Modifying Trailer for MONTAUK 17

[Shore]

[Moderator's note: this post was added to another thread that was discussing a different situation and a different boat. Please do not join a thread and change the topic to your situation and your boat.]

I want to get a classic MONTAUK 17 [some time in the future]. My garage depth is 19-feet 11-inches, 7-feet 9-inches wide, and 6-feet 10-inches hight.

Q1: how can a swing tongue be added to a trailer that does not have a swing tongue?

Q2: how can the winch post on a trailer be changed to help a MONTAUK 17 fit into my garage?

[Todd]

Make sure, whatever boat [you buy], that the boat while on the trailer will fit under the garage door. Usually the height of the windshield and its surrounding railing were the highest part of the boat.

BACKSTORY
I store my 2003 160 Dauntless in an extra-deep three-car garage so the length wasn't [the limiting factor]. The [limiting factor was] the height with the windshield and surrounding railing. I ended up modifying the surrounding railing and used knurled knobs on the windshield to allow me to quickly lower the height; with this modification I was able to efficiently move the boat in and out of storage.

If you need advice on how to modify the railing surrounding the windshield, I can show photographs. [Moderator's note": Todd--feel free to start a new thread to illustration your modification of you 2003 160 DAUNTLESS windshield and surrounding railing to lower their height to allow the boat to fit into your garage.]

--Todd

[jimh]

Q1: how can a swing tongue be added to a trailer that does not have a swing tongue?

Consult the trailer manufacturer to see if they offer a kit for adding a swing tongue to the trailer you might be buying in the future when you might buy your MONTAUK 17.

Generally the adding of a swing tongue would be done by cutting the center beam of the trailer that attaches to the trailer hitch in a position such that the hinge can be fitted to each side of the cut. The hinge has to match the dimensions of the trailer center beam.

[jimh]

Q2: how can the winch post on a trailer be changed to help a MONTAUK 17 fit into my garage?

Typically the location of the winch post is not fixed. The winch post location can be moved forward and backwards on the center beam of the trailer as necessary.

Typically the winch post is not a particularly likely part of the trailer that would cause there to be an interference with fitting the trailer into a garage, as the winch post adds no width to the trailer and the winch post is very very unlikely to be the tallest object in the trailer-boat assembly. So I don't think there will be any special problem related to the winch post position relative to getting a boat into your garage.

[MarkCz]

The depth of my garage is only 19-feet 9-inches [or two inches shorter the the garage under discussion]. My 1987 [MONTAUK 17] is positioned between the fenders of my trailer, There is a clearance of about three-inches on each side between the garage door frame and the trailer fenders.

I was able to modify remove the OEM trailer winch post and substitute a winch post that was more compact.

I have added a swing tongue to the trailer.

When the garage door is closed, only two inches of clearance remain [between door and trailer], and the bow of the boat is eight inches from the door.

To decrease the length of the boat and trailer I trim the engine to the full-down position, resulting in one-inch-less overall length.

INSTRUCTIONS:
--give me the length measurement of the boat on the trailer by measuring from the most aft part of the engine that would contact the back wall of the garage to the bow of the boat on your existing trailer.

WINCH POST
The standard winch post provided on my LOAD-RITE FIVE STAR galvanized boat trailer was abnormally long; if left in place the trailer length would have been about six or seven inches too long to fit my garage.

LINK TO AMAZON website listing for "Short Nose Adjustable Winch Stand W/ 1400lb Dutton- Lainson Winch (Galvanized)"
https://www.amazon.com/Die-matic-Adjust ... 01LDS2UKK/

LINK TO AMAZON website listing for "Sturdy Built Boat Trailer Galvanized Winch Seat for 2 or 3 inch Width Winch Post"
https://www.amazon.com/Sturdy-Built-Tra ... 0B6L48JF3/

I removed the LOAD-RITE winch stand bow roller bracket and substituted the sturdy built winch bracket as shown in the second link above. I also cut down the height of the winch post above the winch bracket.

Keep in mind in most cases to add a swing tongue on a galvanized or painted trailer will be much easier compared adding one to an aluminum trailer. Most galvanized or painted trailers will have a 3 x 3 inch square tube for the tongue and the side beams on the trailer typically are joined to the 3 x 3 tongue behind the bow of the boat.

