Transporting Mast

cliffg · Post by **cliffg** » Thu May 17, 2007 4:40 pm

I need to take my mast to have a repair made. When I took it off I owned a small pickup with a substanial ladder rack on it and even though the mast overhung both ends it was stable. Now I have an Exporer or Volvo wagon. Does anyone have any ideas of a way I can transport the mast? I can borrow a full size pickup but it doesn't have a ladder rack. I'm pretty stumped on this.

Post by **dasein668** » Thu May 17, 2007 5:27 pm

How long is the mast? You should be able to tow it. I have a friend that towed his 70 foot mast behind his VW Golf. Just go to your town office to get a pole towing permit (cost him 7 bucks) and make sure you flag the end!

He moved his at about 5AM to minimize traffic snarls.

cliffg · Post by **cliffg** » Thu May 17, 2007 7:00 pm

What did he do, rent a trailer? I don't have it on the boat right now. The boat is in a storage area where I can work on it but the mast is in my yard.

Post by **dasein668** » Thu May 17, 2007 8:15 pm

No he used a pole dolly, which is a two-wheeled towing "cart" that he attached about 2/3 or 3/4 down the length of the spar, then attached a tongue to the base of the mast which went on the hitch. I don't know if he rented the equipment, or had it on hand (he has lots of odd stuff on hand).

How far do you have to move it?

catamount · Post by **catamount** » Thu May 17, 2007 9:11 pm

Chesapeake Rigging in Annapolis, Maryland, has special mast trailers that they use to transport masts over the road.

In Massachusetts, I was told that if you have anything that overhangs your trailer by more than 10 feet, you must have an escort car. Thus I left my 52' mast in the storage shed in Marblehead when I had my 34' boat trucked to my home in New Hampshire last fall.

All that said, I would look into Nathan's suggestion of a pole dolly. Back in the 1960's, my dad hauled a large barn across town behind a VW Beetle -- one stick at a time.

Regards,

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Thu May 17, 2007 10:19 pm

I'm not sure what size mast you're planning to transport, but I moved a 22' mast on my ex-Toyota wagon by using my two existing Yakima roof racks and then building a temporary "rack" that extended up from the front bumper (which was conveniently very flat and shelf-like). I arranged it so that about 4' was hanging out in front of the car, and then about 6' behind. I believe I checked and anything sticking out more than 4' behind the car needed a red flag during daylight and a red light at night. I don't remember checking the rules about how much overhang you could have in front or what the ultimate rule is for the back (I'm sure there's still a limit even with the flag/light). I was in a rural area and drove it about 80 miles that way.

The support I made for the front used a vertical plank (probably 1"x 8") that had a notch cut in the top for the mast. I clamped a horizontal board at the bottom and that sat on my bumper and also gave the thing side-to-side stability (the whole thing resembled an upside-down "T." I drilled a few holes in the upright for tie-down points. The fact that the mast was tied tightly to the board, the racks, and the car gave the whole thing rigidity and it all felt very sturdy.

Note for next time: Make sure the horizontal board at the bottom of the front rack doesn't cover up the passenger-side headlight or the main cooling area of the radiator...

Rachel

windrose · Post by **windrose** » Fri May 18, 2007 3:45 am

Nathan and Rachel already made great suggestions, I see folks hauling them around all the time with an upright (like Rachel suggested) on the front of a boat trailer so the mast can overhang the top of the vehicle.

Chesapeake Rigging, West River Rigging and Alpha Rigging all have trailers. Where are you?

Post by **Tim** » Fri May 18, 2007 6:36 am

I moved my Ensign mast on a rack on my pickup some years ago. It was probably illegal, but life goes on, and sometimes one needs to get things done. That mast might have been around 30' long, so it didn't overhang the truck by that much at either end. I think I let it hang further off the front than the back to miminize the chance of some fool driving into the back of it at a stoplight. I drove right through downtown Portland with this on my way from South Portland to Yarmouth.

How successfully--and easily--you can move a reasonably-sized mast on your own probably depends more on your local area, and the friendly law enforcement officials found there, then anything else. As I recall, you have a Kittiwake (?), so the mast isn't that long. But the other suggestions here cover most of the bases.

