Boat position on trailer and tongue weight.

[served_usmc]

Sorry if this has been beat to death but I did a google search and didn’t see anything recently that covered my question.

I picked up my 195TXW a few weeks ago and quickly realized I didn’t have enough toungue weight after experiencing some trailer bounce going out to the lake this past weekend and that feeling like the tongue was “floating” on the hitch. I moved the winch post forward about 3” and it appears to have solved that issue, but I have not checked tongue weight with a scale yet. Why would a dealer send out a boat/trailer that isn’t “tuned” better? Either way, after moving the post forward the back of the boat still extends past the bunks by about 3-4”. I’ve read a few posts that said the boat needs to sit flush on the bunks. Is this the case or is it different for each setup? Thank you for the input.

[Bob McKenzie]

10 even 15% of the total package weight should be on the tongue. The issue is not with the tongue weight it’s self but the weight behind the rear axle of the trailer, too much weight behind the rear axle will cause a tail whip momentum which amplifies with each whip. Every combo of tow vehicle and boat will have different setup options, boat and weight distribution on the trailer, tongue height, etc. The closer you are to your max tow capacity the more important these items become. Not sure why they shipped or prepared it that way.

[rocket man]

Sounds like wrong trailer for the boat. The bunks at least should be even with back of boat. Could cause a hook in the hull.

[billnorman1]

Sounds like wrong trailer for the boat. The bunks at least should be even with back of boat. Could cause a hook in the hull.

Not too sure about causing a hook in a well built fiberglass boat.. My observation is if the bunks are properly set up the boat causes a hook in the bunks. That said, I think you did the right thing.

[Eyra1]

Not to hijack the post but I have a similar question. We bought a new bass cat trailer in 2015 that was built for a 1996 model Eyra. Of course the boat is so out of date they didn't have any schematics, but the dealer provided them with all of the measurements of the boat that BassCat requested. After getting the trailer back to the dealer and the dealer put the boat on the trailer the transom and was almost a foot past the back end of the trailer. I literally could lift the tongue with a finger. BassCat's solution was to cut the arm where the bow roller was mounted off and mount it straight up. As with all BassCat trailers the bow roller arm is at an angle towards the bow of the boat, and a winch arm is separate. It is in the shape of a V as you look at it from the side. The arm where the bow roller was mount is now straight up.
So now the roller arm stands upright and the boat fits on the trailer. However, I have had to replace both hubs in the past two years, the right axle which broke off the trailer and destroyed the fiberglass fender, shredded 3 tires over the 4 years. Have gone through 2 sets of tires total, including the ones now that need replacement. Bass cat seems to think it's user error. The dealer has done everything they can to work with me and help keep repair costs as low as they possibly can. I am wondering if moving the boat forward has put different stress points on the axle or if the axle is not under the proper position for weight distribution now? We are talking a single axle trailer.

[billnorman1]

A single axle trailer is quite capable of supporting an 18 foot Bass Cat. Bass Cat takes pride in their trailers and from my experience they have an extensive history of every thing on their boats from the Ice Age forward it would seem they would have it on their trailers too.
Axle failures and breakage are really odd.
How far are they from you? I'd think if they set a trailer up it should be top notch and ready for anything encountered in normal use.

[Eyra1]

They're about 3 hours away. It's been very frustrating over the last 3 years dealing with them. I've been running Cats since 1989 and have always shown support at tournaments I've participated in, wearing the logos while out and about. I guess my source of frustration stems from voicing my issue that there seemed to be a problem with the trailer, that axle breaking and hubs blowing out on both sides is more than coincidence for a trailer less than 5 years old, especially when I've never had an issue with their trailers before. Between my brother and myself we've had 7 Cats. No issues except for this one. One of BassCat's responses was that it's virtually impossible to have this issue on one trailer, since both hubs were in production at the same time and they pulled them off the same pallet. That no other trailer had a similar problem during that build time. So it had to be user error. That's frustrating to me.
One BBC member offered the suggestion of getting the actual tongue weight, just to see if the weight distribution is off, which I would think it probably is. Would that alone be a contributing factor that hadn't been taken into account? I'm also looking at other trailer manufacturers to see if I can find a trailer option that will handle an 18 ft boat, accommodating the hull. After almost 30 years of association with them, I don't have as much confidence in them as I used to.

[served_usmc]

Not too sure about causing a hook in a well built fiberglass boat.. My observation is if the bunks are properly set up the boat causes a hook in the bunks. That said, I think you did the right thing.

It's a tin boat. Would you mind elaborating on the "hook" reference?

As far as it being the wrong trailer for the boat as someone mentioned above, I think that is unlikely but anything is possible I suppose. There is certainly enough trailer left that I could move the winch post far enough to be even with the bunks (maybe im using the wrong terminology, but im talking about the ones on either side of the boat) but I need to get a scale to see what the tongue weight is before I make any more adjustments.

[ROADRUNNER]

You should have NO problem with your metal boat getting a "hook" in the hull.

[billnorman1]

You should have NO problem with your metal boat getting a "hook" in the hull.

That's for sure.

Actually almost any boat can get a hook in their hull.

[Goldstar225]

It's a tin boat. Would you mind elaborating on the "hook" reference?

As far as it being the wrong trailer for the boat as someone mentioned above, I think that is unlikely but anything is possible I suppose. There is certainly enough trailer left that I could move the winch post far enough to be even with the bunks (maybe im using the wrong terminology, but im talking about the ones on either side of the boat) but I need to get a scale to see what the tongue weight is before I make any more adjustments.

I may be confusing myself but are you referring to the bunk boards under the boat or the side bunks that guide it onto the trailer? If you're talking about the bunks on the side, they shouldn't extend to the very back of the boat. If you're talking about the bunk boards under the boat then yes, I would want them to fully support the stern.

[jagsaw]

It's a tin boat. Would you mind elaborating on the "hook" reference?

As far as it being the wrong trailer for the boat as someone mentioned above, I think that is unlikely but anything is possible I suppose. There is certainly enough trailer left that I could move the winch post far enough to be even with the bunks (maybe im using the wrong terminology, but im talking about the ones on either side of the boat) but I need to get a scale to see what the tongue weight is before I make any more adjustments.

The bunk boards are under the boat and support the hull. The boat should be far enough forward on the trailer to achieve proper tongue weight. This will put weight on the tow vehicle and give the axle some relief. The guide boards on the side are unimportant with regards to this topic.

Check your tongue weight.