow support on the tongue that can move if the rest of the rollers or bunks cannot.
I did have one older trailer, made by Holsclaw, which had linear rollers and side bunks which were all mounted on a rack of small coil springs, the entire boat was supported on springs. The trailer held an older wood and glass sailboat.
The hole in the J bracket may be the clue to how that thing should mount or work. The straight cut edge at the curve and the open hole at the rear just don't make sense to me, it would no doubt eventually cause wear on the underside of the tongue tubing. Possibly its missing another piece or roller which mounted to the rear hole? Maybe a rod and spring assembly? Rubber bumper of some type?

Is the hole in the tongue just a drilled hole or is there a welded sleeve or bushing inside?

 

[jim j geezer]

Re: Small boat trailer... gizmo/thingy question - From another planet!

The hole through the trailer is one of two similar in design, in that they're 'indented'. Rubber bushings lie between the trailer frame and the roller assemblies. The SECOND similarly-designed hole mounts the two rails that run from the frame rail back to the axle assembly in a kind of split "V" formation.