The 2nd front cross beam was cut off as the roller for this held the bow too high. Trailer brake wire Guide eyelets were cut off for this and then rewelded back on.
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| 2nd front cross beam removed, new rear crutches |
The aft bilge crutches were re-built using 3x2 pine wood with a 2" wide strips of red sliding plastic (from motor marine) fastened with counter sunk stainless screws. The aft bunk had to be lowered so cut off the adjustable support posts, lowered 2" and rewelded to the trailer frame. As they were now quite short the lateral bracing wasn't needed so this was all cut off and removed.
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| Rear crutch |
The trailer was winched back under the keel and now the boat could be pulled further forward by about 4" and the bow now docked onto the winch roller.
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| winch and roller |
The rear 2" web tie down strap needed anchor points. So weld two 8mm chain links onto the rear corners of the trailer, the tie down strap anchor hooks fit nicely.
The lowered keel roller support posts were projecting below the axle level, so cut these off for maximum ground clearance under the axle.
Finally adjusted the 4 bilge crutches to hold the hull bilges firmly and sprayed cold galvanizing on the new metal work.
Trailer road handling was improved. The boat sits about 2" lower and 4" further forward, more tow ball down force and lower center of gravity. Also the bow in the winch roller stopped any hobby horsing of the hull. There was no side sway. For now my comfortable and safe tow speed is 80-90 km/hr on the highway, 85 being the best. My tow car is a 2.7 litre 4 cylinder Toyota workmate trayback utility with a 1.8 ton towing capacity. I could sit in top (5th) gear on the flats and sometimes went to 4th for small hills.
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