26X Axle Moved Back

[vkmaynard]

We just moved our axle back 6" which puts the tongue weigh at 300#. Tongue weigh was 80#. It has never towed properly since the day we bought our boat, even with the Honda, like all other Xs.

Can't wait to see how it tracks after 6 years of nightmarish towing.

Victor

[kevinnem]

please let us know , it is a interesting question.

[Tomfoolery]

Sounds interesting. My trailer has two axles (original steel, with second added), and only about 200 lb tongue load, and it seems to behave well enough back there. Moving the two full fuel tanks from their normal locations in the cockpit to down below decks should add another 100 lb, which is something I probably should do for long distance towing. That, or empty them and use the gas for the tractor, filling them at the other end.

Standing by for your conclusions.

[vkmaynard]

Big success!

Super stable now.

Victor

[DaveB]

Victor, I do not understand your trailer. You put on a Suzukie 90hp outboard that weighs 100 lbs more than a 50 hp. Toung weight should be around 10% of boat and trailer weight. This would require about 450 lbs toung weight when boat is fully loaded.
My boat with tandem Aluminum trailer weighs in at 4500 lbs or more loaded. (Trailer 1000 lbs)
Dave

We just moved our axle back 6" which puts the tongue weigh at 300#. Tongue weigh was 80#. It has never towed properly since the day we bought our boat, even with the Honda, like all other Xs.

Can't wait to see how it tracks after 6 years of nightmarish towing.

Victor

[vkmaynard]

You cannot put 4500 lbs on a stock trailer.

Our boat towed badly with the Honda and a little worse with the Suzuki.

I decided on a slightly less than "the rule of thumb" recommendation due to additional weight forward loaded.

Stable now.

[mallardjusted]

Victor, DaveB is on the right track. When you add up the basic boat, motor, fuel, supplies, safety equipment, and the weight of the trailer itself, most are going to be in the 3800 to 4500 lb range. I put a spreadsheet together for mine (the trailer is an aluminum dual-axle), and I believe I'm at about 4100 lbs. With my old stock trailer it was only a couple hundred pounds less. Most recommendations I've seen for pulling a trailer is 9 to 15 percent of total weight pulled for the hitch.

[raycarlson]

funny i've always heard the 5-10% range referenced as a target.I'm a little over 5000# fully loaded and run a 275-300 tonque weight and set-up is rock steady at any speed.

[u12fly]

First off I have an Now that's out of the way... I weighed in last weekend fully loaded for 5 days of sailing in the Puget Sound area (Washington State) right at 5000 lbs. I have a dual axle, aluminum trailer modified from the factory Mac trailer... I have a large water tank (35 Gal) under the aft berth.... if I fill that the trailer is too tail heavy (gets light on the tounge) this has caused some fish tailing which can really get your attension. Actually, I found out I'm ok filling the tank as long as I load some additional heavy items in the bow of the boat. Point is just load your trailer (boat) with most items aound the axle point and use the bow and stern areas to hold items that will keep you balanced for the best (safest) trailering.

[Steve K]

I've always had my fresh water tank under the V-berth in all my boats. This helps a lot for towing. My D tows like it's not even there.

It's a 26D, just for clarification.
Now, however, I noticed on my last trip that the stern has a little more turbulence and seems to sit just slightly lower than before. I did some work in the lazz in the spring and with the new organized area, I'm storing more stuff back there, but not much. Must have just gone over some sort of threshold.
I'm planning now to move the batteries forward, under the v-berth also. They are under the starboard seat, by the galley now. I'm planning to put them on the center-line too, rather than to one side, as they are now. This should solve the stern issue and the boat has always felt like it heels to starboard (initially), more quickly in puffs, than to port.

I have considered cutting into the floor, into the ballast tank and building a sealed compartment for the batteries along the centerline, way down low. The displaced water would be insignificant compared to the total weight of the batteries and the boat would end up 150 pounds, or so, lighter overall, when sailing. Just a thought and I'm not sure the tank is deep enough. Have to do some inspection. The rounded bottom of the D boat, does make the area a little deeper, right behind the dagger board trunk, along the centerline

And, sorry, I guess I'm getting off the original subject/intent of this thread, but any thoughts would be helpful, in perhaps a new thread

Best Breezes,
SK

[vkmaynard]

I want it to tow nicely loaded and unloaded so 300# was a limit I wanted to design to. Plus class II hitch tongue limit is 300#.

[vkmaynard]

We upgraded our hitch to a Class III on our E-150 van today. I originally installed the Class II before the Mac to save some $$, "buy cheap buy twice".

That should remove the toungue weight worries.

Victor

[vkmaynard]

Just drove 700 mi on the trailer with the new axle location. BIG improvement.

Highly recommended.

Victor

[Tomfoolery]

Are you still at 300# tongue weight, or did you increase it not that you have a heavier hitch?

[vkmaynard]

When we loaded for our last trip I am sure we added at least 50 lbs to the tongue.
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