Extending my trailer hitch

J

John S

New member
Hello all,

I have had HELL with my trailer, as I have posted previously on the forum. I have a TomCat and it sits real high on the trailer making each launch and recovery a challenge. I received a PM from another member about a product called Extend-A-Hitch. I ordered it from the manufacturer's website http://www.extendahitch.com

He assured me that his 9 ft version could handle my 6000+ lbs of boat. Installation was pretty straight forward, although the bottom mounting bolts almost couldn't be installed in their pre-drilled postion because of the need for the extend a hitch to have enough clearance from the trailer's hitch to slide in and out. I barely squeaked by with that, the bolts couldn't even go 1/8" lower.
You NEVER tow with this hitch, it's only for launching and recovery. The receiver on the extension is 2" and the receiver on the trailer is 2 5/16", so a ball change is required before launching. I haven't found a 2" 5/16 receiver yet that I could bolt up to the extension.
Launching from a rough ramp is scary. The extension flexes up and down, but hasn't failed us yet. This is helping our launch and recovery. I need to come up with some quick snap on safety cables in case the day ever comes when the hitch gives way. Also important to note that a 9 ft hitch extension only gave us about 6 ft. more tongue after installation. I posted a couple photos in my album if you're interested.

John
 
John S-

I don't see any weight limit specifications upon a quick scan of the manufacturer's website.

Perhaps you need to contact them and see whether you're within the limits for which the Extend-a-Hitch was designed. Talk to their technical representative. AGAIN. Tell him/her your concerns.

What I'd do if I were in your situation, would be to get a slightly smaller box section of steel that would fit within/inside the existing box section to reinforce it.

A few bolts at each end, carefully placed back within the double tubed section, should increase the strength and reduce the bend.

It won't, however, increase the weight/strength limits posed by the attachment bolts or hitch itself.

Who recommended the hitch to you? Do they have the same concerns/experiences?

Let us know how it works out!

Joe.
 
Well,

I went back and did a little research. The member who recommended it goes by "Melon". I haven't discussed any of my concerns with him, but if he doesn't reply to this thread, I'll see if I can PM him to get him to post something on it.

The manufacturer- Basically it's one guy, maybe two at the most, probably working out of a garage, no tech rep there. I really don't think they know exactly what it can handle.

I don't think a large company would even tackle a project like this because of the possible liability. (ie Bubba decides to tow with it, rather than just launch)

I agree that I need to beef this thing up though. I can go with higher rated bolts, I also thought about adding some U-Bolts to the box section that the hitch slides thru.

I'm interested in the idea of adding a smaller chunk of steel into the main extension, I'll start doing some research on where to find that. The only problem is that every time I beef it up, I'm adding tongue weight and the extension already weighs 96lbs.

We have launched with it at least 5 times and have had much better results using it than not. A smooth boat launch surface gives no concerns, but we have a potholed 10" drop, awful launch in Whittier, AK that is down right scary without an extension. (highest launch fee in the area of course)

I guess it's time for me to start taking a bunch of measurements and go shopping. Unfortunately the boat is in AK right now and I'm in TX working.

John
 
John S-

Too bad it's in Alaska and you're in Texas. You could get the dimensions from the guys that build it and go shopping in Texas, where it would be less expensive.

Then again, I doubt they'd let you get on a plane with a 9 foot steel box section under your arm as carry-on luggage, and the alternative, shipping, would run the cost back up to Alaska sized proportions.

Wonder how many folks commute/work between the two largest states? (Maybe quite a few within the oil business!)

Joe.
 
Sea Wolf,

Usually the prices in AK near big cities aren't too bad. Often the extra you pay in TX on sales tax is about the same as the amount they add on to merchandise in AK to cover shipping. In Anchorage, at least, there is NO sales tax. It close to evens it out.

To answer your question, although I fly for an airline, on my commute back and forth the planes have a large number of oil field workers who go back and forth working on the North Slope (Prudhoe Bay) and Texas. Most of them work two weeks on and two weeks off.

I'm going to PM Melon right now and ask him if he is interested in commenting on this thread.

