Ski trailer?

last night I took 2 spec skis for a 40min drive on a kayak trailer mostly motorway roads.  The skis were very far off the back so as to not hit the car when turning.
I have a normal builders trailer I am doing up but after driving the kayak trailer there is no way these 21 foot skis are going to fit without most of them hanging out the back.
I possibly could move the box away further from the car down the chassis? Or no? Anyone have any tips/ideas?

My trailer is probably my most used single piece of paddling gear.  I can haul three +20' boats or four shorter ones.  The cross bars are standard so it will accept any of the usual racks.  Second picture is SEI and 20' Mystery on V racks.    I am hauling lumber in the third picture with gull wings for the tandem and J racks for the other three.  Center two boats are 18.5'.  Here in the US, there are a handful of these "rolling roof rack" type trailers on the market.   




Looks like a Rolling Fire Hazard to me!

Beautiful boats and some serious draw bar length. I want one.

Cool trailer. Did you build those boats? Beautiful!

Normal to just get an extended drawbar fitted. Depending on where you are in the world you will have to check load overhang regulations, and if there are any exemptions for 'rowing hulls". Regardless of regs having it overhang too far is just asking someone to damage it.

mcnye1 wrote: My trailer is probably my most used single piece of paddling gear.  I can haul three +20' boats or four shorter ones.  The cross bars are standard so it will accept any of the usual racks.  Second picture is SEI and 20' Mystery on V racks.    I am hauling lumber in the third picture with gull wings for the tandem and J racks for the other three.  Center two boats are 18.5'.  Here in the US, there are a handful of these "rolling roof rack" type trailers on the market.   



I can only imagine the tears if someone ran into that load

mcnye1 wrote: My trailer is probably my most used single piece of paddling gear.  I can haul three +20' boats or four shorter ones.  The cross bars are standard so it will accept any of the usual racks.  Second picture is SEI and 20' Mystery on V racks.    I am hauling lumber in the third picture with gull wings for the tandem and J racks for the other three.  Center two boats are 18.5'.  Here in the US, there are a handful of these "rolling roof rack" type trailers on the market.   



I can only imagine the tears if someone ran into that load

My first trailer was a single-sled snowmobile trailer modified to carry sea kayaks. The dealer extended the tongue, which was easy because it used a nested pair of sturdy aluminum tubes. All he did was pull one tube out farther and drill new bolt holes for fixing them together in the new position. The trailer had a payload many times what we needed, so even with the extended tongue it was more than adequate to carry two heavy sea kayaks. Later, I hired a welder to make further mods that allowed bolting down a pair of round crossbars so I could use any stock cradles. That trailer had high ground clearance and a Dexter Tor-flex axle, plus all wiring was sealed inside a long rubber tube. It was one tough trailer and served us well for 11 years of frequent use. I only sold it because the plywood bed was warping and cracking; according to the company it was not a good idea to simply remove and replace the plywood (bummer).

The high ground clearance, sealed wiring, flush-mounted lights, and general ruggedness of that trailer are things I miss in our current trailer, which is 9 years old. BUT the newer one weighs less than half what the first one did.

Pic attached of the trailer I use now, which is bolted together from a kit. This one does have the advantage of allowing a LOOONG crossbar spread. The 77” I set it at is the shortest span it allows. It is designed to allow carrying a double sea kayak or other long boats—nice spread for surf skis. Payload is a paltry 350 lbs, which won’t matter for hauling two kayaks or surf skis. It comes stock with a coupler for a 1 7/8” ball, so I ordered it made with one for the more common 2” ball. Typical not-so-wonderful exposed wiring bundle, flimsy taillights (the ones shown are a different replacement set), and flexy plastic fenders that will crack from flexing at the weird attachment points. I had to juryrig a fix for the latter and am working on a way to better attach the new fenders when they arrive. But it has worked very well for carrying the boats on normal roads (not rutty or rocky tracks).

Please note that the strapping shown in the photo was only for keeping wind from blowing the ski off while parked. When I haul it, I wrap the straps completely around the ski one time each. 12’ straps provide plenty of length to do this. The trailer is 18’3” long total.

 

Yes I built the boats, it is kind of a sickness that may have gotten out of control.  Thanks for the complement.  Here are my two latest race boats.  I would love to build a wooden ski but there is really only one designer who has plans out there, and he basically leaves cockpit design up to the builder.  I am reluctant to put 200+ manhours into a build with an "experimental" cockpit that turns out to be uncomfortable.  My next build will actually be the hull from one of those designs but traditional kayak deck.

Regarding the damage comments, it certainly would be bad if somebody hit the trailer, but I have thousands of miles towing it without incident.  You cannot see them in the picture, but I put flags on the stern of the boats that are very visible.  Honestly, I have had more close calls with the skis on top of the truck.  People seem not to notice the stern flags that are 7' in the air.  Several times I have had people in larger vehicles drive right under the flag narrowly missing the boat. 
    

thank you for your reply-your boats are stunning. Really nice - what a work of art they are.

I like your trailer set up-it would be handy to have the drawbar able to adjust to a shorter/longer length.  I want to be able to use mine as a normal trailer too so that we can haul other non-kayak stuff around if we need to.  Its a great set up thank you.

I know what you mean about asking for trouble with the overhang.  I am always seeing people ALMOST decapitate themselves when walking behind my car with the ski on. The fin is just in the right position for a descalping!  I also find people drive very close behind me when pulling up and i just cringe hoping they dont ram into the back of the ski! 

I think i may just leave the skis on top and have my little trailer for carrying the wet/bulky stuff and boards.  It will be a work in progress!

Thanks all!

Paddlepop - Thanks again for the compliments on the boats.

This trailer can be shortened.  I installed Malone's optional kit that makes the tongue of the trailer removable.  If you look closely at the picture below, you will see a pin where the tongue goes into the trailer frame.  If you pull that pin and disconnect a wiring couple, the tongue slides forward out of the frame.  This allows the trailer to be stored upright leaning against a wall.  You can also shorten the trailer by sliding the tongue back into the trailer.  If you look just above the black wheel on the tongue stand, you can see an alternate pin hole which would make the trailer very short.  I never tow with it that short, but that is how I shorten the trailer for storage.  Obviously, you could drill another hole in the middle to make the trailer 1/2 length if desired.