I am the proud new owner of a 1986 16/2 and have the factory trailer with the 8 inch wheels. Does anybody know what is involved in going to a bigger wheel size other than changing out the wheels, tires and fenders?......does the axle and springs have to be replaced also?
On a side note, I just got back from a 1200 mile roundtrip tow and had no problems... replaced the wheel bearing before leaving and max inflated the tires....... just a little concerned about the number of revolutions those little guys make at 65 to 70 miles per hour......they're tiny compared to the 265/17 wheels on my Avalanche.
That's a good question. I'm having my CP16/3's trailer hubs regreased and the tires changed. Picking it up first thing in the morning. Also, getting spare to match. Went with the original (I think) 5.70-8.0 Load Range C. Load range capacity for this particular tire is 910 lbs. I've considered going with a bigger tire, too, but dicided to stick with the original for now. I'm curious if anyone has modified the 16 trailer for different tires.
These were 20.5 X 8.0 -10 load range C with 5 bolt pattern galvanized wheels. I bought a spare to match - except load range D was all that the dealer had.
Picked up the trailer Friday a.m. Bearings reportedly looked good and did need new grease. Trailer tires looked good, too. 5.70-8.0 Load range C.
Learned a bit from the tire salesman. He stated the small size of the tire is considered by the manufacturer. According to him, it is considered a high speed tire when travelling 65 mph down the road. In other words, as noted ealier, the trailers tire will be spinning roughly twice as fast at the vehicle tires. He assured me the tires would handle it. They have a stiff sidewall, unlike radials. That way, the tire keeps it's shape better and prevents the trailer from bouncing down the road. He reminded me that as long as the tires were properly inflated and the bearings remained well greased, I should get good life out of them and travel confidently.
A test run was warranted. So, I drove about an hour away to go sailing. Trip went without a hitch. :) The way home would have the boat on the trailer, this time. All went well, even at 65mph on mostly smooth interstate. Upon checking tires and hubs, they both felt warm to the touch, but certainly that's to be expected.
Hope this helps.
Paul
One other thing to consider before going to a larger size tire is launching. The bigger the tire the further down the ramp you have to go. With a good, steep ramp the larger tire will have a negligible effect. But on a shallow ramp you will have a lot more of the tow vehicle in the water before the boat will float. Differentials do not like to be submerged!
I've stuck with the originals and have been towing for 6 seasons with no problems. I have towed the boat 1200 miles round trip once, and 500 miles round trip twice.
Craig
Check out Bill's web site where he did this:
http://faculty.augie.edu/~swart/CP-16/NewTires.html
David
Hi guys - as you may have seen on my website, I upgraded to 12" radial tires and have been running them for a couple of years now. They work great. I did move the existing fenders up a bit. DON"T sweat launching - the 12" tires *maybe* raise the trailer 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch - not much considering the benefit in my opinion - I still have never had trouble getting the boat on or off the trailer in shallow midwest lakes. Do watch the load rating on the tires - WalMart sells some 12" tires for about 17 bucks apiece, but they are only rated at about 700 lbs/tire. I bought tires rated at 950 or 1050 (can't remember) for a bit more $$.
Best!
Does anyone know of a good Internet souce for load C range tires. The usual boat stores on line all seem to just have load range B tires.
Hi Gil; Try www.easternmarine.com for your tires. They have your tire size in load range c for under 30.00 each. The company is located in Delaware. I just purchased a surge brake parts from them. Quick delivery and half the price of the local travel trailer place. give them a try.
Gil,
Internet? No. But, Miller Tire in Blooming Glen is owned and run by the Miller family. Good service at fair prices. I've dealt with them many times and used them when we lived in PA for mechanical work on our cars, as well as tires, and even bought a set of tires from them after we moved. They have all kinds of tires and should have C rated tires, or will get them. Take 113 south out of Dublin and make a left on Blooming Glen Road (only crossroad in Blooming Glen). Miller tire is on the right.
If you are helped by Steve Miller tell him I referred you. That ought to get $5 or $10 dollars ADDED to your bill! :D
Craig
Craig and Bill,
Thanks for the tips! I am now considering replacing the wheel bearings and bearing buddies too since they may be original (1990). The wheels have no free play and run cool, but I have no idea how old or how much usage the trailer has had by the two previous owners. I only put about 90 miles a year on it but I want to trailer worry free.
With C load rated tires and new bearings I should be set for a while.
