Drive guard width?
 

What is your opinion on drive guard width? Most aluminum trailers and a few of the steel ones I have seen just extend the frame rails while others widen out behind the bunks.

Other than ease of construction, what advantage is leaving it frame width narrow?

I would think that widening out would allow more room for error.

Is the full 8'6" width the way to go or something in between.

Experiences or opinions???

Thanks,
Bill

Good question, I'm not a huge fan of drive gaurds but the ones without the rear door, just the rails extension with taillights are nice.

The west coast cat trailers with the triangle out the center are pretty slick also.

my trailer has a solid drive guard w no swing. It extends outward about 8 inches from rails and also drops 6 inches to clear drives. The guard should be wide enough to to turn the wheel full lock without outdrives hitting IMHO. I trim up past neutral and walk the boat on. Trailer is Myco dually. A drive guard is very nice to have especially when you hear peoples brakes squealing !! Been there !!

Thanks for the replies guys.

I believe frame rails are typically 80" on the outside and 71.5" inside (assuming 4.25" C channel aluminum). I measured my props at full turn both directions and I am at 66" wide. That only leaves a little over 3" on a side for error at full turn. It may be that by the time the boat is that far on the trailer the bunks are lining it up enough - or maybe not. It is the maybe not that has me concerned. I don't have the option of walking it on. The more idiot proof the better.

That said, why not make it the full 8'6" width? Does it look too wide or out of place? Is it more of a pain to maneuver due to the added girth back there?

I suppose a happy medium is where I will end up.

I have an aluminum I beam trailer and when I made my drive guard I just extended my existing beams that were 6ft 3in apart and went 6in past my drives so i had some place to mount a few more tail lights the cops did not like the tail lights being 7 foot inward from the tip of my drives

Mine are straight back with no gate. I don't have much margin for error!
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I don't have any room for error also but i float mine on so I have not run into any problems and my gate is bolted on so i can go with or without the gate

Would the no gate option be an issue on a shallow ramp ?

Built mine sides tapered in slightly so I dont have the big boxed corner sticking out [ more stylish ] splits in the center 1 pin swings to both sides out of the way , makes a good step but more LED tail lights & backup LEDs more so for the idiots tailgating .

Good thing I have a smart wife that reminds me to put the drives straight cause my dumba$$ would have screwed that up a million times already


http://33outlaw.zenfolio.com/img/s/v...88659479-5.jpg

There are pros and cons to drive guards. I personally had more cons... First is the lane to my lake house is a slight uphill grade off the highway but after a few hours of skid loader work, I made it so that I could enter and exit from one direction. It was a little bit of a pain in the ass to run a 1/4 mile up the road and turn around twice a day but I could live with that. Second, which I couldn't live with, is that you will never forget the sound that it makes when the prop hits the guard!

We were coming off the lake, I drive the truck, she drives the boat - she coasted it up on the trailer and bumped it into gear to bring it up but didn't have the drives straight... Obviously, the rear of the boat moved over slightly and instantly trashed a prop! That was it for the drive guard!

^^^^ Ouch

Yep! and as you can see, I have lots of room for error with the staggered engines... Our ramps are fairly steep where the nose of the boat engages in the bunks and the back is still free-floating.

Did you ever hang the left overs on the wall?

I'm not sure why a trailer company would make a drive guard without a gate feature, but mine didn't come that way. I'm praying for (all) steep ramps.

Must have been a shallow launch, my trailer is nowhere near the props when putting the boat on the trailer . only when pulling it out do I need to be sure the drives are straight.

I would call it "fairly steep". I've been on steeper but I've been on shallower also. Here's a couple photos from the off season when the water was down that show the launch. Also a photo of where the prop actually hit the trailer.

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If we add a drive guard to a trailer at customers request , I always extend the outer rails past the drives . Those narrow inner guards are a PITA to load , specially after a day at the sandbar!