Lifting a sailboat from a trailer question

[skipperguy]

clever, if not apropos

I was going to suggest blocking the hull and letting the air out of the trailer tires. That was before I saw the pictures and realized that sawing a hole in the garage rear wall was probably distastful.
Good luck - I'm sure you'll "overcome".

 

[davidmhull]

Here are some pictures of the trailer I am dealing with. The boat is fortunately in great shape and ready to go other then the motor mount. The side supports are extremely wonky and will be the first thing to be replaced before dipping.

 

[sailormanbigd]

lift boat

I used a modified Sumner approach on an Oday 25. I built a custom saw horse support shaped in a V for the stern and used cinder blocks and a pair of hydraulic jacks to lift the front at the bow first. Pulled trailer as far as I could, then block and jack with the other jack. Took some extra time but got er done. did the same in reverse to slip trailer back underneath boat. if you have a backhoe that would lift the bow, maybe from the bow eye?

 

[Lorin Smith]

Lift? Launch!

Why don't you just launch the boat and let it float safely while you work on the trailer?

I have an oday 22 that I need to get off my trailer temporarily. I have a friend who is going to hot dip galvanize it for me for free so I can't pass this opportunity up. The trailer is in very bad need of a paint job and this seems to be the time to do this. I have an overhead gantry with a chain fall that I'm sure will take the weight but I'm concerned with the fact that it only has a single lift point. I just need to get the trailer up a few inches so I can pull the trailer out from under her. She has a fixed keel and right now all the weight is resting on some 2" X 8" boards which are attached to the trailer. I'm assuming by this that it is okay to have all the weight on the keel. My plan is to use some canvas straps and place one under the keel and another one just in front of the keel with some ratchet straps forward to keep the strap from slipping toward the stern. As I said my gantry only has a single lift point which is not ideal for this. Another thought I had was to lift an I beam with the chain fall with the I beam running fore and aft. I would attach the straps at the ends of the I beam and that would spread out the lift points a bit. I'm thinking maybe a six foot or eight foot beam. Am I overdoing this? Do you guys think that just lifting by a pair of straps from a single point would do the job? I don't want to put an undue strain on the sides since they are designed to be supported by water and I'm not sure how much strain they can take. I don't have a lot of experience with fiberglass boats. They may be constructed so strong that I could just use a single strap under the keel and just hoist the whole thing up a few inches. Am I being overly cautious here? Thanks for any advice.

 

[shnool]

That trailer is fine best I can tell...

Obviously getting it dipped is a huge bonus, and you should go for it. I'd launch the boat. You won't use the tilt function, I've never seen the "tilt" from the magic tilt trailers be even slightly useful. An extendable tongue yes, tilt, no.

Since better than 75% of the boat's weight is on that keel board, you want to replace that with something more substantial, a nice pressure treat 2x6 or 2x8 would work, bolt it through the trailer...

The bunks have very little weight on them, they are merely for lateral support, the boards ON the bunks are really only meant to hold the vertical supports up when weight it applied to them, and also provide anti-marring to the hull (carpeted of course).

Your easiest solution is to splash the boat, THEN work on the trailer.

As a crappy alternate you have a couple hundred dollars to invest into some proper jack-stands... which is the right way to get the boat off the trailer. You dip the front of the trailer, crank up the screws on the aft mounted jack stands. Raise the front of the trailer, and pull (your keel should clear of the keel support if you do it right).. You slowly PULL the boat off the trailer that way, use your gantry to support as much weight as possible for this. Sure you can build some trusses and do the same thing, but why? Used jack stands are pretty inexpensive, boat that sized you likely only need 4.

 

[Rick Webb]

Strap Launch the Boat

You don't need to tilt the trailer if you get it down the ramp far enough.

 

[James19955]

David... there are a couple of posts on this site from Trinkka - who unfortunately is no longer with us... But check these links out...
The description of his method
http://forums.oday.sailboatowners.c...732&highlight=Taking the boat off the trailer
Some pictures he posted showing the technique
http://forums.oday.sailboatowners.com/album.php?albumid=2691

And finally a video on YouTube from the people at Jamestown Distributors showing how to get a boat off a trailer. Loves this guys video's on all sorts of things.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2uP2g2VHec


Hope this helps but as others have suggested - dunk it and store on a mooring or slip until the trailer is repaired. If you cannot launch at a ramp perhaps ask the marina to lift and dunk it for you.