For what it's worth, I forked out $32 per tire at a local dealer. That included mounting them on th rims and new stems. I got the impression that most quality tire stores carry Load C tires.
The two online locations I found were West Marine and Northern Tools. The cost of the tire, when considering the shipping vs labor, balanced out.
$.02
Hi Paul and the gang,
I evaluated the options for replacing my tires, bearings and bearing buddies and wound up having the service guys at the boat yard where I store the trailer in summer and boat and trailer in winter do the whole job. Had it not been for the logistics involved, I would have used Craig's recomendation.
The boat yard did everything yesterday. Since the marina store there only had B rated tires, they took my wheels to a local tire dealer and had the B tires swapped out for C rated tires. I paid a similar price as things worked out.
Anyway, all that is left for me to do is pay them. Although I spent a few extra bucks, the work was done efficiently and professionally with no running around on my time.
I will feel better towing now that I have C rated tires and new bearings!
Gil,
Did you stay with the 5.7-8s or go with a bigger tire? If you went bigger did you get radials?
Craig
I stayed with the 5.70 x 8's but got the C rated tires and new bearings. They said my bearing buddies were fine. I trust the guy who runs the service department at the Three Seasons Marina based on past actual experience. I figure I am covered now pretty well for the low mileage trailering that I do. If I was a true "trailer sailor" I might consider a new heavier duty trailer rather than upgrade the Hutchins. I paid a few extra bucks for the parts and work, but it saved me lots of time, running around and I feel the work is professionally well done.
Despite all the comments about these Hutch trailers, I have not seen numerous reports of major failures so I feel OK about mine at this point. I know I was heavier than the B rated tires which is why I got the C rated ones. With new tires and bearings, my trailer seems to be in great condition.
Gil and others - have you had trouble with your hutch trailer? Besides a couple of bent roller shafts, my '84 hutch trailer is running quite well. No sign of excess wear (I'm pretty sure the bearings are original). I will probably make a roller bunk this fall or next spring to distribute the weight a bit better and ease the launch/retriefve process, but that's about all the complaints I have at this point.
I biggest problem I've had with with the local folks I bought my 12" rims from - they keep selling me "slightly" bent rims and, although they claim the are just fine, I worry about excess wear on my berings. It appears that I have been trailering my boat increasing distances as my kids get older - I'd like to tow her down to Pensacola over spring break next year, so this has begun to consern me more and more. Trailering a couple times a year probably won't matter - it's the longer trips I worry about.
Again, though, that's not an integral part of the hutch trailer, but rather an upgrade I've done. The trailer itself seems sound enough. What problems have others run into ...???
Bill - What modifications did you have to do to your trailer to get 12 inch rims on it? You mentioned your website, what is the address? Thanks for your help.
Mike.
Bill,
I have a 1980 trailer with everything original, except the bearings which the PO replaced, I added bearing buddies, new tires, and I went from the wire cable to a strap on the winch. I have no complaints about the Hutch trailer.
Craig
Mike - all I did to add the 12" tires was raise the fenders. All it took was removing the fender, drilling two new holes on the trailer frame to move the bracket a bit higher, and reinstalling the fender. I probably wouldn't have had to this, but decided that a bit more clearance between the fender bolt head and the tire would be a good idea - didn't want to hit a pothole and have the bolt head under the fender rip into the tire.
Craig - good to hear. I also need to replace my winch - the cable is beginning to fray. did you replace the whole winch or just replace the cable with a strap? If you replaced the winch, what weight rating did you buy and how do you like it? I know a 16 weighs around 1100lbs, but I wasn't sure if I needed more than a 1500lb trailer winch. What did you use?
Mike - the url for my website is:
http://faculty.augie.edu/~swart/CP-16/GracePeriod.htm
I should also add that I was able to buy 12" rims with a 5 bolt pattern that fit the hub - I think they call it a 12x4 hub, and I think it's pretty standard.
I have not had any problems with my 1990 Hutch trailer. I did replace the keel roller shafts and rollers as the shafts came bent from the previous owner. So far my new ones are OK. I had the dealer replace the actual hitch as it was pretty well rusted out. Since the tires were bad I replaced them too last year but then I became aware of the B vs C rating issue. I just got the C tires as mentioned above. It bothered me to have exceeded the load ratings on the B tires but it never was a problem. I am going to replace the upper two 6' carpeted bunks this year. These only seem to touch my boat in one spot since they do not really curve to the hull shape. I only trailer about 100 miles each year total but I still don't want any problems so this is why I am trying to keep the trailer in good shape.
