Small Boat Voyages

Based on the sucess experienced with the front hitching guide I now turn my attention onto how to bring the guide built for the front towball to the rear towball the main problem being the towball type is different I.e it is a swansneck bolted between two vertical flanges. I’m not going anywhere near modifying the existing parts but if I can use the existing bolts to fix something as an accessory then that’s a possibility.

To allow the new front towball hitching guide to sit in the same place in relation to the towball I first measured the arrangement at the front towball finding the distance between the centre of the ball to the plate and the vertical distance between the top of the ball and the top of the plate.

The brief is to build a plate that presents bolt holes that will align with the towball holes in the hitching guide such that the guide can be attached, used to hitch the trailer, then the guide be removed without having to unhitch the trailer.

A cutout in the lower portion of the plate will accommodate the swansneck, and has flanges to the rear that align to the 12mm bolts that secure the swansneck to its support. A corresponding cutout is made to the hitching guide to allow them to marry.

Measuring the angle presenting the bolts that support the swansneck is critical as is the distance between bolt holes and the back of the plate.

After cutting the slot in the plate some careful consideration of the measurements is necessary to make sure the plate sits vertically, and the right distance from the towball and at the right height. The rest as they say is plain sailing. That is apart from quite a bit of fettling and jigging, cutting grinding and welding.