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Fulton Trailer Fold Away Kit

3K views 11 replies 10 participants last post by  Tautog166 
#1 ·
Does anyone have experience with the Fulton Fold Away Hinge kit to shorten the length of their trailer?

I have a Gheenoe classic where I am currently paying $160 a month to store it, but I am moving into a house with an 18' garage and would love to be able to keep it in the garage. I took some measurements and in order to make it fit in the new garage I will have to place the hinge kit just behind the winch stand but in front of the wheel jack. Does anyone foresee any issues with this arrangement? Obviously the winch will have to be released while in storage, but the winch is never under any load in the garage with the boat resting on the trailer as designed.

It would be great to have this one time expense of $90 rather than keep paying the $160/month. Appreciate any thoughts and will try to take some photos to clarify.
 
#5 ·
Not sure on the dynamic of installing the kit aft of the winch stand but I highly recommend you buy a step bit to do the install. With an aluminum trailer normal bits will burn through pretty easily, galvanized is a different story depending on the thickness. The step bit saved my knuckles and a lot of time on my second trailer install. You can usually just use a 1/8" bit and then go to the step bit. They are cheap and well worth the money any time you need to drill through a trailer. I would agree with Captain Lemay that the weight of a gheenoe shouldn't be an issue.
 
#6 ·
I installed a Fulton swing tongue kit on a Harry spear silent stalker that sat on a continental galvanized trailer (light boat and similar situation). It was a light rig so I didn’t worry too much about it. Only issue I ran in to was that the Fulton kit had a slight amount of play in the hinge, and when I really tightened up the winch the front beam would get a little bit of a upward angle or bend to it. It didn’t mess with performance, just looked a little silly. I might have a picture somewhere
 
#7 ·
The fulton kit I installed had a very specific warning that you are not allowed to install equipment in front of the hinge. It must be on the boat side.
That said, I'm not very impressed with the kit. I've had it on for 8+ years and it developed a good amount of play in the hinge itself. I don't think the cast aluminum is very strong either, and would have gladly had the weight penalty of steel.
You can check my thread on looking for a solution to shorten a trailer for my new project. I decided to sleeve it and make a removable tongue. Not the prettiest solution, but it will be strong. I would not put the winch in front of the hinge.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I have a custom trailer from a prominent manufacturer with the swing tongue. The winch is mounted on the swing tongue, however loaded I’m at maybe 1300 lbs. While it is not as sturdy as other trailers I have had in the past, I have towed some pretty good distances over the past several years and have not had any issues. My connection is still sturdy and strong. Should not have any issues with the Ghennoe.
 
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