Double Chain That Boat Trailer!

Yikes.....thats my worst nightmare. I tow my 24 footer all over the state and even down into Baja and I am such a worry wart that I double and triple check my trailer at the hitch before every trip. Its also my policy to have the person driving the tow vehicle (if its not me)to check very carefully. I don't want any of..."I thought you put the chains on" stuff In the picture it looks like the boat came out ok.

DBH
 
Well, the boat probably just has minor gelcoat damage, but two people had to be removed from the black car with the jaws of life and are in the hospital. And hundreds of folks were late to work this morning because the accident closed I-5 north for 2-3 hrs. A very costly mistake!
 
I am so happy our boat is in a slip. I always used to worry about towing. We have been behind some boats being towed. They would be all over their lane and trailer crossing over the center divide.
 
You get fined in La. if you don't have your safety chains hooked up.
We have a lot of trailer boats in our area, the fuzz keeps a careful
watch for chains.
 
I'm not sure of this and I don't want to try it but if my hitch came loose and my 24 footer was held dangling to two chains and scraping the pavement as well, zigging back and forth....maybe I would be better off if the whole damn thing came loose and it went off on its own. I'm sure those folks driving around me or on the side of the road would prefer it stay attached but its hard to imagine dragging that thing down the road four or five hundred yards before you got it stopped. Has anyone ever done this or seen it.

DBH
 
If you have two chains and have them cross connected then the tongue will be caught and cradled in the chains. When you slow down the tongue will end up bumping into the tow vehicle's bumper but it should ride fairly well and allow you to pull over with only minor damage to the car/trailer.

With a single chain or the chains not crossed then the tongue will drag the pavement. A lot of noise, damage to the road, damage to the tongue and the trailer could slam hard into the back of the tow vehicle. You should still be able to pull to the side.

Without any chain at all the results are unpredictable. If you slowed down immediately after the trailer came loose then you would get rear-ended by your own trailer. With the tongue dragging the ground the bow of the boat would probably hit the back of the car. If the trailer hit someone else you could be in for some major lawsuits. If it was determined that you intentionally left the chains disconnected then you could be criminally liable.

Rod
 
A driver left our yard the other day pulling a set of doubles. He left Stockton and drove to the Livermore truck scales (scales were closed) to relieve himself. He went to take off and noticed the rear trailer moving in some funny ways. He got out and looked and seen the eye of the con gear was off the pintol hook (hitch) of the front trailer, and he was pulling the rear trailer by the safty cable. It must have came off at the scales when he hit some pot holes. He swore up and down that he checked it before leaving the yard. I showed him it was impossable for it to come off IF it was properly latched....
I told him that he was the luckiest guy on the road that night, then I corrected myself and said he was the second luckiest.... The person following him was the luckist.
 
A lot of older trailers also have open hooks that can fall off during bumps. I think I read somewhere that the law now requires safety chains with latching or closing hooks to keep them attached. I did retrofit mine with some that are spring loaded closed and I FEEL much better.
 
I was driving back to my dad's house in MN from the family cabin in Canada a few years ago towing his boat home from the lake at the end of the season on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere. We had a flat on the tow vehicle, and as I was lowering the spare from below his Yukon, I noticed the nut on the ball had almost completely backed itself off and it was hanging on by only a couple of threads. I was able to tighten it up a few turns before the threads were too mangled to allow the nut to be tightened further. We limped into the next town and got to the only place in town that sold boating parts about 5 mins. before close. That was a lucky flat tire. I only use trailer balls with a cotter pin through the shaft and check the tightness of the nut on a regular basis now.
 
quote:
Originally posted by rduhon

You get fined in La. if you don't have your safety chains hooked up.
We have a lot of trailer boats in our area, the fuzz keeps a careful
watch for chains.

Click to expand...
You do know that in Louisiana, ALL trailers including boat trailers, must get an inspection sticker just like on cars and trucks. IIRC, the fine is about $150, that was 8 years ago. I found out the hard way that EVERY trailer including travel trailers must get the sticker.

Ken
 
I once towed a tent trailer from Nv to our cabin in Felton - it was making some funny noises but I could not find it. When I stopped in Felton at the light, it dawned on me what it was - the ball was loose! I pulled over (about 2 blocks from my final destination), and sure enough, there was only 2 threads left on the nut holding the ball! Way too close - check the ball regulary, not just the hitch!
Jim
 
I had the trailer hitch from hell story a million years ago on a steep ramp in the middle of winter, before cell phones at a remote lake here in the valley. I won't get into all the ugly and embarrassing details but I will say halfway down a steep ramp with a very heavy boat, I stopped to unplug the lights and disconnect the winch lines. The car wouldn't come out of park when I got back in, it was locked because of the downward pressure on the tranny. In any event, my genius friend and I blocked the trailer securely and began to take the trailer off the ball to relieve the pressure so we could get the car going. Yep the whole damn thing came loose, ran down the ramp, jumped a curb and came to stop in the rocks about thirty yards from the water. Six hours later, a tow truck and about 200.00, the boat was launched. Someday I will write up the details of this disaster and why two intelligent, grown men did such a thing. Ah the memories.

DBH
 
I had a trailerable boat for 13 years and never had a sticker.
Neither was there a sticker on my low boy. I had one on my cattle
trailer when new, but never got it renewed or inspected again.
We do have to get a registration sticker on the license plate that
has the year it expires. It's about 2" X 2".
 
Ask one of the inspection stations. ALL trailers are required to have an inspection sticker along with the license plate. You have to carry it in the tow vehicle. Its just another revenue generator for the state.

Ken
 
A long time ago, we had a trailer coupler failure. It was welded to the trailer tongue and it crystalized. I noticed the front of the boat was lower than it should look in the mirror and coasted to a stop. The tongue was supported by the crossed chains and half of the coupler was attached to the ball, looking like it had been precisely sawn off.
But the two crossed chains worked! Not even a scratch on the truck's painted bumper.
 
In California, as in LA., the trailer must be attached with crisscrossed chains to the towing vehicle, no exceptions.

Bill
 
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