I have a Malone Microsport XT trailer for 2 kayaks (10' and 12' Tarpons).

The trailer is capable of carrying 20' kayaks which, to me, means that the retractable tongue is probably longer than I need.

Is it okay if I drill a hole in the tongue so that I can use it with a shorter length?

1) it's a little bit of work to fully retract and extend the tongue when I want to use the trailer. I fully retract it when not in use to fit in the garage.

2) I'm wondering if the tongue is shorter will make it more manageable when backing up, turning while backing up, fitting into parking spaces, etc.

Would drilling a hole for the trailer tongue pin at a shorter point be okay? Won't weaken the tongue / metal? Okay for driving at highway speeds?

I assume it would be okay since most utility trailers seem to have a short tongue. But not sure what happens if I make this tongue shorter.

https://maloneautoracks.com/Mi...nd-Retr.-Tongue.html

are we talking inches? or feet ?

It's been my experience shorter trailers are more difficult to back-up, not easier than longer ones. YMMV.

The combination of a long wheelbase vehicle and short trailer is a difficult combo to back. I doubt modifying a lightweight trailer like that would effect its tow-ability or safety significantly. But do your homework.

Indeed. Overall length of the trailer does not have as much effect on ease of backing as the distance between the hitch ball and the axle.

The longer the tongue, the easier it is to back.

Thanks guys. I was hoping it would help with squeezing into spots at the lake or backing up the trailer in the driveway so that the trailer is next to the garage door instead of the truck (and it’s a tight squeeze).

But sounds like keeping a longer tongue length is recommended.

What does it weigh? Is there some reason you can’t unhook the trailer, grab the tongue, and roll it into position next to the garage door by hand? We did that all the time with a little pop up tent camper trailer when I was a kid.

Drilling a hole in the tongue won't effect the structural integrity, they punch the holes for mounting the coupler, thru bolt for attaching to the frames, etc.

The thing you'll need to watch is the tongue weight, shortening the tongue will increase the tongue weight. According to the specs the unloaded trailer has a tongue weight of 25lbs, which looks to be about 11% of the trailer weight. So fully loaded at 800lbs your tongue weight should be approximately 88-90lbs.

If you don't have enough tongue weight you could get trailer sway.

So if you shorten the tongue and you have too much enough tongue weight then you'd have to either move the load backward or the axle forward.

Where do they teach all this stuff?

Thanks guys. Sounds like more and more - just keep as-is.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
What does it weigh? Is there some reason you can’t unhook the trailer, grab the tongue, and roll it into position next to the garage door by hand? We did that all the time with a little pop up tent camper trailer when I was a kid.

Relatively not that heavy. But I’m old with a weak back and knees. Especially after kayaking. I could probably do it but may hurt my back or knee someday.

And my driveway has a slope; it’d be bad if I lost control.

I don't know what size tube they use for the tongue but you may be able to find a bolt-on swing away hinge.

I would contact etrailer.com and see what they recommend if that is the direction you want to go.

https://www.etrailer.com/s.asp...ngue-gw-5000_lbs_GTW

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
What does it weigh? Is there some reason you can’t unhook the trailer, grab the tongue, and roll it into position next to the garage door by hand? We did that all the time with a little pop up tent camper trailer when I was a kid.

Relatively not that heavy. But I’m old with a weak back and knees. Especially after kayaking. I could probably do it but may hurt my back or knee someday.

And my driveway has a slope; it’d be bad if I lost control.

If you have a riding lawnmower or yard tractor put a ball on it and move it that way. It's what I do with my utility trailer.

Jim

quote:

Where do they teach all this stuff?

Years of pulling my motorcycle trailer, years of pulling my stepson's motocross trailer, & years of towing bass & pleasure boats.


"If you have a riding lawnmower or yard tractor put a ball on it and move it that way"

I did this with a John Deere 430 to put my 18' bass boat into a back facing garage.

That's a pricey little trailer! I've been on-and-off looking at trailers for my boats too though. One of the ones I looked at was the Yakima RACKandROLL - I liked that one because it had shocks.

I liked the SylvanSport GO trailer too. Now that's a pricey little baby!

https://www.sylvansport.com/go/

To your question, I like the idea of drilling another hole in the tongue bar. I doubt it would jeopardize strength, given your loads. Alternately, you could get another tongue bar from Malone. Or fab a shorter one yourself with galvanized tube steel and a coupler.

As far as load balance and sway, you'd still have the load forward. If you're only carrying two boats, that's about 120 pounds. I'd be tempted to try it.

Regarding backing, if it takes you a couple of tries, so what? If it's really a problem, unhook it and get a lawn tractor or help.

I have a 16 foot flat bed trailer that has a second hole for shortening the trailer tongue.

I would move the tongue back to within two feet or so of the boats overhang. If it doesn't work out, you can always move it back to the original setup.

As far as moving it around by hand, even a cheap trailer dolly will move that little thing easily.

tongue length: regarding backing up, the ability to steer the wheels where you want them, is directly related.

Example: I rebuilt my WW2 Bantam Jeep trailer. It had an original shorty 2' tongue, and towed forward very well. It also fit well into parking single length spots with the short JK wheel base.

It was a beast loaded or unloaded to try to back up though. We installed a 4' tongue, and solved the 'easy back up' issue.

quote:

Is it okay if I drill a hole in the tongue so that I can use it with a shorter length?

I looked at photos of this trailer online. I don't see any reason why drilling another set of holes in that tongue to allow a different length would be a problem.

Thanks all.

I checked and I basically already forward load somewhat. I've been putting CM of the kayaks in front of the wheels.

If there is no structural harm to the trailer, maybe I'll experiment with a shorter length, moving the load around a little if I need to keep about the same tongue weight.

I think my hitch and ball are spec'ed to support a pretty heavy tongue weight - 750lbs? So, no issues there, right?

My lightest trailer weighs 2,500 pounds empty......

I wouldn't be overly concerned about much with your little trailer with the single exception of negative tongue weight. As long as you have at least 10% positive tongue weight you should be good to go.