I'm in the process of buying a 1990 25-foot Wellcraft Sportsman which
comes with a 32-roller Karavan tandom-axle trailer that looks like it
also is about 25 feet long. I noticed today that the stern of the boat
extends about 3 feet past the last roller and the boat has a big 225 HP
outboard. It doesn't look right to me. The current owner left the
boat on a mooring and said not to worry about it - he only used the
trailer twice a year and supported the boat with jack stands during the
winter.

Am I okay to tow it home like this? It's a 25-mile highway tow. Or
should I insist on trying to set things up better first? This would be
kind of a pain where the boat is sitting right now but not impossible.
I could gain maybe a foot of adjustment so the transom will still be
sticking out by 2 feet. Over the winter I will come up with a permanent
solution, perhaps extending the tongue.

Thanks,
Scott

onoahimahi wrote:
I'm in the process of buying a 1990 25-foot Wellcraft Sportsman which
comes with a 32-roller Karavan tandom-axle trailer that looks like it
also is about 25 feet long. I noticed today that the stern of the boat
extends about 3 feet past the last roller and the boat has a big 225 HP
outboard. It doesn't look right to me. The current owner left the
boat on a mooring and said not to worry about it - he only used the
trailer twice a year and supported the boat with jack stands during the
winter.

Am I okay to tow it home like this? It's a 25-mile highway tow. Or
should I insist on trying to set things up better first? This would be
kind of a pain where the boat is sitting right now but not impossible.
I could gain maybe a foot of adjustment so the transom will still be
sticking out by 2 feet. Over the winter I will come up with a permanent
solution, perhaps extending the tongue.

Thanks,
Scott


I'd find a knowledgeable dealer and ask. I've read that the rollers can
cause an indent in the hull re the setup you mention.
My 1300 lb sailboat also hangs over it's rear bunks by almost 3 feet...
but I don't tow with the 6 hp outboard hanging off the transom and the
heavy keel keeps the balance of weight about midships.

I agree with your concerns. I don't think it would hurt it in the
short term but I would put a couple boat jacks just under the transom
if you leave it sitting on the trailer.

Long term if you want to extend the tongue and believe you can move
boat forward that would help. Converting to bunks might also let you
get a little more support further back. Particularly if you can use
4x4s or 4x6s edgewise for the bunks.

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On 26 Nov 2006 18:24:29 -0800, "onoahimahi"
wrote:

I'm in the process of buying a 1990 25-foot Wellcraft Sportsman which
comes with a 32-roller Karavan tandom-axle trailer that looks like it
also is about 25 feet long. I noticed today that the stern of the boat
extends about 3 feet past the last roller and the boat has a big 225 HP
outboard. It doesn't look right to me. The current owner left the
boat on a mooring and said not to worry about it - he only used the
trailer twice a year and supported the boat with jack stands during the
winter.

Am I okay to tow it home like this? It's a 25-mile highway tow. Or
should I insist on trying to set things up better first? This would be
kind of a pain where the boat is sitting right now but not impossible.
I could gain maybe a foot of adjustment so the transom will still be
sticking out by 2 feet. Over the winter I will come up with a permanent
solution, perhaps extending the tongue.

As Don said, it's really a question of balance and how much tongue
weight you have on the trailer. A three foot hang isn't extreme at
all, but that's not the correct trailer for that boat and I'd look
into a new trailer or possibly extending the trailer (which may be
impossible).

For the 25 mile trip home, it's probably fine. If you hang the boat
on the hitch and the front end of your tow vehicle looks a little
light, then I'd look for an option like adjusting the boat forward on
the trailer a little to get a little more weight on the hitch.

If there is nothing you can do about it with getting extreme, borrow
or rent a bigger tow vehicle to get it home.