John
 
I can't help you with your tongue extender but it got me thinking about a different solution to your problem. It could fail misserably but might be worth some consideration.

First off you would probably need to replace the wheel on the wheel jack to something that would roll easier on a boat ramp. Secondly you could mount a manual or electric boat winch on the tongue of the trailer pointed toward the tow vehicle. Once you back the boat in you would attach the cable from the winch to the truck. Then lower the wheel jack down. In theory you could release the tongue from the ball and slowly let the trailer roll further into the water using the winch. Anyway this is a hair brained idea from a non-engineer so try it at your own risk :lol:
 
flapbreaker,
Interesting idea and appreciate the advice, but.....we still have to recover the boat when its time to go. The trailer really needs to be attached to something steady in order to get proper alignment, trailer postioning etc. This extend-a-hitch is working

I just want to see it beefier and easier and faster to use. Every launch and recovery requires chalking the trailer tires, disconnecting the boat, and changing hitches and balls on the truck.

Yes! We're very popular at the launch.

Thanks,
John
 
I just sold my Tom Cat but I'll tell you what I did. I agree load and launch was always an adventure. I had a standard 2" hitch with the 2- 5/16" ball. First I bought a 19" Extend a Hitch from Cabelas. Then I had a friend make a 36 -38" extention that I used instead. I kept the wheel down on the trailer when retreiveing the boat. Once retrieved, I jacked up the trailer and replaced the extension with the normal ball etc.. If that makes sense.
Phil
 
The "Extend-A-Hitch" is not a new concept. Dump trucks use it all the time. If the trailer were designed from the get go to work that way it would be a piece of cake to make it so that you flipped a switch that would lock up the brakes and you could then release a pin. Pull forward and the pin pops into the longer toungue lock and then release the brakes on the trailer. Once the boat was retrieved you would reverse the process.

This of course would require something like a brake lock out relay (working to lock the brakes on) or electric brakes on the trailer. And it would certainly be something you would do on level ground!
 
Good concept but in my opinion it is too light duty to be launching a Tomcat on rough terrain. A 3/16” x 3.5” tube stretched out 9’ is not heavy enough for a boat the size of a Tomcat.
 
Zydcomo, just so I got this straight, you kept the wheel down on the trailer tongue to offer some additional support? I like the concept of midway support, but a couple of our launches would rip that plastic wheel right off, I think. I wish I had a photo of this launch ramp in Whittier, AK. You really wouldn't believe it.

Oldgrowth, if this is not enough, what is? and how is the load capacity of a 3/16" x 3.5 tube determined?

I'm not sure but I think if this system were to give it would be at the mounting bracket to the trailer and not the tube. Only time and launching experiences will tell. I hope I don't find out.

My favorite idea so far has been adding a tube inside the extension to strengthen it. Next I think I will add U-bolts to the mounting bracket. Then probably assuring all bolts are the highest strength available. Finally I saw a 2 5/16 hitch available at a trailer accessory store for $50, it would have to be drilled to fit my extension, but this would keep me from changing balls.

I have hydraulic surge brakes, so I don't see any other way to change over hitches without chalking the tires. We DON'T keep the trailer lights connected when we launch.

Thanks for the ideas,
John
 
John S

I can understand your problem with the EZ Loader Trailer eating up the gelcoat. We had the same problem on Cygnet, our TC24. Most of the damage was caused by the whimpy EZ Loader guide ons. The boat was easily blown of center on loading. I remodeled the trailer, and beefed up the side guides, and built a center guide-on. Look in the Discovery album, then the Cygnet sub-album for pix. This allowed an always perfect alighment of the boat over the trailer when loading. The new TC255 has this center guide-on, on the EZ Loader Trailer ( EZ Loader sent thier people to take pix of my trailer). Also the new trailer has the slick material on the forward part of the bunks. The TC255 is much easier to launch and load, than the TC24. If you are able to modify your trailer to assure proper alignment of the boat, I think the gelcoat issues will be reduced.
 
Brent,

Good to hear from a fellow EZ-loader sufferer. I was actually looking thru your album earlier today and asked you a few questions from a different post.

