Cradle for 40.5

[Bob Willett]

Myself and a friend both own 40.5 hunters 1994-1993. We are planning to move the boats to the New Orleans area in fall 2003. Our lake is Greers Ferry lake in north central Arkansas. We are looking for a cradle that would fit our boats. The problem we have is that there are no facilities to haul boats in our area. We would have to hire a crane from a town 30 mile away ($500hr). We are thinking of purchasing a trailer and a cradle so we can ramp retrieve the boat. If any knows of a boat hauler who has the capability to retreive a 40.5 from the water and haul it to the coast please let us know!

 

[Rich Wallace]

Loading From A Ramp Would Be Tough

I seriously doubt you can load your boats on a trailer with a cradle. The ramp would have to be deep enough to get the cradle well under water. To do that the trailer would have to be close to 10 feet below the water to get the depth. To accomplish that you would have to have a 50 foot tongue on the trailer and a real monster vehicle to pull it up the ramp.Although the crane is expensive, I am guessing it is the only choice. All of this raises another question. How did the boats get on the lake in the first place?

 

[Andy Falls]

Go over the dam

Hey Bob! You and Dodd should just crash through the dam and ride on down to New Orleans!I heard y'all were planning a great adventure. Don't forget us poor folks back in Arkansas.Tell all the GFLYC crew we said Hi! and to you and Dodd bye.

 

[Jeff]

for what its worth

We had a 26' swing keel boat when I was a kid. We put it in and out of resevoirs/lakes/oceans from Colorado to the west coast. The (keel up) draft was about 2.5' and we used 10' trailer extension on most ramps. Our trusty V8 pickup could haul the boat but we burnt lots of rubber on the slick ramps near the water.In short, it was hard. I'm guessing it would be an order of magnitude harder for a fixed keel 40.Keep in mind also that getting the boat on the cradle/trailer correctly is critical! More than once we had to "redip" the boat to get it on right. Also, my current 35.5 was damaged in transit by not being put on the cradle (with a crane) correctly before transport. I highly recommend not only a crane but getting someone who actually deals with boats regularly. If they have the right trailer etc you might not even need a cradle. Its not as expensive as you might think.As an aside, without a crane, how were you planning on getting the mast down? Do they have mast cranes there?Good luck either way.Jeff