Has anyone ever used the tilt feature? I was told not too somewhere along the line. I have used this with other boats and it was a big help in some situations.
I would be happier with a slightly more heavy duty trailer that provided some more boat support both to the keel and hull sides, but it does appear that these Hutch trailers do the job as originally configured.
Hey Gil - my trailer doesn't have the tilt function, so i can't speak to that. I have a friend with a Tanzer 16 on a tilt trailer, it works well for him but his boat is MUCH lighter (maybe 500 pounds).
If your bunk boards only touch the hull in one spot, you might want to raise them a bit. Mine bend to the shape of the hull so that only the fore and aft of the boards don't touch the hull - maybe an inch or two max fore and aft. Perhaps you're not getting the support you need from the bunkboards.
Finally, I wanted to say thanks again for cutting me a deal on your rubrail. Now that I finally have it installed (what a pain), it really looks good. i'm working on a page for my website that will detail the problems/solutions I encountered in installing them.
Gotta run - hope you have some nice fall sailing - and nice pics of your boat in the photos section!!
Bill
Hi Bill,
I am glad the rub rail worked out for you. It did seem like a bit tricky to cut, drill and install the ends, especially up forward under the pulpit rail. I was glad my old rub rail is still OK.
We had some great sialing last weekend and this coming one looks good too. Remnants of the hurricane are passing through here later today as heavy rains. Last year I pulled my boat out in mid September due to a potential hurricane that fizzled before it hit here. I hope the storms stay away as I would like to stay in the water until atleast mid October. (I don't have the rub rail and scupper sealing projects to deal with this year)
I am replacing the two upper bunks on my trailer as the originals are somewhat warped, the carpet is not the best and they are very stiff. Perhaps I'll raise the new ones a bit to allow the hull to settle in better. The ComPac dealer where I bought my boat said that all the bunks do is provide support at pretty nuch one spot to keep the boat upright. As you know, all the weight is on two of the three keel rollers.
What is fall sailing like out your way?
Gil - we did some great family sailing in August - quite a bit more this summer than last, which is a very good thing. It's amazing what a difference a year has made in my kids attention span and interest in sailing - dramatic improvement. My boys (3 and 5 years old) love to "help" me with the tiller and have taken to repeating commands. This past weekend my 5 year old asked me again what "helm's alee" meant - I was thrilled.
Not sure how much family sailing we'll get to from here on out. I have one in kindergarten and my wife just started graduate school, so she's going to have to be studying most weekends. I wanted to get out solo this week, but it's been too windy for single handing (sustained winds to 20mph or more). Maybe next week, but certianly a few times as the leaves turn.
Hi Bill,
The sailing you did this summer sounds great. We took our 2 yr 8 month grandson out twice and he liked it too. Yhe first time he took over the tiller after we left the marina and did about 17 cirlcles (luckily boat traffic was minmal). Then I said lets make sail and shut off the motor. He "go fast, go fast" obviously wanting the motor back on. But after we raised the sails and started to move he was fine sailing.
We have great weather for both today and tomorrow so Carole and I plan on doing our share of sailing this weekend. This summer the weather here has allowed us to use our boat every weekend since mother;s Day, when we launched. Most of the wekends allowed sailing on both Sat and Sunday, so despite the abnormal rain fall (during the week) it has been one of our best sailing summers here.
Every weekend, huh? Man, that sounds nice -- something to shoot for in years to come, I guess. I've been wanting to get out on a weekday and do some single handing for about a week or so, but every time I have a window of opportunity, the winds are too strong for me to launch and retrieve alone. This coming week looks to be a bit better - this strong ridge of high pressure (brining 20+ mph winds from the south) should move out and bring cooler, drier, and less gusty conditions. Meantime, I've been upgrading my webiste, which I hope to have finished in a couple of days.
Best,
Hi Bill,
Well, we thought last summer was good, but this year beat it, both on sailing fun and our usual two weeks at the Jersey shore. Best Summer Yet!
We had a great weekend here. A little light on wind but enough to sail and very pleasant conditions overall. Lots of ComPac sailors out too. Delightful . . .it was hard to get back to work here today -I could have gone back to the lake.
I have single handed my ComPac a few times but I prefer company. I will say that since we got the CP16 we sure sail much more than when we had the GP-14. I like keels and stiff stable boats. 20+ wind can be stressful but the CP's will take it in stride. A week ago Saturday it was a blowin' here.
I forget if you trailer sail or keep your boat in the water? I will check out your website.