[jimh]

I used the second one in the second link above.

Perhaps you can give a new link that directs to the one you used, as your description "the second one in the second link" is unclear.

Also, any new winch post will have to be adaptable to the central frame of the trailer and its dimensions, which at this moment are unknown to readers.

[Phil T]

I stored my 1987 Montauk in my garage one winter. It was sitting on a galvanized boxed frame trailer, not an I-beam.

To make it fit, I blocked the wheels and the frame under the bow. I unbolted the tongue at the intersection of the frame rails and removed the tongue which included the winch post. Total length without the trailer tongue and winch was 19-feet with the engine trimmed down to the vertical position.

[Shore]

I am going to measure a PACIFIC trailer that is included in particular MONTAUK 17 boat I may buy, seen in Figure 1 below [for what is assumed to be an estimation if the boat and trailer will fit into a particular amount of space available in a particular garage].

Fig. 1. A PACIFIC trailer that may be measured.

PacificTrailerToBeMeasured.jpg (12.43 KiB) Viewed 25551 times

I will get the following dimensions:

• total length from trailer tongue to engine in down position as baseline unmodified length;
• engine tip down position to existing winch post adding four inches for swing tongue modification.
• engine tip down position to estimated replacement winch post location adding four inches for swing tongue modification to engine
• measure on the height on trailer to clear the railing at the center console( because the garage [door] height is 6-feet 10-inches.

I also might be able to get the winch post behind where the trailer [frame main tubes widen and] split, similar the winch post seen Figure 2 below.

Fig. 2. Trailer winch post configuration to save space. Photo credit MarkCz.

winchPost.jpg (52.92 KiB) Viewed 25552 times

[jimh]

Regarding a PACIFIC trailer: I owned a PACIFIC trailer. I bought it as a used trailer under a boat I was buying. The quality of construction of the PACIFIC trailer was excellent. Their design for a winch post is a bit unusual.

[jimh]

REGARDING CUTTING OR DRILLING INTO GALVANIZED STEEL TO MAKE MODIFICATIONS

If a cut is made in any structural element of a trailer that uses galvanized steel tubes as the frames of the trailer, the galvanizing of the steel will be lost at the cut line. The cut line should be made smooth and flat, then a high-quality cold galvanizing paint sprayed onto the bare steel.

When a hinge is installed, any new holes needed to be made for bolt fasteners which are to be drilled into the galvanized steel tubes of the trailer should be located at the centerline of the face in which the hole will be made. Locating the hole in the structural tube on center will minimize the loss of strength in the tube. The bare metal of any holes must also be re-galvanized.

When installing any through-bolts, use a flat washer under the bolt head and a flat washer under the lock washer for the retaining nut so the galvanizing layer won't be scratched away by the bolt head or the lock washer turning during tightening.

[Shore]

The bare metal of any holes must also be re-galvanized.

Thank you for the description on the galvanization process.

Q3: to re-galvanize the holes drilled out, can that be done [using] a high-quality cold galvanizing paint spray?

ASIDE: For not providing the specs on the prior PACIFIC Trailer, I apologize. Once I realized the width was [too] much that trailer was not useful.

UPDATE: Now I may buy 1986 MONTAUK 17 that includes a 2020 E-Z-Loader model 90BS14-18-2300. The trailer itself is 19-feet 6-inches long and 89.5-inches width. It does not have a swing tongue which I will need to install.

[jimh]

The bare metal of any holes must also be re-galvanized.

Q3: can that be done [using] a high-quality cold galvanizing paint spray?

Yes.

[jimh]

UPDATE: Now I may buy 1986 MONTAUK 17 that includes a 2020 E-Z-Loader model 90BS14-18-2300.

When considering the purchase, you should give significant value to having a trailer from a highly regarded manufacturer that is only four or five years old.

My REVENGE 22 W-T Whaler Drive boat has been on a 1992 E-Z-LOADER trailer its entire life. The galvanized steel frame and other steel components of that 33-year-old trailer are still in excellent condition. I have towed the boat on that trailer thousands and thousands of highway miles. The E-Z-LOADER company is still in business, and they continue to provide support for their trailers, even 33-year-old models. They make very good boat trailers.

[Shore]

Thank you. To hear about your experience with the EZ Loader trailer is great.

I am excited to get this project started.