Removeable swing tongue?

[saumon]

Past winter, I added a Fulton swing-away tongue hinge to my trailer tongue. I towed with it a couple of times and everything's fine. There's a 5/8" bolt on one side and a pin on the other side and it's tight with no slap at all.

Now, as a mean to deter thieves, I thought of making it completely removeable by replacing the bolt by a second pin and adding a quick-disconnect for the wiring.

I bought a second pin and tried it in place of the bolt but, now, there's some play between the two hinge parts, the pin obviously not being as tight as the bolt. Not much, but still something (nothing from side to side but 3/16" up at the coupler end, which is 34" past the hinge) and, while I haven't towed like that yet, I'm afraid this could cause premature wear on the hinge holes/pins. On the other hand, the "play" being in the vertical plane, with around 200lbs of tongue weight, I'm not sure it will wiggle that much...

I thought I had a good idea but I guess I answer my own question and will forget it, unless a lot of people tell me they've done it for a long time without any problems...Any experiences?

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

Why not just make a pin out of the bolt?

 

[roscoe]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

Good idea oldjeep.

I have the same tongue extension.
Not sure I like the double pin idea, just not sure it's a good idea.

How about you fold the tongue, wrap the safety chains around the winch post, and put a lock on them?

 

[saumon]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

Why not just make a pin out of the bolt?

I've tried but with the same result. It appear to be tight cause the 5/8" bolt is secured by a locknut torqued to 50 ft-lbs that "squeeze" the hinge...

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

I've tried but with the same result. It appear to be tight cause the 5/8" bolt is secured by a locknut torqued to 50 ft-lbs that "squeeze" the hinge...

Other option would be to use the bolt as a bolt and just swap the nut out for a big wing nut. On my trailer, the swing release is not a pin, but a bolt with a 2" plastic knob on both the bolt end and the nut end 0 then there is a pin below as a safety. You can get it pretty tight by hand.

 

[saumon]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

Good idea; I guess I could simply weld a 6" "handle" made out of 1/4 rod to both the bolt head and nut to be able to tighten it, with a hole under the nut for a safety pin...

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

get a castle nut and put ur 'safety pin' through it....


Honestly tho the whole idea IMHO isn't worth the effort....


If a thief wants to steal it they'll simply chain whatever trailer is there to the bumper of their piece of junk pickup and take off w it at 3 am... they don't care if they ding it up because they plan to sell the motor for a couple hundred bucks, hawk the stereo and fish finder for $25 each and dump the hull on the side of the road and cut up the trailer for scrap....

They don't care if it comes loose and kills someone cause they'll just drive off....... dammit I hate a #&$^% thief!

 

[saumon]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

get a castle nut and put ur 'safety pin' through it....


Honestly tho the whole idea IMHO isn't worth the effort....


If a thief wants to steal it they'll simply chain whatever trailer is there to the bumper of their piece of junk pickup and take off w it at 3 am... they don't care if they ding it up because they plan to sell the motor for a couple hundred bucks, hawk the stereo and fish finder for $25 each and dump the hull on the side of the road and cut up the trailer for scrap....

They don't care if it comes loose and kills someone cause they'll just drive off....... dammit I hate a #&$^% thief!

Yep, you're probably right. I thought that coupler locks were almost useless, unless to prevent someone to unlatch your rig and swap it on his own truck when you're stopped at a restaurant, otherwise one can simply remove the two bolts that hold the coupler and put a new $20 one on and leave with it, so I was looking to protect it while sitting in my yard but I also thought of the short chains method, tied to the bumper...

I also thought about the 1/2" chain/cable through the wheel/frame/axle but, nowadays, with 24V portable sawzall and grinders, those vultures can cut almost anything in a matter of seconds.

I dream to catch one on the spot...

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

You can't make a boat impossible to steal, you just want to make it harder than the boats parked nearby... A couple simple locks, and a frame lock attached to a ground anchor are great for that purpose. They are easy to defeat in a minute or two, but that is a minute or two longer than it takes to steal the unsecured boat next door.

