[Rhodes22-list] Traveling with motor mounted.

Graham Stewart gstewart8 at cogeco.ca
Wed May 22 15:02:25 EDT 2013


Good advice. Thanks. I now have a Honda Pilot which seems fine for the small
amount of towing I do now.

Graham 


-----Original Message-----
From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
[mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of
R22RumRunner at aol.com
Sent: May-22-13 2:42 PM
To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Traveling with motor mounted.

Graham,
Doing 70 downhill isn't normally bad, but in this case, the Rhodes weighs
more than the tow vehicle and vans are notoriously light on the rear end. A
2500  Chevy Van is a 3/4 ton truck and is plenty good for towing, just not
enough  weight on the rear axle in this case. Electric brakes definitely
would have  helped you as would a surge brake on the trailer in this case. A
second trailer  axle would not have made any difference and the additional
weight may have made  the situation worse.
 
Rummy
 
 
In a message dated 5/22/2013 12:29:42 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
gstewart8 at cogeco.ca writes:

I had a  somewhat similar severe swaying experience. I was driving down a
long hill  on a 4-lane divided highway when suddenly without any warning  I
heard  a bang and watched the trailer sway violently to the side. I thought
I had  been hit from behind. It then reached the end of the swing and then
flew to  the other side even more violently. I had heard that to pull out of
such a  situation one should accelerate. Nice theory but in practice it
simply increased the sway. For what seemed like an eternity the vehicle
(extended full size Chevy 2500 van) was dragged across the highway and as I
was about to hit the shoulder the trailer would whip to the other side and
drag me back. I watched the trailer come around almost 90 degrees to the
truck - tires smoking and screeching. Had I hit the dirt I am sure it would
have been a disaster. 

Fortunately the normally busy highway was  absent any other vehicles . My
family and I were shaking like leaves and  utterly terrified. This event
occurred just a few miles from home as we  headed off on our first trip with
the boat. We made our way back home and  have never towed the boat anywhere
since except to launch at the local ramp  about 5 miles down the road. That
experience is not the only reason we have  not towed significantly since
then and I think I now have a much better  idea of what I did wrong. If,
however, I do decide to tow on a longer trip  there are a number of things
that I will definitely do to address potential  sway.

At the time I sought advice from several trailer places as to  what might
have caused this event and what might have avoided it. The  advice ranged
from inflating the tires more to buying a new truck. That  wasn't very
helpful at the time although I now think both bits of advice  were probably
correct.. Here are some thoughts relating to this  event:

- Most important:  I was going too fast - about 70 mph -  and downhill. Just
because the boat seems to be following nicely does not  mean you can go
faster. Once sway starts, it acts like a sling and the  substantial weight
of the rig only intensifies the sway against increased  speed. Calling this
"sway" is really an understatement. The trailer will  latterly go sideways
trying to pass you and shoot back to the other side  violently and in an
instant. The momentum is enormous.
- If the sway  starts, don't accelerate! I will take my foot off the gas and
slow without  braking the vehicle
- get brakes for the trailer - electric brakes make  sense to me so that you
can apply them manually. I am undecided about  adding a second axle. One
would thing that more rubber on the road would  reduce sway but , as
discussed on this forum, that presents other  problems.
- especially for longer or more difficult terrain or where there  is traffic
pressure to go faster than 55 mph, I would install sway control  device.
- I didn't have sufficient weight on the tongue. Until the  discussion here
a few weeks ago I think I was still underestimating tongue  weight to be
about
250 lbs. The advice from others was 450 lbs and  contained neat advice about
judging the weight using a lever and your own  weight. I will do that.
- while the truck was large and heavy, being an  extended 2500 Chevy van, it
had a long overhang at the rear that increased  the sway action. You want a
truck where the hitch is close to the rear  axle. I would worry about some
motor homes that seem to have an enormous  reach to the rear axle.
- take the motor off the back of the boat for any  significant highway speed
trips. I am thinking of trying to rig a motor  plate at the front of the
trailer for the motor.
- get the boat as far  forward as possible when retrieving it from the
water-
although that is not  easy as the winch, in my case,  seems to pull the bow
down rather than  parallel to the trailer frame. I would want to raise the
winch  to  ensure that is pulls parallel if not up slightly.  
- Definitely I  will tie the load down - particularly at the transom.
- Check the air  pressure in the tires and adjust to the exact
specifications.
- After  this experience I would be reluctant to give control to someone who
is  inexperienced and might not appreciate the forces and potential problems
that are involved. They will almost always drive too fast as they  are not
used to the restrained driving speed that is  appropriate.

