New Fisherman 222 Owner with a trailer/hull position question

[UncleMike]

Hi,
New member here who recently acquired a 1999 Fisherman 222 with 5-Star galvanized trailer. Boat is great...trailer needs some repairs. While i am replacing hardware, springs and tires, i noted the boat sits far back on the trailer. Checked tongue weight on 560lb scale, and had 160lbs, indicated it is pretty far back (assuming full weight with motor, trailer, fuel, etc is around 5600lbs). Post has plenty of room to adjust forward (needs winch and rollers adjusted as well). Ideally, i'd just run down to a yard with a lift and have them move it, but they are several weeks out. Alternatively, i can do this in driveway (not preferred) or just run down to the ramp, pull boat and adjust in the parking lot. Given the hassle with this (and the zoo that is our local launch), would really like to have a good idea of where this thing should be positioned just to avoid having to do it multiple times. I searched the forums already and didn't find anything specific, so wanted to ask anyone who has had a similar experience.
Thanks!
Mike

 

[family affair]

I don't have experience with that boat, but assuming you were level when you checked tongue weight, I would move it up 4". Your tongue weight should be around 350-400 lbs.

 

[glacierbaze]

Assuming the 4 inches would do the trick, drive to the ramp parking lot, move the winch stand four inches forward, back the boat in until it floats, and winch it snug to the stand. You don’t have to unload the boat from the trailer, and you don’t need to be on the ramp more than a couple of minutes.

 

[DennisG01]

Since you have a smaller boat and a roller trailer... move the winchstand and crank the winch handle. If you can't do that, move the stand, crank the handle as tight as you can, then drive to about 10 MPH and hit the brakes progressively harder till the boat rolls forward. Keep re-cranking if it only moves a little bit at a time.

 

[wrxhoon]

If you only have 160 lb, 4" will not be enough at least 6" maybe even more. You want 500 lb plus depending on your truck. Roller trailer you don't need to take the boat anywhere, easily done on your level driveway. Move the post and crank the winch handle . If you still find it difficult take it somewhere with slight downhill.

 

[Parthery]

Generally speaking, tongue weight should be 7-9% of the total. If you are at 150 lbs, you are way light.

As others have said, this isn't a hard fix.....loosen the winch stand and slide it forward. Then, back down the ramp and winch it up snug.

 

[UncleMike]

Thanks for the replies! Full of freshwater amd fuel, amd moved it up to point where bunks are just short of transducer and it is about 300lbs. Tows well, but still light. Need to redo the bunks, but for now will just load coolers to the front and see how that does. Next time I have a chance to have it docked for a while, I plan to redo the bunks shorten just a tad. Thanks again!

 

[seasick]

What is the make and model of the trailer? It may be a bit longer than it should.
If the trailer is a roller model, the boat can be pulled forward using the winch. With bunks, maybe, maybe not)
You may want to block the tongue when winching up the hull just incase the jack decides to fail. I leave the motor down when moving the hull just in case the hull decides to slide backwards and tilt up the whole load. The motor skep (ugh) will stop the flip. Yup, seen it happen.