A question about trailers

[luckydude]

Take a peek at this: http://www.mcvoy.com/lm/boat/.slide-2020-06-14-12.03.24.jpg

That's my brand new Pacific trailer. As you can see the post that holds the bow is all messed up.

It wasn't originally like that, it was more forward with the 2 ubolts spread out. It moved back today when I was cranking the boat up.
I believe it is put together wrong. There needs to be on the side of the post towards that back of the boat. But you can see they didn't leave a tab there, my guess is someone welded it too close to the end of the plate, went to put the ubolt in the right spot, couldn't, shrugged and said "this will be good enough".

I originally bent it a couple of trips ago when I did the drive the truck to 3-4 mph, hit the brakes, slide the boat forward. Boat slides a little too good

I had it back at the dealer and he tried to bend back a bit and wagged his finger at me for sliding the boat like that. OK, my bad, I guess.

Except I was driving home and thinking about the fact that that post is the only thing that holds the boat from sliding forward. It has to be designed to hold the whole weight of the boat in an emergency stop, right? The straps on the back keep it from sliding backwards, that post is the only thing for the forward direction. So it should be perfectly fine to get a little speed an stomp on the brakes to move up on the black stop. The force from an emergency stop is going to be way more than a 3-4mph -> 0mph stop.

I looked at the trailers in the harbor today and they all had both sides of the post fastened down. I'm gonna ask my dealer for a new post and one that is beefier, this one is no bueno.

 

[Bloodweiser]

That does look flimsy. I. Just looked at mine to see how it was.. I try to minimize the crank and drift. The boat as high as I can then only use the crank a bit. Not cranking the boat unto the trailer. That basically means you have to get the trailer deeper in the water.

 

[luckydude]

That does look flimsy. I. Just looked at mine to see how it was.. I try to minimize the crank and drift. The boat as high as I can then only use the crank a bit. Not cranking the boat unto the trailer. That basically means you have to get the trailer deeper in the water.

I know the deeper into the water trick and I do that. I had it cranked up tight but not tight enough, I pulled it up the ramp and there was a gap. I was trying to make my dealer happy and not do the stomp on the brakes thing, cranked it out of the water and it slide to where it is. Noice.

Your picture looks exactly right. And it's like every trailer I looked at. 2 fastener aft and two forward. My post came with only 2 ubolts. More noice.

 

[RussGW270]

That is a jacked up design. He can wag his finger all he wants but that design is horrible and just begging to get broken. Not only should that be bolt TO the frame, vs being “lashed” to it with u-bolts, it needs to be stronger. It should be welded to it’s base and that base needs to be either bolted or have a much stronger bolt.

Ignore the straps, previous owner had those small straps on....but this is an example of a stronger setup. Those u-bolts are not big enough to torque down that flimsy base.

Bud’s is actually even better, but what your trailer guy has is junk, no offense.

 

[Bloodweiser]

You have bunks or rollers? Just curious

 

[luckydude]

You have bunks or rollers? Just curious

Bunks.

 

[luckydude]

That is a jacked up design. He can wag his finger all he wants but that design is horrible and just begging to get broken. Not only should that be bolt TO the frame, vs being “lashed” to it with u-bolts, it needs to be stronger. It should be welded to it’s base and that base needs to be either bolted or have a much stronger bolt.

Ignore the straps, previous owner had those small straps on....but this is an example of a stronger setup. Those u-bolts are not big enough to torque down that flimsy base.

Bud’s is actually even better, but what your trailer guy has is junk, no offense.

Yeah, I'm not a structural engineer but even with the brace they put in (which I'd argue makes it a little stronger than the one in your pic) there is no way I am going to slam on the brakes and not have 6000 pounds of boat in my flatbed.

If I were building it, I would make two posts in an inverted V, both with bases, both welded down and welded together. I dunno if that's strong enough either, but it is closer.

I kind wonder if any of us have a trailer that will hold the boat in place in an emergency stop. I've seen a lot of posts like yours that are not braced at all, seems like another poor design.

My dealer is getting an earful tomorrow morning. And so is Pacific Trailer. I'm gonna send them that picture in a registered letter that says "I'm an engineer, not the right kind of engineer, but your trailer, even when put together what you consider correctly, does not look like it will hold the boat in place in an emergency stop. That post needs a much beefier brace, I'd suggest make two identical posts and weld, not ubolt, them to the center beam and to each other. The length of that skinny vertical brace, not just at the top and bottom. That will create a sort of sheer wall that won't want to move.

This is formal notice that if my boat lands on my flatbed because of your poor design, you are going to be held liable. If it kills me, my estate will sue.

You should consider hiring a structural engineer."

and copy my wife and lawyer. This is bush league, I'm no genius but I can see it's no bueno.