Graham 

-----Original Message-----
From:  rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
[mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org]  On Behalf Of Luis Guzman
Sent: May-22-13 10:37 AM
To: The Rhodes 22  Email List
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Traveling with motor  mounted.

I had a close call while trailering the boat, and I believe  the saving
grace was that the boat was strapped.

I was tired  and let my friend drive. I don't know what the hell  my friend
did,  but I woke up to a trailer swaying the car. I saw the car heading for
the  ditch that separated the two way highway, and I thought this was the
end.  In the blink of an eye, we ended up perfectly parked on the shoulder
of the  road heading the wrong direction. 

The cars behind us had kept a  distance when they saw what was going on, so
nobody was hit. Several  motorists stopped to make sure that we were ok.

I was mad as  hell. Checked the truck, trailer and boat, and everything
seemed in perfect  condition. I was told not to go on the dirt to try to do
an u turn as the  dirt was soft. Well, I was not going to wait for the cops
to show up. I  waited until there were no cars coming, step up in the gas,
and did a quick  u turn. I got off the highway at the next exit, and stopped
at a gas  station. That is when it hit me that we could have been killed,
and I  started shaking.

That incident kept me awake and I drove the rest  of the 10 hrs home.

To this day, I have no idea how this  happened, but I believe that the boat
would have come off the trailer if it  was not strapped down. Oh, I did have
the motor in the back of the  truck.

Luis A. Guzmán II
S/V Coincidence
1983 Rhodes  22
Bradenton, FL


----- Original Message -----
> From:  "Lowe, Rob" <rlowe at vt.edu>
> To: The Rhodes 22 Email List  <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Cc: 
> Sent: Wednesday, May  22, 2013 9:22 AM
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Traveling with motor  mounted.
> 
> Rummy,
> True about losing the boat.  But  is it a legal requirement to strap 
> down your load? - rob
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> From:  rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
>  [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of  
> R22RumRunner at aol.com
> Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 9:20 AM
> To:  rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Traveling with  motor mounted.
> 
> Rob,
> If you hit a pothole large enough  to bounce the R22 off its trailer, 
> losing  the boat is probably  the least of your troubles. Your tow 
> vehicle would be  damaged  and the axle on the trailer would be 
> history. I have never heard of  a  R22 coming off the trailer during 
> towing and most people rely  on the trailer  design to keep the Rhodes 
> in
place.
> I believe  Stan does not recommend using straps because they could 
> damage the  hull.
> 
> Rummy
> 
> 
> In a message dated  5/22/2013 8:40:17 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, 
> rlowe at vt.edu  writes:
> 
> Ted,
> I think you'll find you must legally  strap your boat down  to travel 
> on public roads.  And, I  expect it would be really embarrassing  to 
> hit a big pothole and  have your boat bounce off the trailer.  Very 
> unlikely,  yes, but explain that to the cop.  I expect a citation for
>  failure to secure load would be in order.  So strap the boat to the   
> trailer.  Find something compressible to go between the straps  and 
> the boat to protect the boat.  Or use the eyes on the  bow and stern 
> to strap  her down.  Relying on the weight of  the boat to keep her in 
> place on the  trailer is a bit  chancy.  Just my thoughts.
> -  rob
> 
> 
>  -----Original Message-----
> From:   rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
>  [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org]  On Behalf Of Theodore 
> Boender
> Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 7:04 AM
>  To:  The Rhodes 22 Email List
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list]  Traveling with motor  mounted.
> 
> Richard,
> 
>  I noticed you strapped your boat down. I did  not for my trip home to  
> Boston. Do most trailer sailers use tie downs?   It looks  like you 
> would get some serious rubbing on the gel coat from  the  straps. Good 
> padding would be key.
> 
> Good  luck with launch  day!
> 
> Ted
> 
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