Trailer Supports

[Duncan]

I had a dual-axle flatbed highway trailer which came with my Westwind. The home-built wooden cradle didn't look like much, but apparently it used to do the job:



Anyway, when I brought the Eastwind up to Lake Champlain (from Buzzards Bay), they said they'd store it inside if I had a trailer.
I only had about a week to get ready, though.

So, I took the old cradle off, left it to store the Westwind on, and bought six foundation posts.

* got u-bolts made at a truck garage (they use them for leaf springs), figuring the location of the posts could be could be adjusted that way
* removed the two outside boards of the flatbed to get at the frame and attached the posts with the u-bolts
* primary height adjustment was made by sliding the inside sleeves on the posts, then inserting bolts through the predrilled holes
* fine height adjustment is through the screw that threads into a plate which sits on top of the posts
* I had two pieces of angle iron cut and drilled for each pad
* the adjustment screw goes in between the pieces of angle iron, and was drilled to accept a through-bolt, so the pads could swivel to match the slope of the hull. The sideways angle is achieved by turning the plate which the adjustment screw sits on.

Here's how it ended up.
I was proud that the hull didn't deflect and the boat didn't fall over.
The yard manager who supervised us said my buddy and I deserved "employee of the month" (""I think you got her, ya done good boys"), for all our adjusting of things (which took a couple of hours all told):



Anyway, here's a closer look:



Any suggestions for fine-tuning? I'd like to finalize this so I can be confident of it on the highway, not just for yard moving and storage.

My thoughts so far:
* The plates on top of the posts need to be tack-welded (they just 'sit' there right now)
* I'm hoping the u-bolts are sufficient without welding things in place
* the posts need to be braced. I was thinking of doing that with angle iron, and bending and drilling the ends for bolts (again, to avoid welding and preserve flexibility/adjustment in case I want to use the trailer for a different boat sometime.)

[Figment]

Cool deal.

* the posts need to be braced.

boy howdy!
Diagonal bracing (in both directions) would be my next priority on this one. I'd pay particular attention to the forward posts, as these will play the most critical role in a panic-stop.

Even if the u-bolts slip, I wouldn't immediately leap for the welder. A thru-bolt will take a lot of shear.

Is this thing meant to be roadworthy, or just to act as a yard dolly?

I'll bet the bottom job is a lot easier now that the cradle is out of the way!

[tikvah59]

Nice job, Duncan. One question comes to mind - did you align the braces to bulkheads? It looks like you have a good old boat with a heavy layup schedule, but the little I know about trailers of that design is the pads should line up with the bulkheads if at all possible.

In regards to taking her down the Interstate: what kind of brakes does the trailer have? Is one axle OK for the weight of the boat?

Having paid for a custom-built trailer once (and then practically giving it away), I wish I could have done what you did here. Hope it works well for you.

Mark

[Duncan]

I'd pay particular attention to the forward posts, as these will play the most critical role in a panic-stop.

Thanks, that's a very good point. Perhaps a center post angled back to the bow.

Is this thing meant to be roadworthy, or just to act as a yard dolly?

In regards to taking her down the Interstate: what kind of brakes does the trailer have? Is one axle OK for the weight of the boat?

"This thing" - Ha! Guess I'd better get out the paint and spruce it up! It's ancient (at least 1960's), but very solid, 2 X 4 box channels, beams only 18" apart, dual axles, electric brakes, heavy springs, big tires - apparently it originally had a dump body on it, so pretty solid. The boat weighs 4500 lb empty, and I think the trailer's good for about 10,000 lbs, depending on the tires. It used to do 100 mile trips with the Westwind and cradle on it (by previous owner), so it has been proven that way. I'm still a bit 'risk-averse', though, so trying to be careful about this.

One question comes to mind - did you align the braces to bulkheads? It looks like you have a good old boat with a heavy layup schedule, but the little I know about trailers of that design is the pads should line up with the bulkheads if at all possible.

Paceships are actually pretty thin-skinned compared to other boats of the 1960's, so the internal framing of the bulkheads is pretty important.
We did try to get lined up properly, and the middle support is right on a bulkhead, but the fore and aft ones are only 'close'. I will try and get them lined up better this spring - this is one of the reasons for not welding at first, so as to enable a bit of trial and error.

Thanks for the comments, it's a 'work in progress' and a learning experience, so all suggestions are appreciated.