Tongue actually broke off a Smitybilt Scout Trailer

[Cj2atruck]

I bought this trailer about 10 years ago, and it’s now my son’s, but we have both used it quite a lot. Loaned it to a grandson and this happened….




It appears that the welds broke where the tongue was attached to the main frame. So, I towed a car trailer 520 miles to retrieve the injured trailer. I ran the winch rope under the axles of the Gladiator to the injured trailer and winched it on backwards.



Since I was already at Crater Lake, decided a camping trip was in order with Grandson.



…and then one more night camped by the Columbia River…



Once home, I will put it in the shop and fix the poor design so it will be ready for more camping trips….and never break again.

 

[MOAK]

Sadly this is what can be expected with anything marketed and labeled by Smittybuilt. Hope all goes well for you and that you are able to run a 2x3 tonge the entire length of the trailer.

 

[smritte]

The sign would have been bending at that point then cracking. I've seen properly built trailers bend there. If your going to rebuild it, I would suggest using 3/16 wall and moving the tool box back as far as it will go, reducing some of the tongue weight. With the axle placed where it is, you wont lose stability and it will reduce strain off that area. When I got my M-100 trailer years ago, I used it for trail maintenance wasn't uncommon for me to over load it a bit. The tongue started bowing over time right where yours broke. I made a new frame and no problems for the next decade.

 

[Cj2atruck]

The sign would have been bending at that point then cracking. I've seen properly built trailers bend there. If your going to rebuild it, I would suggest using 3/16 wall and moving the tool box back as far as it will go, reducing some of the tongue weight. With the axle placed where it is, you wont lose stability and it will reduce strain off that area. When I got my M-100 trailer years ago, I used it for trail maintenance wasn't uncommon for me to over load it a bit. The tongue started bowing over time right where yours broke. I made a new frame and no problems for the next decade.

Agree on moving the box back and making the whole thing shorter. I will be using 1/4” to rebuild the tongue.