Ideas for moving the bow stop on a trailer

[TheSpleen]

I go this trailer (was used for a '95ish ski nautique). My boats a little bit shorter, so I'd like to move the bow stop back. I want the boat to sit a couple inches forward of where it is in these pics, so the bow stop probably needs to move back 4-6 inches. Any ideas for a good way to do it?
I could go have someone cut off the old and weld on new attachment points, I figured this would be a bit expensive (don't really know).
Or I could just ditch the existing one and put on one of those poles that bolts on to the trailer with a v-shaped rubber piece for the bow to sit on.

[8122pbrainard]

RE: Ideas for moving the bow stop on a trailer

TS,
Pull the bow stop and move it to the position you need it. Square "U" bolt the front bottom of it's frame to the trailer frame. Then for the rear mount use a square shoulder rod end. like this one:
On the bottom of the rod end, I'd put a plate to distribute the rod end load to the center trailer frame member better.

No welding which of a glavanized is a PITA anyway.

Both the square U bolts and shouldered rod end are available at: http://www.mcmaster.com/#

[Nautiquehunter]

Are you watching your tongue weight ? Before you make a permanent change make sure your tongue weight is at least 10% of total weight or you may have sway issues
when towing.

[TwinTip]

Not sure if I undersdand exactly what you want to do as you mention you want to move the bow stop back because you want the boat to sit a couple of inches forward of what you show in the pictures. If you move the bow stop back, then the boat would sit more towards the back of the trailer, if you move it forward, it would sit more towards the front of the trailer.

Assuming you want the boat to sit where it is now and you want to move the bow stop so that it meets the boat (based on the position of the boat that you show on your pictures), you could add some 2x4's in between the post that currently holds the bow stop and the actual bow stop "plate". Put these horizontally so that they cover the width of each bow stop plate and you can attach them to the current U clips. You may have to put two together or use a 4x4 if the separation allows for it. This should move the bow stop towards the boat and allow for no separation between it and the boat (again as per your current pictures) without having to make any great changes to the trailer. As mentioned by Nautiquehunter, pay attention to the weight distribution on the trailer.

If what you want to do is move the bow stop towards the tongue/forward side of the trailer that is a different story as there seem to be welded parts on the trailer that allow for the bow stop to be tilted forward. You could fabricate the same parts and weld these to the trailer and/or use U clamps to hold them in place. Another option, as you seem to have the space for it, would be to rotate the mounting of the bow stop by 180 degrees and use the existing mount that you currently have towards the front of the trailer (the one that does not have a pin) to mount the bow stop, then you fabricate only the piece that holds the pin together (in other words, instead of having the option of tilting the bow stop towards the tongue of the trailer you would now be tilting it towards the back). This probably defeats the purpose of the tilting (as you would not be able to tilt it while the boat is on the trailer) but if you don't use this feature it would not matter. Again, watch for the weight distribution on the trailer if you do this.

[HS]

What is wrong with leaving the bow stop where it is and bringing the boat up further when retieving it at the boat ramp?

Hunter makes a good point about avoiding low tongue weight. Too low of tongue weight and the trailer will "wander" and sway going down the road and could affect the stability of the towing vehicle, etc.

[TheSpleen]

Thanks,
I'm going to give the wood add-ons a shot.