Poll: Trailer jack wheel and towing

A forum for discussing issues relating to trailers and towing MacGregor sailboats.

Do you remove your trailer jack wheel when towing?

Yes, my tow vehicle rides low to the ground and the extra clearance helps.
11
46%
No, I have plenty of clearance and don't need to remove it.
13
54%
My towing distance is not far, so I don't. But I do when I go on longer trips.
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 24

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Bilgemaster
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Re: Poll: Trailer jack wheel and towing

Post by Bilgemaster »

That poll really needs an "I'm with Sumner" option. That original jack on my 26X's steel factory trailer was pretty dodgy, with its inner worm gearing already "slippy" by the time I got her (possibly from repeated wheel strikes with the ground?). So one of the first things I did once I got her to the boatyard was grind it off at the welds with an angle grinder like this one, powered by one of these handy little fuss-bucket generators (now available in green), using a metal grinding wheel like this one, painted up the resulting void and bare metal with some Iron Armor® Gloss Black Chassis And Grille Paint (this and the Iron Armor® Black Rust Reformer Spray Paint is great stuff for the trailer, if you've got an old steel one...Remember: I had to pass mine off as a brand new "homebuilt" to get it titled, so it had to look pretty dandy indeed.) I then slapped on a bolt-on 1000 lb. Capacity Swing-Back Trailer Jack that I already had handy, and it's been dreamy ever since: pull and click she's up, pull and click she's down. Frankly, I think that original jack design was just a problem waiting to happen.

I would only add that folks needing to maneuver around on grass or other challenging surfaces might do well to use a 1500 lb. Capacity Dual Wheel Swing-Back Boat Trailer Jack instead of a single wheeled unit.
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BOAT
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Re: Poll: Trailer jack wheel and towing

Post by BOAT »

My option is not available on the vote thingy:

Option 4: I have plenty of clearance but remove it anyways when trailering.

Why carry it around? I don't need it and the salt water could ruin it so it's dumb to take it to the launch ramp - (or "slipway" as baha has taught me) - also why leave a tempting part for some fisherman to steal for his aluminum boat? As far as I'm concerned the wheel is pretty useless because you can't move the boat around with that wheel anyways.
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Bilgemaster
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Re: Poll: Trailer jack wheel and towing

Post by Bilgemaster »

BOAT wrote:As far as I'm concerned the wheel is pretty useless because you can't move the boat around with that wheel anyways.
I don't know if I could swing her around the lot like Ginger Rogers, but I can wrestle my gal around handily enough to get the receiver nicely over the hitch, If you know what I mean...

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Tomfoolery
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Re: Poll: Trailer jack wheel and towing

Post by Tomfoolery »

BOAT wrote:Option 4: I have plenty of clearance but remove it anyways when trailering.

Why carry it around?
I do carry the wheel in my launch/haul box, which contains the stern strap, water shoes, reverse lockout pin (in case the solenoid doesn't work), trailer bridle line, and a few other things that are only needed for launching and hauling out. Once in a rare while I can't find enough scrap wood at a marina for the landing gear post, to get the hitch off the ball, and the wheel adds several inches. So it lives in the box, almost never comes out, but is there should I need it to gain some height on the hitch.

But I never leave it on the landing gear when the trailer is hooked to the tow vehicle - don't want someone helping themselves to it. In addition to rarely needing it, and it getting caught on the rough ramp I use (got some good digs in the rubber when I was too lazy to take it off last fall - lucky I didn't break it).
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Jimmyt
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Re: Poll: Trailer jack wheel and towing

Post by Jimmyt »

Looks like maybe another option of: May or may not need to remove it, but do anyway so nobody will steal it...

Or in my case: Need the clearance, but my jack wheel looks so ridiculous I'd get laughed off the ramp if I left it on.
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Todd
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Re: Poll: Trailer jack wheel and towing

Post by Todd »

Phil M wrote:I never use my trailer wheel, just a few wooden blocks. My custom dual axle trailer is heavy and with the boat on I can't move it anyways. :?
I agree no wheel...on the boat or the camper trailer. I have found that things with 3-points of contact that are all wheels like to roll. I use a foot pad but prefer a good 4x4 piece of wood.
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Bilgemaster
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Re: Poll: Trailer jack wheel and towing

Post by Bilgemaster »

Is stealing other folks' jack wheels a "thing" now? Has anyone here ever had their wheel stolen? Seems unlikely to me, but in the event that anyone in these forums might suddenly find themselves "wheelless at the jack" (which sounds like a superb and "salty" euphemism for something amiss on the poopdeck perhaps), whether through theft or breakage or some other loss, they're welcome to have my old one just for the actual cost of shipping it. The whole old unit's just sitting there rusting on my old RV's rear bumper. You have only to PM or email me through the forum and the wheel and it's bolt are yours.
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kmclemore
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Re: Poll: Trailer jack wheel and towing

Post by kmclemore »

I lower the trailer tongue onto a stand and remove the wheel (only) from the jack and store it inside when the rig is parked for long periods to prevent the parts from rusting and the plastic wheel from flattening, but I have plenty of clearance when towing and launching so I leave everything on the jack in place normally when the rig is in use.

And no, I don't believe stealing trailer jacks is "a thing".

Oh, and I have a swing-up jack like Summer.
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Tomfoolery
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Re: Poll: Trailer jack wheel and towing

Post by Tomfoolery »

Well, at the risk of being 'that guy', I had the wheel (or maybe it was a skid plate) stolen off my Aquarius trailer while it was parked at the marina and I was out sailing. I dry-sailed it for a while, so the trailer was hooked to the tow vehicle at the time. Hence my paranoia about having the caster wheel stolen, especially since it's just a PTO pin holding it there. That's why I brought it up.

And I used to take my 9.9 Evinrude off the stern and take it home every time I was finished sailing. Paranoid. :wink:
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Doug W
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Re: Poll: Trailer jack wheel and towing

Post by Doug W »

On the original factory aluminum trailer, I always removed the wheel. On my newer float on trailer, the wheel just folds back. It cannot be removed.

Doug
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BOAT
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Re: Poll: Trailer jack wheel and towing

Post by BOAT »

Doug W wrote:On the original factory aluminum trailer, I always removed the wheel. On my newer float on trailer, the wheel just folds back. It cannot be removed.

Doug

Your trailer floats? When do you "float on" it? (Do many people float on their trailer?) I guess I'm missing out.
vizwhiz
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Re: Poll: Trailer jack wheel and towing

Post by vizwhiz »

Thanks for all the great feedback, by the way... I knee I could count on a bunch of great answers!
The pin on my wheel is kinda corroded, so it won't just pull out. But I can clean it up easily enough to get it out and prep it for regular removal. I actually have "enough" clearance for normal driving, but have hit the wheel getting into and out of my yard a few times. So I started wondering if it was going to be a risky thing.
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Bilgemaster
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Re: Poll: Trailer jack wheel and towing

Post by Bilgemaster »

vizwhiz wrote:Thanks for all the great feedback, by the way... I knee I could count on a bunch of great answers!
The pin on my wheel is kinda corroded, so it won't just pull out. But I can clean it up easily enough to get it out and prep it for regular removal. I actually have "enough" clearance for normal driving, but have hit the wheel getting into and out of my yard a few times. So I started wondering if it was going to be a risky thing.
A shot or two this weekend of penetrating oil like PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench, allow it to marinade, and that pin should slide right out by next weekend...probably sooner. Once it's out, grab one of the wife's emery boards that she might do her nails with, and dress up any corroded bits. A little smear of Vaseline will help keep further corrosion at bay.
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