ohh beat me to it, yep spits

Nice. Englsih boat? I want a Narca A2 bad Just have to save up the $19,000. Oh well rebuilt Hobie 17 with reacher will have to do for now.

Doug Snell
Hobie 17
www.tcdyc.com

I'm not sure I understand why the trailer box has to get wet, unless there's heavy wave/wake action at the ramp? The box is ABOVE the trailer frame, and the rollers and cradles are only 2-3" above that. Is there any beach cat that will be damaged by a 3" drop to the water?

A 4,000 lb. motorboat HAS to be floated off the trailer, but a 300-400 lb. beach cat? As you roll it off BY HAND, the cantilever provided by the portion of the cat still on the trailer means you (and your back) will only experience maybe 30-40 lbs. of load... you need more muscle than that to tug on the mainsheet.

I had a Dilly Cat-hauler w/ a 4' x 8' plywood box on it. IIRC, the rear rollers were on top of the trailer's rearmost crossbar, the taillights were on the backside of that rearmost crossbar, and the rear of the wooden box was also even with the backside of that rearmost x-bar, pretty standard setup... (it had rollers up front too... lack of cradles didn't seem to bother the P-16's tough keels one bit.)

(FRESH WATER LAKE): I'd back down the concrete ramp until that rear crossbar and lights were just about to get wet. Do not remember it being a very steep ramp. The Prindle's keels curve up and so were maybe 8-10" off the water. Unstrap boat, grab BOAT'S rear x-bar and roll back until balance/tilt point reached. Since nearly balanced, only a few pounds of weight supported by my arms. Gently lower stern into water, step around to the side, and continue sliding off trailer. Never got wet very far above the knees. Keels in no danger of scraping bottom... (rudders UP, nach)... box and lights: DRY.

The only part of the trailer that gets wet are wheels (and leaf springs), but that's why Bearing Buddies were invented, i.e. the spring-loaded piston keeps the grease packed tight, leaving NO ROOM FOR WATER.

not the prob getting boat off trailer- getting it back on is what scares me

Why not get some beach wheels and keep your trailor out of the water altogether.

I sometimes launch in waves that are 6-12 inches. My trailer gets wet and so do I. It is never a bad idea to assume anyting having to do with your boat will get wet. This is an especially good assumption when sailing in salt water as it is very corrosive and you should be ready for this.

One of the skippers in my fleet built a custom trailer with an integral beach-wheel-dolly. When he pulls up to the lake, he just unlocks the dolly and rolls it (boat and all) down the beach to the water. He launches and retrieves directly off/onto the dolly so his hulls never even touch the sand. When he's done for the day, he simply wheels the dolly back up onto the trailer and locks it down.

It's an ingenious system that works very well. So well, in fact, that IFG blueprinted his design and now offers it as an option on new Isotope trailers.

I've gone through this before int he same thread even. My trailer doesn't have rollers- I have always read that they aren't good for the hulls. I do have beach wheels (not stellar, but they work fine). How do you get a 400 pound boat onto a trailer even from beach wheels?

It's hard. Where I put in most last season the only option was to use beach wheels. I have to tell you that a 400lb cat is hard to drag up the beach. Especially after being on the water for 8-10 hours. The worst part is getting the boat up onto the trailer, even with the rear rollers. Unless the height of the trailer rollers or cradles is the same as the beach wheel axel, then you do have to work pretty hard at pushing or pulling the boat up that incline.

I have started to use the boat winch to get is on the trailer from the beach wheels. This can still be tricky as the wheels like to shift on you at inopportune times.

Well, in dolly system above, the trailer frame has rollers but they never come in contact with the hulls. Instead, the dolly frame (which is lightweight square aluminum tubing) rides on the rollers when loading and unloading. When actually on the trailer, the dolly rests on rubber pads and the dolly frame pins securely onto the trailer frame. The dolly itself has 4 molded cradles (fore and aft for each hull) that the boat rests on. Beach wheels are attached at the aft of the dolly, and a crossbar at the front provides a place to lift and grip. It is well enough balanced that I doubt it takes more than 20lbs of force to lift a 285lb boat. To unload, he lifts the front handle. The rear of the dolly pivots down onto rollers and he rolls if off the trailer onto the beach wheels. To load, he lifts the front of the dolly onto the rollers and pulls the dolly back up onto the trailer frame. It's surprisingly easy.

Regards,
Eric

Eric, I'm having a hard time visualizing this roll-on dolly system. Are there any pictures of this in operation?

I do it alone a lot. I have cradles on the trailer, not rollers. They have carpet which I sometimes spray with a silicone lube, it seems to help some. I untie the wheels from the shrouds, roll the boat tilted as close as I can to the trailer. Take the tiller crossbar off so I can get my forearms under the back crossbar. Lift the boat while walking forward. You are lifting less than 100lbs if you cradle it pretty well. It is not A-Cat easy but not that difficult.

Later,
Dan

My trailer is a break-frame converted power boat trailer. I bolted two 2” X 2” galvanized cross beams just like any other cat trailer…but instead of putting rollers or cradles on the ends of the cross beams I bolted carpeted 2” X 8” PT planks (running fore and aft) so there is approx. 6 feet of contact with the bottom of each hull. To unload the boat just pull the pin on the trailer the stern goes down/the bow up with very little effort…push the boat off or even drive most of the trailer out from under the boat. It makes it a lot nicer to reload too since you don’t have to lift the bow onto the trailer…just winch it on…and no the sail box never gets we either.

As far as submerging your trailer…while I don’t have to do that with my cat trailer…my power boat trailer goes in till the fenders disappear under water…it is rinsed thoroughly with fresh water after every use. I have had no problems with it what-so-ever.

Where do you go to get trailer wenches nowadays? It takes 4 people to lift my boat into the top position of a double-stack trailer and I could use a few more wenches from time to time.

Soory th spel chek din’t cach it I ges

Regards,
Seeker

There's a slideshow of the dolly at http://www.intl-fiberglass.com/rigging_parts.html

I sure love the rear spoiler on the top one. It is sort of like the whale tail on a Porsche 911 Carerra.
image

GARY

Okay, so what about rain?

GARY

Dynamite? Must be a big boat to be 400#. BTW, fantastic AC coverage.

Guys:

ReededOne gave me an idea in one of the other threads. Take 4-6 of these:
http://www.stores.yahoo.com/baytec/30galfoodgra.html
Cut the ends of and use plastic to band them together. Make ends out of glassed over plywood. Throw some clamps on the lids and put a shelf in one end for rudders, blocks etc. I think it would make a good box.

Just my opinion.

Doug Snell
Hobie 17
Soon to be Mystere 4.3 Formula 14
www.tcdyc.com