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16 ft Mckee.. "whaler style".. VERY hard to get boat off during launching!!.. I have to BURY the trailer under 2 ft of water to launch. It has 4 brand new EXPENSIVE poly rollers[well greased roller pins}" and brand new carpeting on the bunks. 3 grown men can't shove the boat off the trailer. Last trip,I even tried jacking the boat off the bunks,SOAKING the carpet in vegetable oil and smearing the boat bottom with vegeteble oil too. No dice.. The boat sticks to the damn trailer like it is a welded unit. I am wondering if I have the boat too far foward on the trailer?? I was told the tongue weight should be about 100 lbs. I put the trailer jack on a bathroom scale and got about 170 at the Dolly/jack which is about 2 feet back from the hitch/ball.. I also have problems pushing the boat around the driveway from the front of the trailer. The wheel on the trailer jack/dolly seems to "dig in and does not turn easily unless it is kicked in the direction you want to move the boat,which would seem to indicate too much weight forward. I have had other boats that I could point bow up if I stood in back of the boat with it on the trailer.. not this one!... anyway,should I move the boat further back on the trailer ya' think????? bob
I would move her back so that you have a minimum of 50 lbs on the tongue at the ball, and make sure that the tongue on the hitch is snuggly adjusted.
But it sounds like your bunks or rollers maybe to set to high above the frame to get her to float on and off.
You should be able to just see the top of the fenders out of the water when you apply the brakes to get her to come freely off the trailer and float back to here tie up spot at the dock with your buddy walking along side with a rope on her bow as you back down and stop.
Location: Quebec, Canada and Pirates Cove, OBX, NC
Posts: 17,813
RE: Need advice on trailer tongue weight.
Two feet of water is not a lot of water to unload a boat . . . Most of my boats were in 3-4 ft of water at the transom when I unloaded them . . . why is 2 ft of water an issue?
With bunks you should be floating your boat on and off the trailer . . . you should not be fighting with it
With respect to tongue weight for a small boat a 100 lbs is a minimum and 7% total weight is often used up to a total of 400 to 500 lbs, depending on tow vehicle and capacity of your hitch and strength of the trailer tongue etc.
The wheel on the jack becomes darn near useless in most situations . . . that is why they have trailer dollys . . . they are not too expensive and make moving a trailer less back breaking
Sounds pretty clear that your boat is not "floating" off the trailer as it should. Assuming your using a ramp that's not excessively shallow, you likely need to get the entire boat lower on the trailer. I'm not sure of your exact setup, but I had similar difficulties with my setup at first.
You should first move the boat back on the trailer as far as you can while keeping the tongue weight within acceptable limits...aprox. 5% of boat & trailer weight at a minimum. Since you have an outboard I would also recommend that you maintain bunk support under the transom since that's where a bulk of the weight is on your setup. If the stern of the boat sits low enough in the water at this point but still does not "float" off you can widen the front of the bunks on your trailer to get the bow end of the boat down and more level with the water line at launch. These modifications made a world of difference for me.
Since I'm not too sure how your rollers factor in, some of this may not be feasible, but hopefully that gives you some ideas. No need to make radical adjustments, you'd be surprised how much of a difference you will notice by pushing her back 6" and dropping the bow down 2" or so. At least it did in my situation...and I've got a full keel under my rig to deal with!
Bullet: If your trailer has bunks on the side and rollers down the center, you'll find the boat moves easier if most of the weight of the boat is on the rollers and not on the bunks. I had a similar problem with a heavy 20ft. cc and a bunk trailer. I lowered the bunks about 1/4" to 1/2" on each side, so that the boat wobbled a little on the trailer's center rollers. It rested on one of the bunks when I tightened the trailering hold down straps. I also lubricated the rollers with WD 40 or CRC 656. I found grease to be too heavy. The rollers moved easier with the lighter lubricants. The recommended tounge weight is between 5 and 10 percent of the combined weight of the trailered load.
Veggie oil is not the lubricant of choice for bunks either and I'm not surprised if it was tougher. That stuff gets gooey after it's been exposed..
If you want to make those bunks slick, use some spray silicone on the carpet!
Do you have enough bunk protruding from the rear to move the boat back 3-4 inches? For that McKee, I would guess that your boat weight is around 2k pounds, so your tongue weight should be around 150-160 pounds. Which means that your current tongue weight is not far from the mark and actually is about right.. You might still want to move the winch post back a few inches and that should free up that 15 or so pounds on the tongue.
The question here that I wonder is how does it tow? Towing is probably one of the biggest indicators of an improperly weighted setup.
__________________ - Chris
Guess What?? I got a Fever.. And the only prescription is.. MORE COWBELL!
-2011 Blue Wave 2400 Pure Bay / Yamaha F300 4.2 with Command Link Plus
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If you see other boaters fighting with their rigs too, the ramp you are using may need more angle.
The only other thing that comes to mind is not to load the boat up to much before, but you have probably thought of that already.
Remember, the heavy back end should be floating so that the lighter bow slids off easily when you hit the brakes to let the weight of the boat do most of the work to slide herself off. Use the holes in the brackets to lower the bunks and the rollers down so that your bottom is as close to the trailer as you are comfortable with.
