So I am getting ready to take a trip back home to Maine.

My dad has a nice litle bass boat in Maine, but no truck to tow it with any more ( his crapped the bed). So I tell him " No Prob!" Thinking I'll just go pick up a ball and mount for my new truck and we will be golden.

So I run down to the parts store. Standing in front of the display with all the trailer mounts and *****, and say oh crap. I forgot to ask my dad what size ball his trailer needs ( being a newb to towing I didnt realize MOST things take 2 inch.) So I see this Reese Triple Ball deal, and think oh... this is perfect! Now no matter what size it is, I still golden!

So I get home all proud of myself and call my brother who is the one that typically pulls the boat around for my dad, and tell him the great news. He says, " what size drop does it have" to which I reply "huh?!?!?!" So he says "how far does it bend down after it comes out of the hitch on the truck?" So not even thinking about this ahead of time, I reply " It doesn't.... its just straight... is that a bad thing?"

I think it took my brother ( has a 02 ram and uses a 6 inch drop for the boat ) about 10 minutes to stop laughing and he finally tells me that if I use a straight hitch the boat will have no propeller on it anymore by the time we get to the lake.......

Another disgracefull trip to the parts store to exchange it for the right one....

FML....

 

just be glad your dad still has his prop..

dont feel bad though everyone screws up at least once!

 

HAHA Don't feel bad, I have done that a few times. Atleast your bro thought about it before you went to pull the boat.

 

man i thought i was gonna actually get to make fun of a newb!! thats an easy mistake to make man dont sweat it. i think we've all done that

 

a 6 inch drop?!?! Is your truck lifted a bunch? I have hauled plenty of boats with only a 2 inch drop hitch, and the bass boat, it should have an outboard shouldnt it? That transom will lift enough to keep it from the ground, you would scrape the trailer before you caught that prop... Unless it is a pretty old bass boat, or a different kind than I have seen... My dad used to be the NW boat rep for tracker marine... so we have hauled all kinds of boats... procraft, tracker pontoons, tahoe family sport boats, and we owned 2 air warriors and I dont think we even have a 6 inch drop hitch...

And no, Im not making fun of you at all... but you might be better off with a 4 inch or even a 2 inch... just trying to help, I have been around boats since I was little little...

 

My hitch doesn't have any drop and I can tow my boat just fine. Unless the trailer sits very low the angle shouldn't be that bad. In any case the motor should tilt up and lock in so that its no where near the ground.

 

It took two trips for me the first time too, and was at 5 3/4 for just a small tent trailer then.

 

His truck is lifted with huge tires... mine is not... he said with a 6 inch drop on his the trailer sits level..... he said I would be fine with a 2-4 inch. but When I got back to the store they didnt have any that dropped much at all, so I picked up one of the Reese adjustable deals that goes from a 7.25 drop to a 6.5 rise and everything in betteween... I like to be flexible... lol

 

Thats exactly what I was thinking, the transom should have a trim switch on it that will raise it up or down, and that switch should have a trailer option on it which will raise it high above what you would ever use it in the water. Our procrafts the transom would be at about a 45 degree angle once it was trailered, when its in the water and running you wont have it at any less than about an 75 degree angle (Thats a rough estimate could be off) and a 6 inch drop hitch when I think our hitches stock only sit what... 14 inches off the ground stock(again, a guess)... putting that much drop puts that trailer at about 8 inches on the ball, with the tires probably being about 26 inches... which means center of the hub would be at 13 inches, with the trailer on top of that axle probably about another 2 inches up?? 15 inches with the tongue being down at 8 inches... thats a 7 inch difference, then you add in the inch that your bed will drop from the boat being on the hitch, that turns into an 8 inch difference with the tongue at 7 inches... thats a pretty low setup for the front and could be risky over any kinds of bumps...

 

Sorry, I didnt see those new posts, disregard what I said, those reese adjustable are good, pricey!!