Trailer: Position of keel roller relative to transom

[Oldslowandugly]

I am re-balancing my SPORT 15 position on its trailer. The tongue weight somehow got excessive.

I have moved the axle as far forward as I safely can. The only other action I can take is to move the hull rearward. I am contemplating extending the trailer's frame rearward for more play. At the moment I can't get the rear keel roller directly under the transom. Until I figure this out, how far from the transom is it safe to have a roller?

[flymo]

My 15 is on its trailer in another state right now, so I can't say for sure. But from looking at a picture, my stern roller is around 10 inches forward of the transom, perhaps a bit more. That may or may not be safe, but it seems to work OK and hasn't caused any adverse effects that I can detect.

Flymo

[Oldslowandugly]

Thanks for that Flymo. I was worried about causing a "hook" back at the stern. That's when the hull gets pushed up and stays that way. Anyway I had a decent weather day today and I went ahead and extended the trailer center beam back about a foot or so. That section I had removed years ago because I was using this trailer from another boat. I had wanted a longer tongue but none were available so I had a galvanized 3 inch square pipe made up at a metal works. That I extended from the coupler all the way to the rear end with overhang for that other long boat. Luckily I saved that cut off piece. For support I jammed a 2 inch black iron pipe inside the 3 inch square pipe. It was so tight a fit I had to sledgehammer it in. Then I pounded the short square piece over that and it is a super strong extension. Then I welded everything together and placed my roller at the end. Now my transom is supported properly. I still have to relocate another roller rearward and test for proper tongue weight. Then I can reattach the axle and wheels. Here are some pics.

[flymo]

Cool! Don't mean to talk down to you, but since it's a serious safety concern, I hope you were using a full respirator for welding on the galvanized piece!

Flymo

[Oldslowandugly]

Not to worry. I ground off all the galvanizing at the weld area. I had to get down to clean metal anyway for good results. Because it is 1/4" wall thickness I also ground a kerf all the way around both sides of the weld area. That way I was assured good penetration. As a test I stood on the extension and jumped up and down on it. The whole frame flexed as expected but not at the weld. That coating you see is Interlux Primocon primer- very tough stuff. Now I need to get the axles on if the rain would stop long enough.