It was interesting to see that when you took delivery of your tc24 it had side guides only. Every other trailer of that era seemed to come with some sort of center guide on. You defintiely built a beefy center guide. What was the piece running cross wise made out of? Did you use layers of plywood or something else? I'm going to post a photo of my center tunnel. I think :? my guide ons are suffiicient, but maybe not. I added the plastic slicks to my front bunks last week and that seems to help. My bottom paint is so messed up from the trailer that I can't tell now if the new slicks are helping or not. The previous owner only took the boat out of the water once a year with the trailer.

I was amazed to see that your boat had NO apparent damage at all from your trailer on the forward pontoon area. ALL other TC24's I've seen have marks on them in this area.

Please look at my photo album, if you have any other advice on how to make this trailer work, I'm all ears. Do you think I need side guides???
I think side guides would take the trailer over 8' 6"

Thanks,
John
 
John S-

I once had a retractable keel sailboat that was on a trailer with a built in extendable tongue.

The trailer has to be designed with a large tube running down the center of it with the extendable tongue inside it.

Pins placed in holes that match up between the two tubes control the extension.

The tires can be chalked or the wheel jack used to allow the changing of the length of the extension.

Is there room to modify your trailer this way?

How about an extendable tongue controlled by a long jack screw powered by a 12 volt starter motor?

Joe.
 
Very interesting concept--but I also wonder about the tongue weight. For the TC 255, I am looking at about 800 lbs (not weighed). My thought was more to the effect of two small lightweight wheels (such as 8" rim trailer wheels/pneumatic tires) with a total capacity of 500 to 900 lbs each, with an aluminum I beam--the weight mostly on the I beam's wheels, right under the hitch (2 5/16 ball)and the beam mostly to guide the boat--rigid connection from the ball to the coupler. Backing would be a bit of a challange, but not more than a double trailer at worse.

The other issue is that the extend a tongue adds tongue weight to the trailer. If you had wheels, as I noted above, (Or Gleason makes 5/8" axel wheelbarrow wheels which have 550 lb capacity each--have to had a three leg support for the axel, but these are light and cheap) which could be put under the extend a hitch--just in back of the coupler--and take the weight there, it might resolve the weight on the extension issue. The wheels could be carried in the truck, and then the hitch jack raise the hitch up and the wheels put under, and bolted in place for launch. (We use a foot plate, I don't trust trailer wheels at this weight, but one oculd use an attatchement for the 8" wheels with a second trailer jack, and have a fitting for the wheels which fit into the foot plate tubing--just another option.
 
OK guys,

Some interesting thoughts here. I feel pretty well committed into making this extend-a-hitch work. I've already bought it and drilled bigs holes in my trailer :roll:

I have used it many times successfully to this point and got reports from another TomCat owner who is happy with it the way it is, so I don't think I'm going to reinvent it, just slightly modify it. We thought about an extendable main tongue early on, but the problems with extending a surge style hitch, retractable hydraulic lines, electric wires, etc. took us to this solution.

I think at this point beefing up the existing solution will probably make me feel better. I will admit I like the idea of an extra pair of removable inflatable tires located around the 2 5/16" hitch, they could possibly even bracket on over the hitch extension pin, so that the pin holding the extension out would also hold the wheels in place. I'm not a welder, so this could get a little tricky, getting the height just right. I'm also still playing with the height of the ball on the truck. Lower hitch receiver = lower ball, of course and drops the front bunks deeper into the water. Then there is another factor, that we MUST buy a 3/4 ton diesel truck to pull this boat thru the mountains before next spring. 25MPH in a 65MPH up the pass makes you VERY unpopular, this will change our hitch height again, affecting the mounting of the temporary tires. Bob, I would easily "estimate" my tongue weight getting close to 1000# and I've already moved my trailer axles to their full forward position, lots of stress going on here.

Trying to decide whether to try and stuff a 3" square piece of steel down the middle of this thing or a 3" round piece of steel down the middle, I imagine the square shouldn't bend as much.

Another thought; this temporary wheel set would certainly see a salt water enviroment (corrosion) even without a dunking. I haven't seen wheelbarrow tire/wheel combos available in galvanized. Any other low cost wheel ideas?

