Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I purchased a used boat and trailer last year and the rear most bunk support extends beyond my pontoons by about 8". I would like to move the rear supports forward so they are under the pontoon.

The rear supports are currently mounted so that the inboard bolts go through the rear welded piece that connects the left and right sides of the trailer. I wasn't sure if they needed to stay there or if it would be okay for me to slide them forward of the rear trailer structural piece. It looks like the trailer is probably slightly bigger than it needs to be for this boat, but I'm going to try to make it work.

Why does this worry you. Are you having trailering issues, launching issues, etc? My bunks stick out behind my toons. In my case it doesn’t effect anything.

On second look, the most important issue I see is that you are strapping your boat to your bunks. It should be strapped to the trailer frame for a more secure attachment point. Also consider that moving the boat on the trailer without moving the trailer axles can alter the tongue weight and change the dynamics of how it tows. Too much or too little tongue weight will change how it handles. All things to consider.

The straps that you see are just for the boat cover. The boat itself is strapped to the trailer.

I'm not moving the boat itself forward or backwards on the trailer, so it would seem to me that this small change of moving the rear most bunk supports would not really effect the tongue weight or anything else as far as handling is concerned. Maybe I am wrong.

The main reason I want to change things around is to shorten the bunk length so the bunks do not hit my depth finder transducer.

Also, since the rear bunk support is a few inches beyond the toons, it seems like the bunks are not properly supported. There appears to be a little bit of a bow due to lack of support directly under the rear of the pontoons.

I might be able to get away with trimming the bunks with the bunk support bracket in place where it is and still provide extra clearance for the transducer.

I don't know why you couldn't.....

If it has a bump stop in the front, it might be eaiser to just move the front stop backward a few inches. Probably wouldnt affect tongue weight too much. I did that to set mine up so I could cut the tongue and install a fold-away hinge in a place that would keep the cut part as short as possible but have everything fit in my shop, then went by the CAT scales with it to check everything.

Alternatively if the transducer is the main concern, you can move the mount. Before moving my front stop forward, mine hung off the back but now is several inches forward and between the bunks but the transcuder is in the center of the bracket so it hasn't hit but I've got center guides on the trailer.