: No! No! Paul

: You misunderstand, I have NO worry about you, but that boat...... I have
: NO first hand experience with either, but the question was brought up that
: the springs under a trailer are a direct up/down motion and therefore
: would transmit the shock, or a large percentage of it to the rack with the
: boat. A trailer sprung for say 500 - 1,000 lbs of load will not offer ANY
: shock absorbtion for a 40 lb boat. Whereas the torsion type axle has a
: rotational shock load and would disperse much more of the shock. The wheel
: is actually attached to the extention off to the rear of the axle and if
: I'm not mistaken, the other end has an adjustment that will allow you to
: adjust for a 100 lb. load or upwards of a few hundred lbs. Don't quote me
: on this, but that's the way I understand it.

: You are probably correct in your observations, but I was wondering about if
: you hit a deep bump and say you have a couple of contact points for the
: kayak to attach to, then with the light weight construction be enough to
: withstand such a jolt. I realize the trailer is all welded steel and would
: all move together with no apparent difficulty, but the boat may not be
: able to withstand that sort of jolt. Especially when supported in only two
: narrow areas. It's just a thought. A car or pickup are sprung much
: differently than a trailer and are a much softer ride. On a car or truck,
: no problem, but it seems there are much more serious shocks going on on a
: trailer.

: I'm probably out in left field, as I've never had to haul a kayak on either,
: but was just concerned. Had to ask!!

: Rehd

I have a utility trailer with a 1 ton axle and I have used it to haul canoes.
With a 500-1000 lbs load it rides like silk. With just the boats or empty it bounces like crazy. It works ok but you just have to secure the boats tight to the trailer, no motion, zero. so they bounce as a unit. A bigger problem is the length of the boats vs. trailer. You either have a lot of boat hanging off the back of the trailer or you risk hitting the boat into the back of the car. You can stack the boats vertically over the tongue if carrying two, or get them up high, but you still have to watch it entering/leaving inclined drives or ramps, etc. I think ballast is an excellent reason to take the bike along.

Jim