I thought you might get a kick out of this build my brother did for me last spring. I held some wrenches and did some painting but he did all the engineering, and mechanical work.

The build is from an old, light duty trailer a friend gave me. It had an 8 foot tongue, 8" wheels (rusty) and bad wiring. Everything else was galvanized and in good shape.

What we did:
1) Stripped axle and bearings and painted as needed.
2) Replaced 8" wheels/tires with 12" and replaced bearings.
3) New wiring/lights.
4) Built a 4X4 foot box out of scrap plywood and 2X4s. I had to scrape and wash bird poop off, prime and paint with left over house paint
5) Replaced the 8' tongue with a 17' tongue
6) Used old tongue and scrap from new tongue to build a base for the new box.

Thing goes down the road like an arrow. We can load most of our packs into the box and then put rubberized packs with PFDs and light weight stuff on top of the box under the canoe. There is a top level for two more canoes side by side.

Good job holding those wrenches! That's a nice trailer.

Does it bounce much?

Not at all.
There were three concerns we had:
1) sway... None, whew!
2) bounce... Ratio of weight to spring strength. If I have a remaining concern it is that it might bottom out on really big bumps. I am considering mounting some kind of a stop on the frame to eliminate that possibility. This is very nicely balanced. Absorbs bumps nicely.
3). Resonance...with that long of a tongue and high speeds we must get some vibration. So far so good. I'll hand my brother a wrench this spring and have him check for loose bolts. A little lock tight goes a long way.

Proving once again, "it's not what know it's who you know".

Looks cool!

> "

Is that a fish laying on the grass in the background??

KarlBAndersen1: "

> "

Is that a fish laying on the grass in the background??"

Sure looks like it, doesn't it?

Ha, ha. You guys have great eyes. My nephews are always fishing or spearing or hunting or trapping. That is a carp they shot bowfishing the night before waiting to go to the garden. We took them on our trip to the Q last summer and they never stopped fishing. I saw my nephew (15 years old) yesterday and he is working on a way to boil more sap at one time. CRAZY outdoors family.
Rednecks and proud of it. I love those guys.

KarlBAndersen1: "

> "

Is that a fish laying on the grass in the background??"

I believe that's a fish out of water.