Trailer extension gizmo for launching

[Nauti Buoy]

I seem to remember seeing on here I think of a contraption that went inbetween the car and the trailer to extend the distance between the car and trailer, for launching.

From memory it hitched onto the car towball and had two wheels at the trailer end and another tow ball to take the weight of the tow hitch.

I have a crew cab LWB Renault Traffic van and whilst I am very pleased with it, it can be a pain in the arse when the odd time I need to launch a boat the front wheels spin out and launching single handed using a rope etc can be a hassle.

I have had a good search and cannot find the link or advert.

[Starovich]

Originally Posted by Nauti Buoy

I seem to remember seeing on here I think of a contraption that went inbetween the car and the trailer to extend the distance between the car and trailer, for launching.

From memory it hitched onto the car towball and had two wheels at the trailer end and another tow ball to take the weight of the tow hitch.

I have a crew cab LWB Renault Traffic van and whilst I am very pleased with it, it can be a pain in the arse when the odd time I need to launch a boat the front wheels spin out and launching single handed using a rope etc can be a hassle.

I have had a good search and cannot find the link or advert.

Its called a piece of rope

[Nauti Buoy]

Originally Posted by Starovich

Its called a piece of rope

Ha ha thank you

[Poly]

Richard,

I know exactly the sort of thing you are thinking of. there are a few options, if its always the same trailer then an "extendable" draw bar might be better (stows on the trailer, no wheels to worry about etc) - Codders had something a bit like it. and more of the same sort here.

But meme describes something like you mentioned at the end of this thread. but that was homemade not off the shelf.

[Hightower]

Saw this on YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZXQjq9T_3A

[Nauti Buoy]

Originally Posted by Hightower

Saw this on YouTube

That looks similar to this and to me it looks like it will completely mangle the trailer tow hitch to prevent it articulating when reversng? Maybe I'm wrong.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...1#ht_500wt_922

It has to be a temporary arrangement as the boats launched are on a huge variety of trailers and generally demos.

[rayfish2]

anglesey welding services make them to order, listed in trade dirctory

[BogMonster]

2 options I am considering, one is like the one Meme has pictured - small dolly wheels on a long tube, ball on one end, hitch on the other.

The other option and a few people here use the idea, is just to have a decent sized wheel on a proper hub mounted on the trailer drawbar so that when you drop the drawbar it takes the noseweight and the trailer will roll straight backwards without turning to the side. Then all you need is either a rope to pull it back up or a straight bar with a ball on one end and hitch on the other if you need to push it out with the vehicle. Photo is attached of one, not a great photo as most of the trailer is under water but you get the idea. From what I have seen it seems to work well as the large tyre (much larger than a jockey wheel) rolls easily even on a beach.