New Loadmaster Trailer & 2014 R5

[Snowman8]

Well I got it home this week. The EZ fold bimini is installed, and the boat is on the new trailer. Now I am just waiting on my graphic guy to cut me some Cobalt R5 vinyl decals for the blank space on the trailer.
This trailer tows like a dream! It doesn’t even feel like a trailer is back there compared to the old trailer. Except there is about 7000lbs behind me... No bouncing or wandering at all. Very impressive!
Now if we can just have a few more days like today we will be in the water in no time at all. But for today I was driveway boating!

[cmattj]

Beautiful set up on the bunks and just a Sharp Cobalt!
I do have one concern on the AG style arm trailer hook up in front?
Is this their new thing?? Enlighten us.

[AsLan7]

.
That’s the money shot right there S8!..,,
(so nice and level too. )
.

[Snowman8]

Cmatt , I wanted a pintle hitch. All of the heavy trailers I pull at work have them. I love them, they never let go. We switched all of our trailers to the years ago and never use ball mount hitches anymore. These never let go or break. We had a couple 2-5/16” balls break one year, one on a skidloader trailer and another on a pressure washer water trailer. This pintle hitch is rated at 42,000lbs, I think I’m ok with a 7,000 pond trailer...
The hitch is a GenY mega duty. The 2”shank version is rated at 16,000lbs.

[cmattj]

Thanks Snow! Yes that pencils in my brain. Lol Now I worry about the sheer of the ball. Ok I’ll stop worrying

[Snowman8]

Thanks Snow! Yes that pencils in my brain. Lol Now I worry about the sheer of the ball. Ok I’ll stop worrying

Ball sheer sounds like it would hurt!
Yeah I wouldn’t worry much either. I had the option while building the trailer at no extra cost so I went with it. Plus I don’t have to change hitches when I pull the boat with my work truck! I pull heavy trailers a lot so I have learned many lessons the hard way. This trailer is WAY overbuilt for this boat but it’s one less thing for me to loose sleep over!

[Big Block Power]

I'm still lost. It's still sitting kind of on a ball. How does it release and come off? Plus that has to have slop in it. Wouldn't it clang around?

[Snowman8]

The GenY is a bad example of a true pintle hitch... you are correct it is still a ball but it is a solid cast piece without any bolts. I own it because one hitch does everything and is adjustable in height. The GenY mega duty hitch that I have is rated at 16,000lbs but they are tested not to break at twice their rating (32,000lbs). The trailers that we had break would shear the bolts right off the ball mount. We would also have the hitches pop off the top of the ball while loading skid loaders onto the trailers with all of that weight pulling up on the ball. A true pintle is basically just a J hook with a locking mechanism that will not release unless it breaks. All dump trucks use them and I have a true pintle hitch on my work truck. Since we switched to pintle hitches at work we have never broken one.
There is very little movement to a pintle hitch due to the J shape to the rest. The pintle eye sits in the bottom of the hook and with the lock on the top it will never pop off the ball. It’s hard to see in the picture but there is a grove for the eye to set down in. The weight of the trailer holds it in the groove. There is WAY less movement in this than there is in a typical hydraulic surge brake system. Every time I started from a stop with my old trailer my heart would drop when the slack slams out of the surge brake slide. There isn’t any of that with this trailer.
To each their own. I know boat trailers will never see the use and abuse that skid loader trailers and large tag trailers see but if its rated at 42,000lbs it probably isn’t going to cause me any trouble with a 7,000 boat. Most 2-5/16 balls are rated at 10,000lbs, some are rated for more but none are rated the same as a pintle. For the same money I am going with the stronger one any day!

[Snowman8]

This is what I have on my one ton work truck. This is better example of a pintle hitch.

[Tuscany]

You bought the best in the East.
LOL, Looks like my design. I had a hard time explaining over the phone how to make those walk plates and then add the gussets.

One tip, drop the Y block all the way to the bottom and move it back further where it hits lower. No matter how tight those bolts are, they do not penetrate the inner portion and won’t hold in hard braking. The upper portion may telescope back in. That happened on my first tow. . Other option is to drill through both portions so the bolts penetrate.

[Tuscany]

Here are some pics of what I’m describing.
Also, their ladder design sucks. I sent mine out to a local fan shop to correct it.

[Chrispval]

Looks beautiful. Do they only sell through a dealer, or can you work with Loadmaster directly? What was the final build cost?

[Tuscany]

Totally custom. They are located in Port Clinton Ohio, and only build per customer order specs..

[AsLan7]

.
I gotta say these are two of the finest built trailers I’ve seen on the forum. Great example for others.

And thanks for the pintle hook education with pics S8. Great stuff.

[Snowman8]

Here are some pics of what I’m describing.
Also, their ladder design sucks. I sent mine out to a local fan shop to correct it.

I noticed that the ladder isn’t very user friendly... I have grip tape on order already and I like your handle on the top! My dealer helped me setup the bow stop. He told me to get it as high as possible because in a panic stop or accident boats have a tendency to climb up the V block. I will probably leave it at this height once I try loading it from the water to make sure it works here. I will take your recommendation about just cutting the set screw (bolts) off and just drilling right through and bolting it solid. Now that you mention it I see where it could just push back inside the tube. I also opted out of using the boat buckle brand tie downs because I think they are only rated for about 2000lbs. I have a 10,000lb strap on the front pulling down and slightly back so hopefully that helps stop forward movement. Thanks for the suggestions back while I was building this trailer last winter too! It is by far the nicest pulling trailer I have ever pulled, and I pull a lot of trailers!