How to Maintain a Trailer Crank

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Albert Hedgepeth with Expert Village. Today we're going to talk a little bit about trailer maintenance. Let's talk about the crank. The crank has a couple different pieces that actually make it all come together and work and hold the load on the boat. You first got a handle which turns all the gears, you then have a set of gears in here which actually distribute the load and make it so that a single person can pull the boat or the load up onto the trailer. You've got a locking mechanism or a clicker, which is used to disengage the handle so that it'll spin freely in both directions and also lock the handle going in one direction as you pull the load up onto the trailer. You then have webbing or rope is used many times or steel cable which actually connects the load to the gearing system itself. And then you also have a hook that's going to be connected directly to the load that you're attaching to the trailer. Some things to look at on these gears or on the actual cranks themselves are first of all to make sure that the hook is in working order, that the spring works and that the hook is actually attached to the webbing in a working fashion. You want to check your threads, make sure that they aren't peeling out. You also want to check the webbing itself throughout the spindle to make sure that its not dry rotted. You probably should replace these every three to five years. With the sun, with the weather, with the wind and the water, a lot of time they deteriorate pretty quickly. You might even want to get in here to these gears, throw some white lithium grease on top of it, go ahead and spin it around a couple times to get it evenly lubricated, that's just going to help you whenever you're pulling the load up onto the trailer. You want to make sure that all the gears are actually working correctly, that they're mounted tight and that they're in working order. The clicker, you should make sure that its spring loaded, that its not rusting apart and that it fits appropriately on the gear itself. Doing this will make sure your load is safely on the trailer."