Blackdog cat do a cool folding extension bar. It folds back towards the mudguard when towing as per normal

What we are doing is engineering a swing mount to hold a spare tyre which can also act as a jockey wheel. Specifically this is for beach launching - Oreti Beach near Invercargill is very flat - We also have a small boat, so pushing it by hand is not a big issue. I did consider a extendable drawbar, but as Kevin said, seemed like a hassle. 

this was on the mudgway trailers website

When I had my boat back in the 70s and 1/2 moon bay ramp just opened, it was pretty steep.
4x4s where not really avalible as they are today

no way could a lot of old EH holdens/ falcons get a grip .....and most still had cross plys to.
So we would back the trailers down, unhitch, roll back to the boat....
while doing that , driver would, pull the tow rope/ strope out of the trunk...one end over the tow ball , other on the trailer....
boat on... then tow the trailer up the ramp, and clear in the car park.

Yep the good old days

Hi All,

The main reason the extra length is required/needed.
We launch from beaches 60% of the time, and then there are the shallow boat ramps (omaha etc) that we go to regularly. The 4WD has been great, but even that has had some serious water damage and I don't think we want much, if any salt water going all over the brakes etc of this new wagon.

We have used tow ropes to pull her out on occasion, but I thought if a simple extension could be made (say 6-8 foot) it would make launching a breeze, and a small amount of time to pay given the $$ saved on the car.

That swinging design by mudgway trailers looks good, as well as the one that's permanently fitted below the front of the trailer....


Given the new vehicle will be a lot lower, it's something I want to tinker with over winter and see how well it works before next summer...

Not sure on cost yet, but a permanently fixed extension seems the best solution for me...
I'm going to get the cad software out and start tinkering with a design that hopefully a welder can throw together in an afternoon

The extenda hitch you show above is actual not a bad idea. I will be very interested to see what you come up with.

Kevin.S wrote: I think Catchit's solution sounds great if you can accommodate it in your existing trailer. Undo the pin and pull forward to extend, put pin back in and launch. Take pin out and reverse to shorten it when you're done -bloody brilliant!

+1.  I've seen one of these in use and they are very efficient.  The only question is can you get one long enough.

Catchit wrote: G,day Johnny, I have a very similar thing to your photo on my trailer except it is the main drawbar which is pinned. Remove the pin, extend the bar and re-pin at the desired length. very simple and can put up photos if you want..

Southern_jez - I do love that jockey/third front wheel on the trailer.
Don't get me wrong, I think that is extremely useful at some of the places I launch. And is something I am contemplating adding onto this design.

At the same time, I think if I could extend the trailer tongue (length tbc) it would be far easier. The main reason I say that, is that we have a 6m boat, which isn't light at the best of times. Most of the gradient ramps we use seem ok, but there are some where that extra length would go a long way in keeping the car dry as well as not having two tonnes rolling freely down the ramp.

Is there any reason why the extension can't be sleeved with a securing pin rather than hinged?  This would save having two tow couplings etc.  Trailer would always be attached to vehicle so no run aways.