Bullshipper is right. Boat trailers have a much longer wheelbase than other kinds of trailers and can uusually get by fine at the low end of the tongue weight range. Try lightening the weight. As long as the trailer handles well and does not sway, it's OK.
The theory of water to the tops of the fenders is only but a guideline/starting point - you have to read what the boat is telling you. Water depth, ramp angle, wind, wave and surge will also have to be taken into consideration - adjust accordantly to the ramp and conditions.
The other weekend I launched and removed my 24'er using a ramp that had to have a 35-40 degree ramp angle to the water surface and land. I'll tell you this much, forget about water to the tops of the fender theory. Once I figured out a plan of attack the ramp wasn't a problem at all.
Forget about the oils on your bunks. Use silicone spray or Pam.
IMO tongue weight should be in the 7 to 10% range - adjust accordantly to handling.
Without knowing the weight of your rig, it's not possible to tell you what the tongue weight should be. However, tongue weight on a boat trailer should be 6 to 8 percent of the total weight, fully loaded.
I'm not trying to ride you're a$$ here or anything, I'm just looking out for it.
Quote:
paddydhawk - 9/14/2004 9:44 PM
I lowered the bunks about 1/4" to ½" on each side, so that the boat wobbled a little on the trailer's center rollers. It rested on one of the bunks when I tightened the trailering hold down straps.
Personally I'd be adjusting the those bunks to fit that boat better then you've got it. I understand why you are doing it the way you are but, basically you are hauling an unstable load down the roadway - you could be charged under the highway traffic act. Now I don't know what kind of straps you are using to tie down your boat, but I guess that it is those chinchy little transom straps that maybe have a 1000-1500 lb rating at best, less if it is those really cheap transom straps - nowhere near enough to save your bacon in a court of law.
Regardless of the straps, if the boat did come off in an accident and any of the insurance companies found out that your trailer didn't properly fit your boat, well lets just say you could easily find yourself up the river without a paddle.
If all else fails take a look at Surfix.com - they make some excellent bunk slicks that make it VERY easy for your boat to slide off the bunks - no need for astroglide or veggie oil or anything else if you install these bunk slicks. They also protect your hull from scratches. Carpeting holds sand in - these bunk slicks do not - 30 minute install and you'll be good to go........
Guys,, I once tried adding much of the weight to the rollers.. It tore them up pretty badly.Left big grooves in them. My Mckee is about 1 K lbs dry.. add motor,trailer,gas and junk and I'm probably over 1500... that would leave me over 10 % on the tongue. I think I'll go about 5-7 % and try again. The ramps I use have shallow angles generally. I do have a little easier time at a steeper angle ramp,but it is still tough for a 16 footer. I know the boat should sit lower on the trailer,but I can't get it much lower because the rollers will hit the trailer crossmembers. Its an old Karavan trailer and does not seem very well designed,but its all I have right now. I'll get it together if it kills me. I am an auto mechanic for a living and am pretty handy with this sort of thing. I also plan to lengthen the bunks [they are TOOO short}and add those poly glides instead of carpet.I think by adding the glides and moving the boat back a bit,the boat should fly off the trailer. [NOT onto the THRUWAY I hope!!!!] bob
I second trying silicone spray and/or backing in a little farther. If that won't work, I second the glide strips. They're relatively cheap and will make loading and unloading a breeze. I can load and unload my boat (approx 8K pounds) by myself in minutes. On a good ramp I can actually back down close to the dock, unhook the winch and safety chain, then grab the stern line and pull it off the trailer by hand. You will, however, need to make absoultely sure to NOT release the winch and unhook the safety chain until the boat is in the water or it might slide off the trailer onto the ramp.
I'm guessing your boat goes 1400 pounds loaded so 170 pounds on the tongue is a little heavy but not outrageous.
Rich
PS: Something I do on shallow ramps is once the stern is in good water I get the engine running, release the winch and chain, then my partner rolls back about 3 feet and hits the brakes. Works every time.
This is a little itty bitty boat we're talking about, with a trailer that was set up wrong by the dealer who sold it.
Float on and float off is the idea here boys, not using spray to push her off, and evetually rub your gel coat off on the bunks if she is not floating when sliding on or off.
When you back down slowly on ANY ramp, you will get to the point where the back end of the boat will float. Look at this water level on your trailer fender as your future reference, as you can easily see it with your mirror when backing down the next time.
So when the water hits this level on the trailer, hit your brakes and this little sucker will keep on going so that you can tie her up and get the trailer out of their in about 20 seconds, for the whole operation.
I back my rig in til she floats, and the fenders are completely submerged long before. The only thing I am concerned with is trying to keep my tow vehicle wheels out of the saltwater. How close are you to the water with your rear wheels?
Look at your rig on level pavement, and make sure the trailer does not slope down to the hitch. If it does, it counteracts the slope of the ramp, and you should correct that by putting some rise into the receiver bar.
is there a source for proper adjustment techniques for trailer rollers?....unless i get my boat just right, one of the chines ends up whacking the fender, and i have to unload and do it again.....i keep it in the water so it isn't that big a deal
* One, make sure none of your roller arms a bent. If one or two of them are, One, you can get scuffing of the roller to the hull and Two, the bent arms could pull your boat to one side or the other.
* Two, you should install side bunks. Not the poles but the bunks - these will definitely solve your loading problems.
Need advice on trailer tongue weight. 
photob
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