Courtesy Hitch Shops The robust Swinger trailer-tongue hinge can be bolted or welded to tongue tubes of different diameters.
Trailer tongues often extend well beyond the bow of a trailered boat, and sometimes that extra length causes problems when getting the boat undercover or shoehorned into a tight storage building or lot. Because tongue length adds expense to by-the-square-foot heated indoor storage, installing a trailer tongue hinge can generate enough savings that pay for itself over a few storage seasons.
But a good tongue hinge cannot become a weak point due to poor manufacturing or corrosion, nor should it in any way compromise the strength of a boat trailer’s over-the-road performance. So, when sourcing consistent-quality cast trailer-tongue hinges became difficult, Ken Anderson, owner of Hitch Shops, headquartered in New Brighton, Pennsylvania, partnered with Ellco Manufacturing LLC in Ellwood City to develop and manufacture the trademarked Swinger trailer tongue hinge. It is a robust weldment that can be bolted or welded to the tongue tubes of trailers using 3“ x 3“, 3“ x 4“, and 4″ x 5“ (76mm x 76mm, 76mm x 102mm, and 102mm x 127mm) steel tubing. (Their patent application is pending.)
Anderson said, “To the extent possible, the steel, the pins, and fasteners are manufactured here in the U.S.A. Ellco does the fabricating. I decided not to license the device to others, because they wanted to move production overseas. It took me nine tries to find a U.S. manufacturer for the hinge pin, and the Grade 8 locking bolt was tough to find, too.”
The Swinger is available in silver- or gold-electroplated finishes. The fit of the bolt and pin in their bores, and between the knuckles, is tight. Bare-finish Swingers are available for weld-on projects. I asked about hot-dip-galvanized Swingers, and Anderson ruefully commented, “We found out that the variable coating thickness of hot-dip galvanizing made everything bind and required remachining, which compromised the hot-dip coating.” So, rinsing the hinge after launchings in salt water or travel over salted roads is a good idea.
I spoke with Paul Hughes, service manager at Hinckley Yacht Services in Savannah, Georgia, who had sourced a Swinger for a client with a failed old hinge on his boat’s trailer. “We found the bolt-on Swinger hinge’s construction to be impressive,” Hughes said. “We did have to change the pickup points for the safety chains to behind the hinge, which they weren’t. We found Hitch Shops to be good to work with, and our customer is pleased with the results.”
Hitch Shops, 416 Constitution Blvd. Suite J, New Brighton, PA 15066 USA, tel. 724–846–3333.
