Kayak Trailer....awesome, just fabulous...

Danglin's trailer is one very fine trailer......but there is one cavaet I want to alert you to:   You want to keep your trailer-weight as low as you can, consistent with your real capacity needs.

Keep your trailer weight low:  REASONS:

1)  You slam on the brakes and the DANGER that the trailer represents is NOT ONLY that it is an additional load for your vehicle-brakes......far worse: the trailer-tongue will push the rear of your vehicle LEFT or RIGHT into a classic jackknife.

2)  Rain-wet roads are really dangerous.   This has to be a "frontal lobe" thing for the driver.  He has to say to himself over and over again:  The road is wet and I'm pulling a trailer...!!!!!.....

3)  A TWO-WHEEL DRIVE car....pulling more than it's own weight....up the GRAVELED incline of a boat-ramp......!!!!!.......may not have traction to pull the load.    It's easy to back down a gravel ramp.    It can be REALLY HARD-TO-THE-POINT-OF-BEING-HIGHLY-QUESTIONABLE if you can pull the trailer you backed down that ramp, up that ramp.     (Four-Wheel drive rigs are pretty-much OK)

4) Another reason to keep your trailer-weight low,  is (similar to Point-3, above) you may want to be able to lift it.   Example:   I was out in the Delta backing down a steep gravel boat-launch-Access-Road out near Locke, CA......and I'm a pretty good "trailer-backer" but when you are backing over the crest-of-a-hill it's easy for the car-driver to lose sight of his trailer (it drops below your line-of-sight) and in that moment you can "loose angle".   Well it did go off-angle and I didn't find out until the vehicle itself was on the incline.....and when I tried to pull forward to straighten-out I didn't have traction to do that.    So I locked the parking brakes and went back and LIFTING THE BACK OF THE TRAILER....jiggle-jockeyed it (easier to do because the trailer-wheels were on gravel).....into correct allignment.

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DESIGN POINTER:   When you mount the Contractors Lock Box on the trailer...mount it on the DRIVER'S SIDE.     This means that when you are tieing your long boats against the "off-side" of the box.....they will be over in the "passenger-side" allignment.     Turns out that this is kind of important because in 80% of all cases you will be making your SHARPEST TURN WITH THE VEHICLE as a left-turn.  (As when you have to do a U-turn in a fairly narrow space).    OK....now, in a LEFT TURN, the nose of any boat in tie-down-position on the Passenger Side of the trailer.....will turn OUT....away from the rear-end of the pulling car.     Now think about it.    In the very same turn, with the boat in a tie-down position in alignment with the left vehicle side....as you turn the vehicle left the trailer will be in an alignment to the right AND THE NOSE OF THE TIED-DOWN BOAT WILL SWING IN AN ARC OF IMPINGEMENT....possibly colliding with the back of the car.

Judd

If I were a more-collected-kind-of-person, I'd be able to report all my "design thoughts" on a single page.....

The one thing I want to add to this is:   That the Contractor's Lock Box.....is an UTTERLY MANDATORY part of this trailer.   And What's More...!!!...The Lock Box Must Have A Full 24-Inch Height.   The Box on my trailer is 24 x 24 x 48-long.

REASON:  This is a narrow trailer.  It's wheels track well inside the wheel-track of any towing vehicle.   THEREFORE THE TOWING-VEHICLE'S SIDE-MIRRORS CANNOT SEE.........the trailer...!!!!.....

To back any trailer, you Absolutely Must be able to see the trailer...!!!!....

With a narrow-tracking trailer, the only mirror you've got that will "view" the trailer is the central mirror-------and if you don't have a full 24-inch-high LOCK BOX riding on the trailer-bed, the entire trailer will be below the viewing-capability of your Central Rear View Mirror.

You cannot back a trailer that you canot see.
That Lock Box....in addition to all its other virutes...ENABLES BACKING.

Judd

Great information on all counts. Thanks.
John

FYI: there is an official Kayak Trailer page in the "Gearing Up" Forum section...please post anything that has to with trailers there. Thank you.

Lots of food for thought there jwsmith,

 i must say that i have experienced no problems with my trailer whatsoever, not saying that you said i would...

 it had just what i was looking for, with 4 upright slots for yaks and plenty of storage. it's handled well on rough roads and is extremely light/maneuverable.

Just more food for thought on designs as not to be afraid to follow this design.... Danglin

Oops!!! Sorry Mooch

  I clicked on this link in " Gearing Up " and look where it landed....