Who has a walkaround Grady on a Venture bunk trailer?

[Bob Coco]

I just sold my 282 Sailfish but kept my Venture trailer for my new 283 Release. Now my trailer is a galvinized tripple axle. Just looking at your setup and my thoughts are the same as some others posted. Shift the boat back enough to get the winch post relocated back the mininum distance needed to get it past the outside rails but no further then needed. Then you will need to get the bunks further back and probably slide the axles back a bit too.

I had the opposite problem with my trailer. I had negitive tongue weight when I first got my trailer. I had to keep moving the boat forward. I still have very little tongue weight. I think that is because I have a third axle to help support the load. I can raise my jack and the tongue will not go to the ground. I think you just need to be at a ramp when there's no other boats using it with a set of sockets and some wrenches. I actually used a 1/2" drive battery impact gun which made the job of adjusting much easier. Another solution as someone had mentioned was to add another post. That would also work but I don't think it's needed.

The easiest solution is to keep the trailer and buy a longer boat. LOL Just kidding.

If you are leaving it as is for the winter I would support it further back with some blocks either under the keel or on either side of the trailer so that flex doesn't become a permenant part of your trailer.

Regards, Bob

 

[willbchap]

"The easiest solution is to keep the trailer and buy a longer boat. LOL Just kidding. "

Or one with two motors anyway, hehe. Bob, I was planning on setting the whole thing up on jack stands this winter and let the tires off the ground, so your idea furthers my reasons. All of the adjustments I've made so far have been at the ramp (huge, free, 6 lane setup!) and as long as I don't have to go back to the people who sold the trailer to me, it'll just have to wait till spring.

Thanks for all the help folks. This is a great message board! I'm going to try moving the winch post back more and see what it gets me. I think I can also slide the boat back in increments while still bow strapped and see how far it needs to move before adjusting anything. That will tell me where the balance point is. I might also have a larger fuel tank next year, so I might as well wait.

 

[gw204]

"The easiest solution is to keep the trailer and buy a longer boat. LOL Just kidding. "

Or one with two motors anyway, hehe.

Or close in the transom and stick a bracket on that sucker.

 

[willbchap]

"The easiest solution is to keep the trailer and buy a longer boat. LOL Just kidding. "

Or one with two motors anyway, hehe.

Or close in the transom and stick a bracket on that sucker.

I could add by subtraction: I'll just cut and gut the cabin. That should take care of the weight. Anyone want some v-berth cushions and a porto-toilet? hehe

 

[grady23]

Contact Grady via email and give them all the details about the boat. Ask them where the center of gravity is on your boat. You need approx 7% tongue weight for proper loading of the tow vehicle. If you get the boat too far back on the trailer, you'll experience "Fishtail" at around 55-60 MPH or sooner and believe me --- You won't enjoy it --- If you survive! If your venture trailer is bowing more then 1-1.5 " then something is wrong. Either the I-Beams aren't up to spec or the rating is incorrect.
I have a 23 Gulfstream and purposely bought a trailer for a 24-26' boat rather then a 23' boat. It's a 7k trailer, aluminum I-Beam. I needed to move the bunks out as far a possible to the sides so that the boat is supported by the chines in the stern. I moved the winch stand back about 6 inches and I pull all this with a 1/2 ton Suburban w/ tow package. I probably should have gone to a 8.5K trailer but the manufacturer, Nextrail, told me the frame was good up to 10K. I wasn't impressed with the venture trailers when I looked at them as it seemed the I-Beams "Looked" too small for what the dealer said they could carry -- Just MY opinion!
Try to get the COG (Center of Gravity) of the boat about 1-2" forward of the exact center between the axles. That should get you close to the 7% weight on the tongue. That would be the best starting point and then adjust things around that position. It takes a good bit of work to get one "Just Right" . AND -- Yes -- the forward centering bunk and guide poles for the stern help a great deal especially when loading the boat by yourself.
BTW-- My tongue weight is about 450-475 lbs.

When your done with all this, The trailer wheels should be sitting vertical with the boat on the trailer, and both front and rear axles should look almost identical with load. If Not, your going to have problems with un-even tire wear and the tires will run much hotter than normal.

 

[willbchap]

Sounds very logical. Thanks Grady23.

 

[willbchap]

Hey all,

Been a while, but finally fixed this last month and thought I would give an update in case someone stumbles upon this thread looking for a solution.

Ordered and installed the Target Pads from Venture, which helps launching and retrieving greatly, didn't do anything for the weight. Moved the boat back another 9" (as far back as I could on the existing bunks and where the winch stand would mount), helped out a little more. The biggest help actually came from something I thought of last minute. I ordered two more sets of bunk brackets and installed them in the middle of the bunk on the middle cross-member of the trailer (at the 1 o'clock position of the rear tire in the photo below). Man what a difference. It appears this takes some of the weight off of that forward cross member and spreads it out more, keeping the trailer beams from bowing at the forward member. Not sure why the trailer didn't come this way, but oh well. I live and learn. So, this issue is all resolved (and moving on to my next bad luck issue, lol).



Thanks again for everyone's help.

Will

 

[Salinity Now]

(Sorry didnt see the follow up post, internet was slow before I hit reply, thats some good news on the fix, and the idea of adding extra bunk mounts is something I'll look into, I see by the pic, your fender spacing seems very even, did you have to actually "raise" the bunks at all? Its one of the things I was considering.)


I recently (Jan 2011) bought a Venture 10625 triaxle for my Grady 265, I didnt do much trailering the first few months when I got it, and even then my drive from storage lot to ramp was only about 1/4mile, this summer Ive taken the boat on a 500mile & 300 mile trip, determined that I need to move it (the boat) aft as well, you can see by your pics the weight load seems to be carried more on the front axle vs the aft (just eyeballing the fender hieght difference in the pics), mine is the same way.

I have extra long bunks AND target bunks on mine, it loads pretty good giving the size and weight and trailers well too, my scale weight came in at 10300#s total and tongue weight at 700#s, but still think I need to move it aft as it really seems like weight is not evenly distrubuted.

The centering bunks are very handy for drive on loading and the extra long bunks seem to really put alot of support on the fwd part of the boat as alot of the weight of these style boats is carried up there.

I certainly keep pressure on your selling dealer, it wasnt Bobs Trailers in Va Beach was it? Thats who I bought from, after sale service has not left much to be desired from him, dealing with Venture for some warranty parts has been pretty good though. All that said, I still think you should keep pressure on your dealer for not equipping you with the right trailer for your boat, espcially if he picked out the style, size and set up the bunks.