Fulton F2 or other options?

I need to replace my trailer jack, again. 2001 XStar with about 400lbs of lead stored in nose. I bought the 1500lb Overton's brand last time, and have been through at least 3 of the older factory ones from MasterCraft. I want something that is going to last for at least a few years under the load that is on it.

Is the F2 my best option, or is there something you guys are finding is working / holding up better. I did some searches, but did not find much on the longevity of the jacks, just some great install posts. The F2 is only rated 100lbs more than the jack I have now.

Most of the jacks that are sold in retail stores are total pieces of crap. The higher end fulton jacks are decent but I would go find a local trailer manufacturer/trailer supply in your area and get your hands on a jack that can handle the weight. As in life, the more you spend the better it is going to be and jacks aren't any different.

This is an example from a place I used to work at. You will rarely find a "wheeled" jack that will hold more than 1500lbs.

http://sixrobblees.com/index.aspx?sN...EXP=Y&bIL=True

I just finished rebuilding my Fulton. It is nice that you can rebuild them and the company is very helpful. I'm very happy with my Fulton.

Currently waiting on my Fulton F2 trailer to come.in as i had to get.mine warrantied.after ¥
months.of use
I wanna give the Co benefit of the doubt that i may have bought a.bad jack
But there customer service have been really helpful in my process

I have extra weight in steel ballast that i leave in the nose of my X45. I go through a jack typically every season. I had to reinforce the mount plate on my trailer because it was starting to fail too. Just recently I cut it off, welded on an adapter plate and mounted a new F2 on it. Works great, i'll see how long it lasts. They always seem to fail at the pivot point, and the F2 has a heavier pivot point so I am keeping my fingers crossed. Often my jack wheel(s) would break before the jack and i'd just weld on a flat plate in its spot. I wish they would come out with a better design, boats just keep getting heavier.

I have broken one of the wheels on my jack after 3 years, I ordered a new one, it was very easy to replace.

I have had 2 different F2 Jacks on my 2002Air the first jack striped the gears and I was able to return and exchange at west marine. The 2 nd jack is not feeling good as well. It haven't broke but it would not surprise me when or if it does.
My othe float has a F2 and that Jack is acting up as well. Some times it cranks up and down no problem and some times it's real hard making me think Somthing is sideways inside. So bottom line is I wouldnt be surprised if hat on breaks as well. I think Fulton needs to get what ever is wrong with the F2 fixed. I love the F2 but if it's gonna break every 3 years then. Gonna have to kook else where

If I was breaking jacks because I had a bunch of extra weight in the boat(lead or steel) I would take that as a hint as to what am I doing to the trailer. Trailer is likely over loaded and is for sure balanced wrong(too much tongue weight, not enough axle). 99% of manufacturers put just enough trailer under their boats to get by. Most of us are probably overloading them with a full tank of fuel and lake gear.

The jack failing could be a warning of the broken spring or axle that is to follow. Which murphy's law says will be at highway speed and as far away from home as possible.

Not sure which one my boat had. But it was the original one from 1995, had no problems with it. After a year of 350 lbs in sand the jack started feeling kinda loose. Maybe go with one for a car hauler or something? I think they are rated for more weight

Tod I can assure you my boat is not overloaded. The only thing I could see wrong is the jack has quite a lean to it. Its mounted in the stock location. Nothing I can do about it. One thing I notice about the F2 is it Bleeds rusty water from time to time. Its like the Jack gets wet and holds onto water somehow and causes wear?
Thats the only thing I can think of now

F2 lean

jack lean

Not your Grant, one of the posters said he had a bunch of steel ballast in the nose and then had problems with his jack. I was saying that if you are transporting a bunch or lead or steel ballast in the bow or the boat for that matter you are probably over weighting and unbalancing your trailer and could potentially cause a failure of a spring, axle, tire, etc.

Mine leans like yours and feels like crap and it's never had weight in the front. But my boat is also a 97.

I'm not sure what to say about my Fulton F2. It's better than the stock junk my originally on my trailer. But it is not all I had hoped it would be (and paid for it to be).

You look at Grant's leaning jack, you'll see 2 axes. The upper outer sleeve is not vertical, and then also, the lower inner tube is not aligned on the same axis as the upper sleeve.

I'm one of those guys who made the fancy adapter plate so the mounting would look smart. And it does. Nevertheless, the lower inner tube seems to find its own angle from the upper outer sleeve. When I crank the trailer to its full height, the jack looks double-jointed. Another quibble I have is that, the travel between hi and low extremes seems rather short. On level ground, I would set the midpoint of the range to about the middle of my tow vehicle unloaded and then my tow vehicle hitched.

However, resorts around here have steep irregular ground to drop off my trailer. My F2 can't always reach the ground and then afterwards be high enough to re-hitch.

The last quarrel is that, the mounting plate of the F2 has a bigger footprint than standard jacks, and offers the promise that the rest of the jack will be similarly robust. But that is not the case. Again, the jack's crank stroke is relatively short, and there is a lot plastic in the construction.

I'm just not sure of the F2. It's stylish. But I've liked other upgrades to my boat better, which were both stylish and functionally superior.

I used some bearing shim material between the jack and where it attach's to its mount. It took a lot of the play and lean out of the install. The F2 is not perfect but is definitely better than the stock one my boat came with. Also I went with the single large wheel which seams to be a more sturdy design than the two wheel unit

Grant when I broke my jack down there was a tremendous amount of rust and rusty water. I was not happy about that.

I bought a dual wheel Fulton to replace mine for $85 or so on line and it has been great. Also didn't have to change the mounting plate which the F2 would have required.

Im on the 4th F2. This one is 3 weeks old. I thought the mount was the weak link so i replace it with 2"x6" box tubing. I was wrong