1973 C22 swing keel

watercolors II · Jan 28, 2015

I would not use rollers.

Looked at your suggested boat trailer;

The question becomes how are you going to use this trailer?

Let the boat sit on the trailer at the marina with maybe a pull home a couple times a year, the pull being less than 20 miles at a time.

The problem is that this trailer is too light duty, it says for a 14 to 19 ft., to pull often and any distance, not only is it light it has no brakes.

If you plan on trailering the boat all the time;

You need brakes because the trailer and boat will weight in at 3300 to 3500 lbs., vehicle brakes will not handle a sudden stop.
You really need bunks to support the weight of the hull, rollers make it easier to load but each roller will only have about one half by 2 inch square support area, a bunk of 6 inches by 8 feet will give you over 500 sq. inches on one side of the hull where one roller is only 1 square inch.

Attached is a PDF with dimensions listed as the minimum you will need to fit a Catalina 22 swing keel.

CaptDon01 · Jan 28, 2015

Cwilliams64,

My opinion, stay away from a wheeled trailer. Bunks are simpler, cheaper, and give support over a longer surface so it's easier on the hull. I float the boat off and on the trailer, I don't drag my boat up on the trailer. Believe it or not, the fiberglass hull on our C-22's really isn't very thick. I know a lot of folks use wobbly-wheel trailers, and swear by them, but if you look at the majority of the C-22 trailers, there must be a reason why the majority of them use bunks, and I believe it's the simplicity and better support offered by the bunk.

Don

CloudDiver · Jan 28, 2015

That trailer is not the worst candidate that I have seen, and not bad for $325. For short distance towing it should be ok. You'd want to get rid of the rollers and add bunks. There are come tall galvanized risers I bought from etrailer.com that work out well. You'll aslo need some keel rollers on centerline. My concern with that trailer is that it only has two cross members. To make it work you'd have to make an additional cross member that bolts or welds in.

My trailer is sitting in my driveway with the boat off of it. I'll snap some pics when I get home and post them here for you. What I found is that if you take a measurement from the horizontal plane between the bunks (place a board across the bunks and drop a plum bob down to the keel roller) you need a minimum of 16 inches of vertical clearance, 17 is ideal, 18 inches is too much (i.e., the higher you go makes it harder for the boat to float off on a shallow ramp).

drazlou · Jan 28, 2015

I used a roller trailer on my C25 swing keel for years. Just put plenty of rollers on it and make sure that the front cross member has more rollers than the back. This is opposite of how most power boat trailers are made. Power boats have most of their weight at the back, sailboats have their weight much more centered. DO NOT USE KEEL ROLLERS since the boat is not intended to be supported by the keel. Once you load the boat with the keel all the way up onto the trailer you should lower the keel onto a board that runs fore and aft down the center of the trailer. You don't want to drive down the road with the keel hanging by the cable and winch. This is true whether you use a bunk or roller style trailer. Make sure that the trailer you get has enough clearance between the supports and the cross bars to accommodate the keel in it's raised position. My C25 keel protruded at least 20 inches below the bottom of the hull. A C22 is much less but I don't know the exact dimension. I'm sure someone here can tell you.

CloudDiver · Jan 29, 2015

I'm not sure why drazlou says not to use keel rollers, my rollers have nothing to do with supporting the hull by the keel. They are just there to guide the keel in straight and prevent damage to the leading edge. My bunks are at the correct height so that the hull sits on them, not the keel. Once the bow rests on the bow roller and the trailer is pulled out the keel cable is slacked so that the keel end rests on roller number 3. In the pic my farthest aft roller is not installed, that one is 12 inches wide. The close up pic shows the vertical bunk supports (14 inch), and the tilt brackets which add another inch and a half, then the bunk boards with spacers add additional height.

CloudDiver · Jan 29, 2015

That does look like a better trailer. Do you have a MIG welder? You'd just need to cut off the old posts and weld on new ones and then repaint. The brackets I used are nice, but they aren't cheap, plus you have buy all the U bolts.

I paid 350 for my trailer, but after buying 2 new axles, springs, hubs, all new wheels/tires I am over 2 grand into that thing!

I'll take all the basic dimensions off my trailer and post them here after work.

cwilliams64 said:
Thanks clouddiver for the pics. So, the guy that has the trailer in my first post, also has this trailer. Out of the two, I'm thinking this one might work better. I know the bunks will have to be modified, but the trailer has brakes. And he also dropped the price by 50 bucks. Thoughts??? How far apart are the bunks on your trailer?
http://battlecreek.craigslist.org/boa/4825046996.html

Charlie

CloudDiver · Jan 29, 2015

I think the bolt on bunk supports will still work, you need the angle anyway. Only difference is the brackets will not have to pivot, probably to your advantage as it will provide just a hair more vertical clearance. In that case all you have to do is cut off the old supports, grind down the welds and repaint. I can give you a website in Florida where I got all my galvanized U-bolts, way cheaper than anywhere else I have found.

A welder will charge anywhere between 60 to 100 per hour, and then you end up with no adjustability.

cwilliams64 said:
I do not have a welder. I would have to get someone to do the work for me. I really do appreciate all of your help and info. I'm probably going to go pick up that trailer tomorrow after work.

Charlie

CloudDiver · Feb 2, 2015

www.etrailer.com for the vertical supports and tilt brackets. Also got my springs and hubs there as well as other small stuff.
The u-bolts came from a place in Florida, www.sturdybuiltonline.com
Axles came from an ebay seller that is in Louisianna, I'm not sure you need new axles?
Also, just in case, wheels/tires came from www.recstuff.com but I think you are good there too. Let me know if you need measurements.

cwilliams64 said:
Hey clouddiver, when you have time can you give me that website where you got your galvanized parts? Thanks so much for your time.

Charlie

1973 C22 swing keel

.

.

Attachments

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.