 

[sublauxation]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

When I leave my trailer sitting somewhere I open the hinge and put a receiver lock through the pin side so it can't be closed. I suppose that isn't a guarantee either but they'd have to find some way to keep it from swinging back and forth when they try driving away.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

took me 10 seconds.... ratchet strap a 2x4 beside the tongue

 

[krakatoa]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

When I leave my trailer sitting somewhere I open the hinge and put a receiver lock through the pin side so it can't be closed. I suppose that isn't a guarantee either but they'd have to find some way to keep it from swinging back and forth when they try driving away.

I like this one, IMHO the receiver lock through the pin side idea is the best answer :joyous:. My trailer also have a Swing Away Tongue and never thought about the stealing but I will consider this

 

[cjjjdeck]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

I got this option with my new trailer and it's the first time I've had this on a trailer. All I've ever used is the Gorilla guard on the coupler. I'm curious, is there a theft problem with the Fulton Swing-Away?

 

[saumon]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

No more theft problem but we're looking at additional protection it can offer.

Unless your coupler is welded on, a coupler lock can easily be bypassed by simply removing the 2 bolts that hold the coupler to the tongue and putting a $20 new one on...

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

No more theft problem but we're looking at additional protection it can offer.

Unless your coupler is welded on, a coupler lock can easily be bypassed by simply removing the 2 bolts that hold the coupler to the tongue and putting a $20 new one on...

That is what insurance is for. Nothing you can do to stop a motivated thief. That being said, there have to be a couple dozen boats within 2 blocks of my house and I can't recall ever seeing even a padlock in a coupler.

 

[sublauxation]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

took me 10 seconds.... ratchet strap a 2x4 beside the tongue

Some of you guys would make pretty good criminals

I suppose if I kept my battery operated sawzall, a big torch, bolt cutter, welder, some bungee cords and a roll of duct tape I could steal any boat out there. My choice would be a winch and a 30 ft straight truck. Just back up, drop the ramps and pull the boat right up and in. Quick, easy and no cutting/strapping/sawing needed.

 

[sublauxation]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

My dad long lived by the theory that if they want it they'll find a way. I suppose that's true. Last spring somebody simply unscrewed his nice low hour 4 stroke 25hp Yammi from the transom and walked off with it. I wonder if he'd still own it if it had any sort of lock on it. My 90 ETEC was on a hoist just behind the unlocked garage door. All they had to do was back up a truck and lower it in. The unlocked door was evidently enough deterrent.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

out of sight out of mind


did I mention that I hate a damthief...... many years ago after a series of problems with mine and my neighbors' stuff walking off at night I ran outside in my underwear and gave chase to a couple of guys trying to break into my car...... I managed to dive and connect a hickory brake club (railroad tool similar to a baseball bat but the business end is 2"x4") with one guy's ankle..... I'm certain I shattered it.... I got up covered in grass and bleeding from the slide and walked back to the house while he laid there screaming... without looking back I hollered to the other guy to come get his buddy..... Never had anymore trouble w anything else getting stolen there.

 

[colbyt]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

Thanks for starting this thread. You motivated me to solve a problem by ordering one of these for my trailer.

And when it comes to thieves you can never make it impossible for them. The best you can hope for is to make it too much work. They would not be thieves if the wanted to work. Plus they sell all the tools they steal so they never have any with them.

 

[sublauxation]

Re: Removeable swing tongue?

out of sight out of mind


did I mention that I hate a damthief...... many years ago after a series of problems with mine and my neighbors' stuff walking off at night I ran outside in my underwear and gave chase to a couple of guys trying to break into my car...... I managed to dive and connect a hickory brake club (railroad tool similar to a baseball bat but the business end is 2"x4") with one guy's ankle..... I'm certain I shattered it.... I got up covered in grass and bleeding from the slide and walked back to the house while he laid there screaming... without looking back I hollered to the other guy to come get his buddy..... Never had anymore trouble w anything else getting stolen there.

They should have a "Like" button just like on FB. For the record, I "Like" your post!