Boating and Sailing.pdf - Moja ladja

56
Part 1: Getting Started in Boating
The gears in winches multiply
effort, making it possible
to crank heavy boats into
place with ease. Note the
spare tire bolted to the
frame.
(Photo credit: Frank Sargeant)
Tongue Jacks
The jack is the assembly that allows you to raise or lower the trailer tongue to fit the
height of the hitch ball on your tow vehicle. It’s bolted to the tongue a foot or two behind
the hitch coupling. Most have a caster or wheel on the
Look Out!
Failing to raise the jack
wheel is a common oversight.
Always double-check that the
wheel is well clear of the ground
before you take off, or the jack
assembly will be bent into a
paper clip as the rig moves forward.
Do You Need Brakes?
bottom that allows you to roll the trailer around manually
when it’s unhitched.
Once the trailer coupling is attached to the hitch, the
jack is cranked to the “up” position so the wheel doesn’t
hit the roadway. This usually takes a lot of cranking—
the gear ratios are low. A much handier type of jack is
the “swing-away” model. Once the weight is off this
jack, the design allows you to pull a pin on the shaft
and swing the jack up to lock parallel with the tongue,
rather than cranking and cranking to get the thing up
out of the way.
If the rig weighs more than 1,500 pounds, trailer brakes are a good idea. They’re particularly
important if you tow with a small or mid-size vehicle, because the weight of the boat
pushing against the hitch can actually overpower the stopping capabilities of the tow rig.