Trailer boat onto the ground

[Rapson]

I have just bought a Caribbean Safari 5m fiberglass. The hull is good but the trailer...not so much.

I want to take the boat off the trailer so me and the old man can unleash on the trailer. I have never taken a fiberglass boat off a trailer onto the ground before and was wondering if there were any tricks to it. I plan to use plenty of padding under the hull, carboard, blankets etc

Any hints would be great as I dont like surprises to much!:o

[jameshallam]

go and get some old car tyres probally about 8 or 9 for the size of ur boat thats wot i do

[Flex]

Go fishing for the day and let your old man hook into the trailer:)

[bigjimg]

Try and get a roll of carpet that has been ripped up about 4-5m in length and roughly 3m or more wide then cut it down the guts.So when rolled up you will have two bits between 450mm and 600mm wide depending how well you roll them.These will give you plenty of protection in all directions.Have a tyre or two at the ready for under the back end as you push it off and position your carpet rolls as you go.A couple of cut to size lengths of 70mmx35mm for under the rubbing strip to steady and your done.Also try and keep the bow up as it comes off the trailer,more tyres,to make it easy to get back on.Jim

[finga]

Tyres are the go.
Simple, easy and effective.
Have somewhere really flat to do the job.
Push the boat off until the back is about to touch the ground and bung a few tyres under the back.
One in the middle and at least one on each side the stop the boat falling to one side.
Make sure the motor will not hit the ground too.
Push the boat a little more until the back is resting on the tyres and then drive, or pull, the trailer from out from under the boat. Don't try and push the boat all the way off the trailer.
As you pull the trailer out bung a few more tyres under along the way.
We don't bother about making the stem higher when the boat is off as it's not much of a worry to start the boat back onto the trailer at all.
We don't even use a car to pull the trailer out now. We just pull the trailer out by our arms and legs andthen use the winch to pull the trailer back.
That way there's no need to try and lift the boat onto the trailer as the front of the trailer is automatically raised instead. Make sense?? I hope so. If not just say so,
It's not that hard. The main thing is too have a large enough flat area to do it.

[PinHead]

Use the tyre method but when putting the boat back onto the trailer, winch the trailer under the boat..not winch the boat up onto the trailer. leave the car in neutral with someone behind the wheel and let the trailer come back under the boat.

[Rapson]

Awsome, thanks for the pointers guys. Should save me a few band-aids and a little less swearing than usuall!

[Chimo]

Stick with the tyres as they are the best way to do it. They dont mark much but if you want to be sure just use a few old towels or mats on top of each tyre.. If you can use the ski hooks on the transom with a couple of same length ropes to a tree of a tow ball on a car behind the boat to anchor the boat so it slides off under your control. You need a few bodies to stuff tyres with covers if you want, under the keel and sides as you move the trailer out from under the boat.

Do not have the car attached, just use the winch to pull the trailer under and the boat on top the trailer after you have done your trailer repairs.

Be carefull of the front of the trailer as it obviously will pop up as you wind the boat back on.

Cheers
Chimo

[shano]

i did the same thing with my fibreglass boat , i put mine on car tyres! only thing was the ants like making homes in the hull because it is easy to get in! dam it lol!

[Angla]

Just do the tyres like others have said. It took me 5 minutes in a solo effort to let mine off. Once you start you will see how easy it is. Just use the winch to let it off in a controlled fashion.
I used 12 tyres, borrowed from the local tyre guy.

Cheers
Chris

[Redrocks]

The only thing I can add is if you have a fwd with a winch, use that to control it coming off the trailer. A mate has a tow ball on his bull bar for moving boats and trailers around and does it this way.

[Lucky_Phill]

When doing my trailer ( and refurb on glass boat ) many years ago.

Found the flat ground, as suggested, tied a rope ( 2 ) to the ski hooks on the transom and then to a tree. Placed tyres under boat and drove away. The boat simply stayed where it was and dropped ( ever so gently ) onto the tyres. I managed to do this by myself.

As was also suggested, I backed the trailer under the boat upon retrievel, but this was a 2 person job.

I actually repainted the whole boat this way, utilising trestles and ropes to hold the boat on it's side to do one half of the keel and then roll it over to do the other. Glass boats are quite strong and as long as the weight is distributed evenly, you won't have a problem.


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