 

[seasick]

That arrangement is seriously sad. In reality it is dangerous and any dealer who would allow that to be, doesn't warrant being in the business. Period.
There may be a fix. The winch needs to be undone and attached on the top of the roller support arm. The actual roller will be re positioned to fall under the bow eye. The base of the winch support will be moved as needed to make the flat section fit firmly on the main tongue member and the u-bolts should be relocated to have one up against the main winch support and the other at the opposite end. I can't be sure if that will work out. It is possible that the trailer is too long for your hull.
Honestly, I have to sat that your setup is the worst I have seen in a long time. Raise hell!

 

[Lite Tackle]

Contact Pacific Trailers at (888) 479-6920 and let them know the issue and send them picture. They are good people and I am sure they have a solution for the problem.

good luck.

 

[RussGW270]

Yea, I would be firm but I would hold off on being too aggressive just yet. Contact Pacific, as stated, and see how it goes over. I would approach it with more of, “This was a planned and slow stop....imagine if my family had been with me and we had a high speed emergency stop. This needs to be fixed and better than it was originally” .....see how they respond. I am betting they help.

R

 

[DennisG01]

Yes, you should be able to do the "stop" procedure to slide the boat forward on the bunks. I've done it many, many times with boats three times the weight of yours. Those u-bolts were never tight enough. Yes, given the thinner steel that the stand "base plate" is made out of, there should have been a piece of the base plate extending further aft for another u-bolt. The winch strap should be re-wound on the top of the spool so the strap is closer to straight - but make sure you keep the bow eye under the bow roller to help "lock" the bow down from bouncing... or riding up and over the bow roller. The "arm" that the winch is on worries me - it does not look that strong - there is no triangulation and it's quite long... leading to more leverage on/against the spot where it attaches to the vertical section.

Yes, you have a legitimate gripe. Do it calmly... but also quite seriously.

 

[Parthery]

That winch stand is a hokey design, but it appears to me that it was never tightened properly. When properly tightened, you can crank it on and it won’t move.

A bow chain and transom straps are critical to keep the boat from landing in your back seat in a panic stop. That’s why they are a requirement in many places.

A new, properly adjusted and installed stand, should do the trick.

 

[wrxhoon]

That is the shitiest trailer I ever seen, take it back and ask them for a new winch post at the very least.
There is no way in the world that I would put my $120k boat on that trailer unless I was going a few yards to the boat ramp.
The winch and post should be strong enough to winch the boat on. I drive mine on and winch the last foot or two on . Bunk trailer with slides .

 

[luckydude]

I just got off the phone with my dealer and color me unimpressed. They said the following:

The winch strap can be angled down because that keeps the boat from bouncing. Horizontal won't do that. OK, I can see that.

They are ordering me a new lower post and another ubolt. I asked about doing two posts back to back and they said they have some support bars that go 4 feet somewhere (I went and looked, they must go backwards because I don't think there is 4 feet of space towards the hitch). They use them on boats 3x my weight.

Here's the unimpressed part. I asked if anyone tests this stuff. What I got was "In 35 years I have never seen a post bent". I asked if they knew of anyone having to do an emergency stop: "No". So no tests, no real world tests, just "I think it will be fine".

I'm thinking about putting a galvanized or stainless chain across the two main arms and then another chain up to the bow eye. So think inverted "T". There isn't a cross member in a good spot or I'd use that.

I'm getting pics of the support bars some time today, I'll post them.

Does anyone know of a real world test where someone had to stop as fast as they could?

 

[Lite Tackle]

I’ve done the slide the boat on the bunks successfully many times. Never bent anything on my Pacific trailer. I’ll try to get pics of mine so we can see the difference. The issue may be with the fitting adjustment but could well be material too.

 

[leeccoll]

Well, seems Pacific Trailer is causing some aggravation. After only 4 launches my brand new Pacific Trailer carpeting is burning in multiple places. Of course I will take the hit because recently my first mate didn't have the trailer back deep enough, so I drove it on more than it could handle. But only after 4 launches?? A $6,800 trailer no less.

I spoke to Luis @ Pacific. He suggested same thing I was thinking, so I am adding slides on top of the bunks to aid in retrieval, and cover up the new carpet boo boos.

I have the 228 trailer too. And on that note , I HATE that I have to crank it left handed counter clockwise like yours, and I wish they would have rigged the 3,200 lb rated Fulton winch instead of the 2,000 lb.

Doesn't feel like it quite cuts it IMHO.

Will be installing something onboard later today, will upload a pic of same 4 u.

 

[luckydude]

Does anyone know what a 228 (2020 if that matters) with hard top, curtains, wet 250hp Yamaha, gas+water (I know that part is 772 pounds) weighs? I'm starting to wonder if I'm cutting it too close on a 7K trailer.

 

[leeccoll]

7k trailer is perfect.
No worries about that.
Here's my 228 winch and bracket.

 

[Parthery]

That winch stand design is weird.

As others have said a 7K trailer is the right size. I put a new 7K under mine 2 months ago.

Crazy the difference in price too.

 

[leeccoll]

Agreed Parthery.