Squire
Well-Known Member
Update on my boat trailer saga: after measuring every dimension and taking several pictures with the boat on the original trailer I put the boat back at the marina. Bill Howich Marine had three aluminum I-beam candidates for me to choose from and offered me a decent trade-in price so I towed the EZ Loader up there along with my notes, tape measure, straight edge and level. The Tuff 6000 didn’t have high enough bunk brackets for my boat to clear the fenders unless they were close enough together that I’d be worried about the boat tipping over on a corner.
the Marlon Karavan 6000 and 7000 are on the same frame with the same axles. The difference is in the wheels (14”-15”) and the the
rotors (more braking power). The 6000 sat at the same hitch height as the EZ Loader while the 7000 would have meant getting a 4” step-up hitch to replace my current 2” and I want to be able to open the tailgate while hooked up so I went with the 6000. If I don’t tow with a full tank of fuel, that’s lots of capacity for me.
Like Explorer682 I now have plenty of hours in setting up the new trailer. The first thing I had to do was move the winch post back as far as possible as I had to work off the length from stern to bow eye where it touches the roller. This involved drilling new holes so I could use two u-bolts around the crossmember that supports the main tongue beam instead of it being ahead of the crossmember.
I had to move the rear crossmember ahead 20” and the fourth crossmember ahead 7”. There are four crossmembers supporting these main bunks as opposed to the two with yokes to spread out the support on the EZ Loader. Then I cut the main bunks back to 10’ from 12’ and spaced them to miss the chines and have the boat clear the fenders. This will place the boat about 15” forward relative to the center of the axles compared to where it sat on the old trailer. I have the option of moving the axles forward as well if the tongue weigh is too much now.
With the keel potentially clearing the crossmembers by less than 2” I only have 1” upward adjustment remaining at the back of the bunks and I’m at the highest position at the front of the bunk. With this setup, the front bunks can’t be mounted low enough to work with the main bunks so they have to go. I’m going to mount keel rollers on the front two crossmembers instead. They might not get low enough with u-bolts so I am considering drilling two 1/2” bolt holes through the aluminum crossmembers. Will this compromise the strength of the crossmember enough to worry about it? I believe they’ll be more of a retrieval guide that weight bearing in any event.
I ordered a tongue weight scale from Amazon and once it’s in I’ll go load the boat and weigh it up. Anything over 700 lbs I’ll be moving axles forward some.
As it‘s set up now I have 18” extra inches at the rear of the I-beam that I will cut off once I confirm it all works with the boat. This trailer came 3’4” longer overall than the EZ Loader.
It’s a lot of work (and cost) to be able to fish the West side with the peace of mind of a safe set-up but I’m in it for the long haul now.
the Marlon Karavan 6000 and 7000 are on the same frame with the same axles. The difference is in the wheels (14”-15”) and the the
rotors (more braking power). The 6000 sat at the same hitch height as the EZ Loader while the 7000 would have meant getting a 4” step-up hitch to replace my current 2” and I want to be able to open the tailgate while hooked up so I went with the 6000. If I don’t tow with a full tank of fuel, that’s lots of capacity for me.
Like Explorer682 I now have plenty of hours in setting up the new trailer. The first thing I had to do was move the winch post back as far as possible as I had to work off the length from stern to bow eye where it touches the roller. This involved drilling new holes so I could use two u-bolts around the crossmember that supports the main tongue beam instead of it being ahead of the crossmember.
I had to move the rear crossmember ahead 20” and the fourth crossmember ahead 7”. There are four crossmembers supporting these main bunks as opposed to the two with yokes to spread out the support on the EZ Loader. Then I cut the main bunks back to 10’ from 12’ and spaced them to miss the chines and have the boat clear the fenders. This will place the boat about 15” forward relative to the center of the axles compared to where it sat on the old trailer. I have the option of moving the axles forward as well if the tongue weigh is too much now.
With the keel potentially clearing the crossmembers by less than 2” I only have 1” upward adjustment remaining at the back of the bunks and I’m at the highest position at the front of the bunk. With this setup, the front bunks can’t be mounted low enough to work with the main bunks so they have to go. I’m going to mount keel rollers on the front two crossmembers instead. They might not get low enough with u-bolts so I am considering drilling two 1/2” bolt holes through the aluminum crossmembers. Will this compromise the strength of the crossmember enough to worry about it? I believe they’ll be more of a retrieval guide that weight bearing in any event.
I ordered a tongue weight scale from Amazon and once it’s in I’ll go load the boat and weigh it up. Anything over 700 lbs I’ll be moving axles forward some.
As it‘s set up now I have 18” extra inches at the rear of the I-beam that I will cut off once I confirm it all works with the boat. This trailer came 3’4” longer overall than the EZ Loader.
It’s a lot of work (and cost) to be able to fish the West side with the peace of mind of a safe set-up but I’m in it for the long haul now.