# Swing Away Jack Failure .... Possible Fiberglass Damage



## Ronel10 (Apr 17, 2019)

Yesterday my trailer jack fell while I was standing on the bow washing the boat (fish blood). This morning, I was checking out the hull and noticed a lot of cracks in the gel coat near the front desk of the center trailer bunk. I purchased the boat about 3 months ago. I’m not sure if the cracks were there previously but I don’t think that they were. Has anyone experienced this, how serious is it, and what should I do to fix it? Thanks.


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## NealXB2003 (Jun 8, 2020)

Did you buy it new?

I would not think the small impact of a trailer Jack collapsing would hold a candle to the force of impact to a big wave in rough water.


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## Ronel10 (Apr 17, 2019)

Used. It’s a 2014 BT Strike. Bought it a four months ago. Use it regularly since. Did not notice this before the trailer incident. I don’t think it’s major but I will be getting it checked out.


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## BrownDog (Jun 22, 2019)

Looking at these pictures I am going with not from this incident.

I'm surprised you didn't hurt yourself falling off the boat when that happened.


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## Ronel10 (Apr 17, 2019)

Good balance from surfing and paddle boarding I guess.


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## Ronel10 (Apr 17, 2019)

Took the boat to my fiberglass guys shop this evening. He did not think it was anything more than normal wear and tear from running the boat and thought it was normal for lightweight skiffs that may take a beating. He said to “keep fishing and keep an eye on it.” If it get’s worse, he felt he could repair it pretty easily. That certainly made me feel a little better. I will keep some wax on it to help reduce the chance for water intrusion.


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## Rooster (Mar 13, 2011)

Brings to mind the importance of making sure that your jack is snapped in place when you take it off the skiff. After raising it off the ball, I always crank mine back down low so as not to bend the shaft when rolling. One time a few months ago mine collapsed and the tongue come crashing down with a big BANG! was so glad that my foot wasn’t under there... I was surprised at the tongue weight; thought that I could probably just lift it but no way - had to use the car jack to get it back up to reset the roller wheel!


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## Ronel10 (Apr 17, 2019)

Same here. I was surprised by the weight and had to use a jack as well. I’m still not sure how it collapsed. It was up for at least 20 minutes before it fell. I wonder if the rocking back and forth while scrubbing the deck cause the locking pin to come out just enough for the jack to swing.


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## finbully (Jan 26, 2013)

Ronel10 said:


> Took the boat to my fiberglass guys shop this evening. He did not think it was anything more than normal wear and tear from running the boat and thought it was normal for lightweight skiffs that may take a beating. He said to “keep fishing and keep an eye on it.” If it get’s worse, he felt he could repair it pretty easily. That certainly made me feel a little better. I will keep some wax on it to help reduce the chance for water intrusion.


I'd get it repaired looking at your pictures. The last thing you want is water intursion into the core from a crack all the way through the gel coat. It is only a matter of time particullaly with the cracks on the outside of the hull.


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## Ronel10 (Apr 17, 2019)

If the fiberglass is not cracked, is water intrusion really an issue? Or do you mean water getting into the gel coat and causIng it to blister and come off? My fiberglass guy tapped on the hull and felt everything was solid. I will get it fixed eventually, but I’m being told it’s not something that needs to be done immediately.


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

for some reason it bothers me that people think that gel coat cracking should be regarded as "normal". this is bullshit. I have a 94 SilverKing and an 01 Waterman and neither has any gelcoat cracking. raise your expectations.


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## Ronel10 (Apr 17, 2019)

Well. there this a difference between considering it “normal‘ and determining whether or not it needs to be fixed immediately. I’m not happy about it, but I bought a used boat and am not going to sell it to someone else to deal with. I would fix it before I did that. I have a planned trip to the keys coming up, and I know I can’t get it fixed before then. My plan is to fix it later this year. But if it is not jeapordizing the boat, then waiting a few weeks (or even a few months) should not be big deal. My fiberglass guy has built boats, repaired boats, and knows them very well. he spent time checking it out and made sure there were no structural issues. I trust his opinion. He was just telling me to go fishing, keep an eye on it, and fix it later when the timing is better. I think that‘s pretty good advise. Do you disagree?


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Trailer jacks... actually require a bit of maintenance every now and then (if the pin was in the hole there's no way a jack can fail.... but if you don't add a bit of lube it's all too easy for the pin not to go in the hole leaving you with a built in booby trap...).

Here's my routine... Every now and then I hook up my trailer to my truck - then instead of just raising my tongue jack to the horizontal, I then hold onto the pin so that I can keep on pivoting it until the wheel is in the air... Now all you need is a bit of light lube spray on the barrel of the tongue jack so that it can run up inside while the jack is upside down and finish with a bit of spray on the pivot point and that spring loaded pin that locks the jack in whatever position you want it in... 

Part of my routine hooking and un-hooking my trailer day after day is to really snap that tongue jack into position when it needs to be vertical and actually support your trailer's tongue. When you do that listen for the "snap" as that pin is fired into position by the spring. If you don't hear it take a look and verify it's in position - not hard to do... 

Hope this helps - "Aren't boats fun?"


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## Ronel10 (Apr 17, 2019)

Thx. Great advice on maintenance of the jack. I‘ve replaced a few on boats over the years, but for some reason routine maintenance never came to mind. After the fall, I noticed the main nut was loose (jack held in place by a center nut) - I bet this gave the jack enough play that the pin came out while I was scrubbing the deck (boat was rocking back and forth). I also took the trailer to a shop a friend of mine owns to get it checked out. We went ahead and did all of the normal maintenance (hubs, checked torsion axle, etc). I had already replaced one of the hubs and the trailer lights, so getting a thorough inspections before towing for 10 hrs seems to be good idea! I hope all of the kinks in the trailer are worked out now. I guess I should have expected some of this - 7 year old boat with over 700 hours. It was fished pretty hard and clearly was used all over Florida (based upon the waypoints saved in the GPS). 

Today - I get to have fun replacing the armature in the trolling motor! One day I hope to just go fishing again.


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## finbully (Jan 26, 2013)

When not in use, I store my boat with the front of the trailer resting on a cinder block with the weight removed from the tongue jack. I keep the jack locked in the deployed position as a safety but a couple of cranks up from the full weight of what it otherwise supports. Those tongue jacks make the boat wobbly when I get in and walk around, I feel that is a lot to ask for its' design. Resting on a cinder block is cheap and makes for a very solid storage solution.


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