Trailer wagging issue help needed

I recently got my little 4hp Mercury out to use on my 1436 jon while I'm waiting on my new big boat to arrive at the dealer. Usually when trailering I have a tiller control motor guide on the back of the boat with trolling battery and coolers up by the bow. Yesterday I went fishing and had the 4hp on the back, a small mower sized battery for my electronics in the back and that was it. As soon as I got up to about 40mph going straight on my road i noticed the trailer was wagging badly. When I first restored the trailer i moved the axle back as far as I could as it came. One thing I noticed when I got home though was one of the 3 leaf springs on one side had fallen out. So it's got 3 springs on one side and just the two larger springs on the other side. Would that possibly be causing the issue or is it more likely the 4hp hanging on the back making more of the load behind the axle? The motor isn't very heavy really and it looks like the spring just fell off/out recently.

I don't think that little bit of weight would create that problem. I think you have 2 issues, the spring is one and needs to be fixed, and the narrow stance of your wheels can be a problem on some roads. There is usually a hump or ridge created in the middle of most roads cause by heavier vechicals running in the same groves over time. That trailer is running inside those groves. One tire will catch that ridge and try to climb it the it will do the same thing on the other side causing the wag back and forth. Without the motor you probably just never noticed it but even though I said it didn't make a difference maybe just that little bit agrivated it. But I'm thinking combination of narrow stance and missing spring.

Definitely need to replace the spring. I am thinking when you move the axel it might not be straight causing the wagging. I used to build parade floats and used farm wagons for the beds and rebuilt the trailers first and it's a pita to get the axels lined up properly. Your 1436 is probably rated for a 10 hp motor and that trailer definitely looked like it will handle a lot more weight than you have on it. I fished out of a 1436 for many years. It's a perfect skinny water boat. Check the axel for exact alinement and get another spring if possible. Even experiment and move it back to where it was and see if it's wagging. If you can't find a spring, get a piece of flat stock steel and stick in the space the spring is missing to make the axel as level to the other side.

I'm with Cevan's on this one. I think it is not aligned properly. Also, you may want to check for a possible "soft" tire and to ensure all of your lug nuts are tight. Might be as simple as that. If you really want to test the spring theory, simply take a leaf out of the other side so they are both even and see what it does.

Check the tongue weight ... if it's not fairly heavy, it can cause the trailer to wander all over the place, too. :twocents

Agree with CP..not enough tongue weight

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Originally Posted by fiveeyes

Agree with CP..not enough tongue weight

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Yep....me too......back of boat looks like its hanging off the back of the skids or bunks about 8 inches.....move your front roller/winch stand foward so the the boat can move forward....set it where back of boat is even with the bunks. That will help a little.

In my experience all trailers tow much better tongue heavy rather than tongue light. Redistribute your weight forward and see if that doesn't fix the issue.

Light tongue weight and low tire pressure, inflate them to their max air pressure.