Swing away tongues?

[ShoestringMariner]

How do you folks feel about swing away tongues? I put one on last year but don’t know if I like it. I’m not fond of the sag it has with weight on it. It doesn’t sag in any great amounts, but I can see it slightly and it doesn’t give me 100% confidence. It’s a Fulton brand. Looks good construction wise. Not excessive weight on the tongue either.

needless worrying?

 

[Scott Danforth]

a proper swing-away tongue would have no sag unless there is too much weight for the capacity or the holes are sloppy.

however you may be seeing tongue deflection which is common on all cantilevered beams

 

[Sprig]

I have one one my trailer, couldn’t store my boat in the garage without it as it would be too long to fit. There must be something wrong with yours as there should be zero sag. I have not heard great things about the Fulton swing tongue. They are known to shear off the bolt that holds them on to the trailer after a few years. The bolt should be checked at least annually..

 

[roscoe]

No sag or movement on my 2 trailers with swing tongues, 200# and 400# of tongue weight.

 

[M2HB]

They are a great option if you need them to fit into a garage.
Modern home garages are too short for many boat trailers.
I’ve never installed one since I didn’t have the garage issue.

if you have one that is sagging, I would certainly have it checked out.

 

[jimmbo]

I had one installed when I bought the unit, the setup worked out real nice as the hinge spot was directly under front of the winch stand

 

[TyeeMan]

I've had 3 Fulton swing away tongues, none of them sagged. The current swing away tongue is on a 3500lb tandem axle with at approx 400 lbs of tongue weight.

Is it possible that you may have cut the tube on the trailer a little crooked? That would lend itself to a sagged look.

 

[briangcc]

Had (2) so far - Four Winns and current Chap. No sag on either.

That being said, I'd prefer a solid tongue as my current boat won't fit in my garage anyways. Call me old school, stick in the mud, whatnot but it's one less thing to fail.

 

[jkust]

My previous but newer chaparral had a swing tongue on its shorelandr trailer from the factory and had no issues in 8 years of towing. My current but older Chaparral with a nearly new shorelandr trailer, I had to have one welded on last season to fit in my storage garage as it came with a standard tongue. No issues so far but I only tow a mile twice per year. When you need one, it's the best invention ever.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

I told with that today. Check the slop to see if I was imagining things, and there is noticeable up-and-down play due to the bore and pin clearance. I think I’m going to contact Fulton and find out if this is acceptable

 

[M2HB]

I've built a lot of trailers, but I've never installed a folding tongue because I have plenty of space to not need one. If I had a tongue assembly that had a lot of "slop" in it, I wouldn't be happy about it. That is going to cause the boat and trailer to bounce a lot more when the tongue is not solid, especially if it is a single axle trailer.

 

[bob johnson]

i like mine so far Fulton....$110......

 

[ShoestringMariner]

i like mine so far Fulton....$110......

That’s exact same one I have. Maybe I’ll see about getting the pin knurled If I can’t get an exchange

 

[M2HB]

That Fulton brand appears to be high quality.
It appears that if the pins are tight, it shouldn’t have much sag or “slop”.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Somebody today told me I lost the little rubber bumpers. I think mine came without them I don’t recall seeing any. Contacting Fulton

 

[ShoestringMariner]

So Fulton contacted me back. They say a little bit of slop is normal. As a metal fabricator I know there has to be some slip fit or the pins will have to be hammered in. I suppose I assumed it was going to be less slop. The rubber bumpers are only for noise

 

[bob johnson]

Somebody today told me I lost the little rubber bumpers. I think mine came without them I don’t recall seeing any. Contacting Fulton

mine would NOT close if i put the rubber stop pins in...... i left them out.......if i was busting my azz tryiong to close that hinge and fighting to get the pin in in daylight with good leverage... and it wouldnt even get close to going...I certainly dont want to be fighting that when im tired or its dark and im trying to put the boat away and get in the house!