The other thing I MUST add to this whole contraption are some heavy duty safety cables, that way if this thing ever does let go I won't loose it all down the ramp. You can't buy this cable length pre-made at the boating store, have to do it on my own.

Thanks,
John
 
John,

I've gone through a bit of hell with my not-so-E-Z Loader and 22-ft. C-Dory. Couldn't believe the way it was set up by someone who does that for a living. It took a lot of working through the geometry of launching a boat before I got it to work comfortably.

The extend-a-hitch thing seems to me to be a royal PITA. I understand that it's better than scraping up your hull or leaving your boat in the driveway, but still... It seems to me that the whole process of taking one's boat out ought to be reasonably fun - not a white-knuckle, teeth-grinding experience.

After looking at your photos and reading some of your previous posts on the subject several things occur to me that might help. None of them by themselves would provide a solution, but perhaps in concert they might take you where you want to go.

1. Cut back the U-bolts nearly flush with the top of the nuts to increase the boat to bolt clearance. Looks like you've got about three-quarters of an inch proud of the nut.

2. Lower the boat on the trailer as close as you are comfortable to get it sitting lower in the water. Perhaps only an inch or so. The boat does seem to sit pretty high on the trailer. It appears as though the only way is to widen the stance of the bunks since it looks like the adjustable bunk brackets are set as low as they'll go. This may take some time to figure out, taking measurements of the existing angles, heights, and boat to trailer distance, drafing out the existing geometry, then drafting the components in the position you want them before you take a wrench out there.

3. Move the boat as far aft on the trailer as you feel is save to get it into the water sooner.

4. Put the wheels further toward the rear of the trailer so that when you back in they will be further down the ramp to float your boat off sooner and to balance the proper tongue-weight.

Again, I wouldn't expect any one of these to help, but perhaps all together they might allow you to dispense with the scary after-market hitch and get your boat in the water safely and quickly.
 
John S

On the TC24 trailer we had, the guides were originally on the inside position. The guides can be unbolted and repositioned on the outside. We tried both positions, but the guides were so easily bent, that it didn't really matter where they were. I put them on the outside, then beefed them up, and increased the height. The inside guide was made from scratch, using galvanized milemarker posts, and redwood 2"X6" covered with carpet. I was a highway bridge contractor before retirement. The outside guides did actually make the overall width, 2" more than the original, which was at the legal width limit. I towed it for over 30K miles and never had a problem. We even went the length of the Baja Penninsula, to Cabo San Lucas, in 2003.

Fred Kistler also has a TC24. He had a spare wheel mounted on the tongue of his trailer. It was the wheel mounted on a hub and bearing assembly. It fit in a sideways receiver hitch type of mount. The mount was designed with a 90 degree bend, that raised it up out of the way. By pulling a pin and flipping it over, and reinserting it, it became a front weight bearing, fifth wheel. This type of setup might work for you, in combination with the tongue extension. I don't know if pix are available of Fred's trailer.
 
I like Brent's idea of flipping the extra tire over. I also have an entire extra wheel, with hub on the front of the trailer, but it is further aft--and not real keen about putting it further up foreward on the trailer--any photos of this flip mount?

I would consider a one ton if you are upgrading trucks. I have a Ford Excursion diesel, which is on a one ton chassis and geared to pull the 10,000 lbs or so. My neighbor has a Tom Cat 24 and tried a lighter truck, but now borrows a one ton. I do realize that the 24 is less weight than the 255. Also you might consider electric over hydraulic brakes if you have not done this conversion.

Some great thoughts--thank you all!
 
Ugh...no offense, I realize you TC owners are trying to solve an ugly problem, and some of these ideas are rather clever. However...they all seem to be a bad hack, at best.

I must admit - the whole TomCat trailer issue, is probably the only thing preventing me from lusting over this boat exclusively. As such, I've gotta ask...other then the obvious access and maneuverability issues, just what are the limitations imposed on one when towing a wide load?

The problem seems best solved by lowering the boat. Short of some crazy trailer design I've yet to see, that means towing a wide load. Do the limitations/restrictions posed by wide load towing outweigh the benefit one would receive from a seemingly far easier launch/retrieve?
 
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