Cradle-and-flatbed vs. "real" boat-moving trailer

[Rachel]

My A-30 came with a very nice, sturdy, adjustable steel cradle. Boatyards on the Greak Lakes would heartily approve, but out here on the Chesapeake, a boat cradle is a strange beast; about as welcome as poison ivy, but less-well understood.

Realizing it will always be something of an outcast at yards here, I nonetheless hate to chuck it out, and have had visions of how it -- combined with a flatbed utility trailer -- could make a dandy boat-transport trailer. I'm certainly not going to start trailer-sailing with it, but for occassional (most likely long-distance) moves, it could be very handy.

However, one possible bugaboo comes to mind: I'd never thought of it before, but when my boat was moved the professional trailers all had something like "cushion-ride" suspension. I'm sure utility trailers have some kind of springs, but I'll bet they're not anything like cushiony. Therefore, would transporting a boat like mine on the type of rig I envisioned above be hard(er) on the boat than a real boat transport trailer? Could it make the difference between damage and no damage?
This is assuming I were to have the boat well and properly supported on the cradle/trailer rig.

Thanks,

Rachel

[Tim]

Many people have moved boats long distances on the most basic of home-built trailers, none of which have any sort of fancy suspension.

There's no doubt that the air-ride suspensions found on modern hydraulic trailers and long-haul transport trailers are superior; they truly allow for a delicate ride for the boat. But spring suspensions will do the job and, with proper preparation, securing, and driving care, will not damage the boat. Note that a failure in any one of these three key areas may be the difference between a successful transport and a damaging one. Of course this goes for any transport, but a hard-sprung utility trailer with a boat placed relatively high on the trailer is certainly more likely to bounce around.

I think flatbed trailers with cradles perched atop are less than ideal for trailering larger boats, though. The load ends up higher than need be, which complicates preparations and route planning, and creates a less than perfect situation in terms of the stability of the load, though of course the weight on a sailboat is low anyway. But they work, undeniably. The lower the deck on your proposed flatbed, the better, for a host of reasons.

To me, this might be the only reason a cradle makes sense, but then only if you truly plan to create this trailer. Jackstands, blocks, and hydraulic trailers are the way of the world here, and make a lot more sense to me. Cradles take up too much room during storage, and are harder to move around, with and without boats in place.

Storing that cradle may become a liability that simply isn't worth the hassle, if the yards down your way are anything like here. You'll have to make a determination on how to deal with your cradle based on your potential storage complications for the empty cradle in the meantime.

[Tim Mertinooke]

I had the option to purchase a cradle made specifically for my Ariel when I bought the boat. The PO would keep it on the cradle in Beverly where he sailed and every third season or so would bring it home on the trailer about 100 miles away to do work. I had no need for the cradle so I passed, but he did show it to me. It was impressive because it was bolted together with beefy nuts and bolts and when it was broken down it was remarkably smaller and more transportable as you could do it piece by piece. I wonder if making that modification to your crade is an option without compromising it structurally. It seems like that would make it easier to store or transport giving you more options.

[Hirilondë]

Many years ago I had a 25' wooden double-ended sloop designed by W. Founce. It had a 6' beam. I had to fabricate a cradle for it as no one had a hydraulic trailer with pads close enough together to support my hull properly. Sandwiching the topsides with the pads didn't do my paint job any good. With a very sharp profile it was also harder to support it well with poppets in my back yard. The hauler I used had a hydraulic lifting trailer that was quite low and was able to slip under my blocked up cradle and carry it relatively close to the road.

Cradles aren't always a bad idea, but more often than not today's Brownell trailers are the way to go and poppets work just fine.