For the sake of interest, here is a photo of the custom mast trailer that Metalmast used to transport my daysailor mast to Maine from CT a couple years ago. This trailer is really cool because it expands or contracts for different sized masts--the whole thing telescopes out along its tubular frame. I think the guy told me that they can carry up to 80' masts on this trailer.

Post by **Tim** » Fri May 18, 2007 6:39 am

catamount wrote:In Massachusetts, I was told that if you have anything that overhangs your trailer by more than 10 feet, you must have an escort car.

In Massachusetts, it seems you need a special police escort or detail for just about anything. Your (well, their) tax dollars at work for the betterment of life for all, I guess.

CharlieJ · Post by **CharlieJ** » Fri May 18, 2007 8:43 am

one more idea.

Once hauled a mast half way across Florida using an empty boat trailer. Built an X at the rear of the trailer to hold that end of the mast up at truck roof height. Set up a cross piece on a roof rack on top of the truck with a pivot on it. Tied the front end of the mast to that. Then as you went around corners the mast could pivot at the truck end, but stayed set at the trailer end. The end of the mast stuck out about 3 feet past the trailer.

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Fri May 18, 2007 3:06 pm

That's pretty cool, Charlie.

I also liked the "whole barn across town one plank at a time" story, Catamount.

R.

Ceasar Choppy · Post by **Ceasar Choppy** » Fri May 18, 2007 3:51 pm

Was looking for the picture, but can't find it it:

I hauled my 35ft Renegade mast through town using my pick-up, but I could have used a stationwagon or anything long... the trick was to mount it on the SIDE of the vehicle so as to support as much of the spar as possible. With the gate down, I think I was able to support almost 20ft. Used 2x4s crossways under the hood and off the gate and ties it down whereever I could along the side. Went slow so as not to set off too much vibration/pumping on the unsupported ends. Looked like something out of the Beveryhillbillies, but it worked.

Post by **Tim** » Fri May 18, 2007 4:51 pm

Ceasar Choppy wrote:Was looking for the picture, but can't find it it:

I hauled my 35ft Renegade mast through town using my pick-up, but I could have used a stationwagon or anything long... the trick was to mount it on the SIDE of the vehicle so as to support as much of the spar as possible. With the gate down, I think I was able to support almost 20ft. Used 2x4s crossways under the hood and off the gate and ties it down whereever I could along the side. Went slow so as not to set off too much vibration/pumping on the unsupported ends. Looked like something out of the Beveryhillbillies, but it worked.

I think we really NEED to see a photo of that! hehe

cliffg · Post by **cliffg** » Fri May 18, 2007 5:15 pm

I definately would like to see the photo of 2X4s under the hood!!!

I live in VA just outside Washington DC. A number of years ago, I used to paint houses in the summers, I was a teacher. Well I was working on a 3 1/2 story townhouse in Alexandria and needed a long ladder, I had to rent it, Ican't remember how long for certain. Anyway, I had a VW Bug at the time. I called the state police and asked if there was a restriction on hualing something like that. They said the only law was that if it protruded more than 3' past the back bumper it needed a flag. Well, as you can imagine it definately protruded more than 3'. So I put it on the roof, tied it down securely and put a red flag on the end. I had pretty evened up the overhang front and back. Driving through Old Town Alexandria (which is pretty snooty = expensive) was a hoot. I had to stop a good distance back from intersections and ease forward because the front of the ladder would enter the intersection way before I could see what was coming. I made it but there was a lot of sweat on my brow.

Now, getting the ladder up to the peak so I could prep and paint was quite an event in itself. It was extended as far as possible, I had a guy at the bottom stabilizing it, but it was a little harrowing anyway because the damn thing would sway with a little breeze. Of course, I had go up and down about 5 times. Not fun! And heights don't bother me it was the prospect of the sudden stop on the concrete sidewalk that concerned me.

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Fri May 18, 2007 6:07 pm

Geez, I guess my little 22' mast was child's play in this crowd. I agree - photos of the 2x4s under the hood please.

Rachel

Post by **Tim** » Sat May 19, 2007 6:58 am

This discussion is starting to lead us down the road to things like this...

Post by **dasein668** » Sat May 19, 2007 8:36 am

Or this: Overloaded Car Video

(The car part doesn't start til about 15 or 20 seconds in. Be patient.)