Anyone have experience loading/unloading a heavy boat
[ground-trailer]
and
[trailer-ground]
in a remote area ?

Thank you.
--
Courtney Thomas
s/v Mutiny
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619

Some boat movers have special trailer, called "Wish Bone Trailer". These
have no perminent frame down the middle.. The truck has a hydraulic hitch
that raises and lowers the whole trailer in a rocking motion. The trailer is
backed down with the longitudinal frame on either side of the boat, the a
couple side stands are set up from the trailer for support while the groud
stands are removed.. Then with some tricks with the truck hitch, the boat is
lifted off the gound, repeating this with additional keel blocks until the
keel is far enough off the ground until the trailer keel timbers can be
installed.

I've had my boat moved twice using this system and never have any problems..
My boat (13.5 ton) was at the max limit of this trailer.

Another interesting feature of this WishBone trailer. It has a frame made of
about 8" steel pipe. When he has a very heavy load, he pumps compressed air
into the frame to give it ridgitity (kinda of Viagra for boat trailer).

Normally these trailers are reserved for local hauls but if you call around
you might find one that does long hauls as well. Or you could have your boat
delivered to a local delivery yard and then have it transfered to a self
loading trailer..


--
My opinion and experience. FWIW

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Steve wrote:

Another interesting feature of this WishBone trailer. It has a frame made of
about 8" steel pipe. When he has a very heavy load, he pumps compressed air
into the frame to give it ridgitity (kinda of Viagra for boat trailer).

Have you ever really thought about that one for a moment?

Rick

Before the days of purpose-built trailers, hydraulic and otherwise, boats
were commonly moved in cradles on flatbed trailers. Getting them on and off
involved rollers, come-alongs, house jacks, timbers and lots of grunting.
Avoid it if you can.

Courtney Thomas wrote:

Anyone have experience loading/unloading a heavy boat
[ground-trailer]
and
[trailer-ground]
in a remote area ?

Thank you.
--
Courtney Thomas
s/v Mutiny
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619

Yes, but should I be broadcasting this?
We were given a boat with a long neglected outboard that we thought we
could revive (and did.)
But that left a boat on a trailer.

What could be done with it?
I had seen some neglected hulls on an open country lot,
so we drove there, and backed up to a convenient, and sturdy tree.

We tethered the boat at the transom to the tree with strap or chain,
took off the hold down straps and winch strap, and drove slowly
forward, while the trailer parted company with the hull.

And as nobody noticed, or cared, we drove away, rejoicing....

Brian W (I'm such a bad person...)
p.s. Loading is less convenient, and I think twice before undertaking
such chores. Rollers, A winch or come-along, A swing down tralier
(preferably). Plenty of patience. Count number of fingers, before
and after.

On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 08:26:21 -0500, Courtney Thomas
wrote:

Anyone have experience loading/unloading a heavy boat
[ground-trailer]
and
[trailer-ground]
in a remote area ?

Thank you.

Brian Whatcott wrote in message . ..
Yes, but should I be broadcasting this?
We were given a boat with a long neglected outboard that we thought we
could revive (and did.)
But that left a boat on a trailer.

What could be done with it?
I had seen some neglected hulls on an open country lot,
so we drove there, and backed up to a convenient, and sturdy tree.

We tethered the boat at the transom to the tree with strap or chain,
took off the hold down straps and winch strap, and drove slowly
forward, while the trailer parted company with the hull.

And as nobody noticed, or cared, we drove away, rejoicing....

Wow, that really sucks. I had the privelage of paying to have a couple
of boat fuel tanks that some nice asshole left me one night, removed.
I noticed, cared, and ended up making a trip to the dump, and paying
someone elses bill. Maybe it's cause I had a couple of boats on my
property, not cool...
Scotty


Brian W (I'm such a bad person...)
p.s. Loading is less convenient, and I think twice before undertaking
such chores. Rollers, A winch or come-along, A swing down tralier
(preferably). Plenty of patience. Count number of fingers, before
and after.

On Sat, 17 Jan 2004 08:26:21 -0500, Courtney Thomas
wrote:

Anyone have experience loading/unloading a heavy boat
[ground-trailer]
and
[trailer-ground]
in a remote area ?

Thank you.

12ton boat on/off ground

You don't say what place, what time, how often, why not crane, whether
you need to off-load into water, etc. All makes a big difference. Or
where your work/time/$$$ trade-offs are...

One approach:
1) (likely the most important part) build strong steel cradle, while
boat is on ground and supported by stands. Build the cradle around the
boat to be sure of fit and all. With great care, you can probably use
bottle jacks to lift the boat the 1" or less needed to maniuplate the
cradle and stands.

2) build 4 tall triangulated A-frames (2 at each end) to carry I-beams
with chain hoists at each end of the boat. Use wood or steel and lay it
out so when you hoist the boat or boat-on-cradle, a truck can back a
trailer under (ie. you need clear space under the boat - can't put any
parts of the hoist support under there). If you want to reverse the
process at the other end, your A-frame supports need to knock down and
assemble easily so you can move them with the boat, and set up at the
other end.

3)install large chain hoists on the girders (I-beams) over the boat. Get
webbing or chains or cables, depending on your preferred lift methods.
Layout must accomodate enough lift to get the boat and/or
boat-with-cradle high enough to allow a flat bed trailer to get under
it. Also, you need enough space around to get the rig in and out to the
road.

4) Either 1) lift the boat and winch the (empty) cradle onto the
flatbed, then set the boat onto the cradle, or 2) lift both the cradle
and boat and set boat onto the trailer at once.

Lots of work. If you don't like that, and you have a crane or something
at the other end: Build the cradle as above, dig a long ramp ending in
pit near the end of the cradle and stabilize the sides of the hole (at
least the one toward the boat) with large wood or poured concrete.
You've just created a loading dock, with your boat/cradle at the edge,
ready to winch onto the trailer you back down the ramp. If you want to
return, or if you want to ease the hauling of the cradle "over the
edge", pour a concrete slab under the boat, _then_ build the cradle on
that; fill the holes in the slab left by the stands that originally held
the boat. The solid surface will make it easier to skid the cradle.
Chamfer the front and rear parts of the cradle that rest on the ground
so it slides easier and you can get roller under it easier if you want.

You must use the right size materials - you need to talk to an engineer
and/or rigger to get that information, including what type bolts or
welds you need to use to hold it all together.

It starts to sound like you want a crane...

Rufus

You can get a boat on and off a flat bed or lowboy trailer with jacks,
blocks and shoring..

However, all the time (all day) you will be paying for the truckers time
while you fumble and argue about the process.. That could cost as much as
hiring a crane..

Or as I stated in my earlier post, hire a local hydraulic mover trailer to
load it and take it to a yard that can load it onto the long haul trailer..


--
My opinion and experience. FWIW

Steve
s/v Good Intentions