All the best and post a description and images of your solution.
James

 

[rgranger]

Why don't you just launch the boat and let it float safely while you work on the trailer?

Ohhhh.... and the winner is.... Lorin Smith

Sometimes we fall prey to that "All you see is all there is" mentality.

Way to go Smith. State the obvious when no one else is...

 

[jeff13800]

You don't say where you are so maybe this is not practical. The easiest thing to do is to launch the boat while the trailor is repaired. You don't even have to step the mast - just put it in the water somewhere (can even be a pond that is deep enough).

 

[davidmhull]

Wow great bunch of pictures. Thanks so much. I would still like to have the ability to pull her off the trailer here so I can paint the bottom etc. After seeing this done, thanks to you guys, I feel pretty confident that I can pull this off. I still have to install my new motor mount wedge before I can launch so that is another reason to get her up off the trailer sooner then later. I can't help you all enough for the help. I will post pictures when I have something interesting.

 

[Carel3041]

Sounds like the jacks might work. Just be careful that they are properly braced each time.
Chief

Try this: put a strap around the hull (near the stern) and use the gantry to lift that up. Then put blocks under the stern and move the strap to the front of the boat; lift that end and drive the trailer out from under, then put in blocks to support the prow.

 

[redhead78]

If the marina u know are friends ask them to pick the boat, and store it for a month, it will be cheap. especially if they r your buds... Red

 

[davidmhull]

Hi Carol. The gantry is stationary. I can move the chain fall side to side on the I beam but not forward or aft. If it was a tolling gantry I would definitely do just what you say. If I don't plunk her in the water I will probably use the gantry to lift as much as I can under the keel and then use the bottle jacks or something like that to get the trailer out from under the bow. Someone mentioned lifting the bow by the bow eye. This sounds a bit nuts to me but I don't know. It would be convenient but can you really expect that to work? This is of course assuming your bow eye is in good shape and attached to the deck properly. That just really sounds scary.

 

[Sumner]

Try this: put a strap around the hull (near the stern) and use the gantry to lift that up. ...

As I mentioned above in a post you don't need to lift the stern. Just unhitch the trailer and drop the tongue to the ground. That lifts the stern. Block it. Then lift the tongue with the trailer tongue jack if it has it or a jack. Strap the boat to hold the bow up. Drop the tongue back down and pull the trailer out. Worst case pull the wheels/tires off the trailer and pull it out on the hubs after doing the above. With the above you don't need a winch or anything on the beam above the boat, just the straps.

If you don't have the beam you can get the trailer out in a couple steps as mentioned above by moving the blocks under the boat ahead of the axle,

Sumner

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[Chief RA]

David: Just follow what Sumner is telling you to do and it will work fine. Chief

 

[seamonkeys]

spreaders and straps

If it was me I would get a 2 way spreader long enough to allow the keel to miss the straps that you will need to lift it. The spreader can be borrowed maybe or buy a 3 " seclude 40 metal pipe of proper length depends on the weight of boat but you may need 4 ". Strap the center of the pipe with short strap to lift point strap each end under to hull and back to pipe lift slowly if it shifts or one ends up stop return to trailer and adjust straps for even lift.

ps. if its over 7000 lbs you might need an I beam for a spreader

 

[seamonkeys]

If it was me I would get a 2 way spreader long enough to allow the keel to miss the straps that you will need to lift it. The spreader can be borrowed maybe or buy a 3 " seclude 40 metal pipe of proper length depends on the weight of boat but you may need 4 ". Strap the center of the pipe with short strap to lift point strap each end under to hull and back to pipe lift slowly if it shifts or one ends up stop return to trailer and adjust straps for even lift.

 

[tailwind]

I used two cherry pickers, one on each side and blocks to load my 27' Cal in a cradle onto its trailer. I didn't lift the whole boat at one time though. My marina uses an old rock quarry crane to haul out and launch boats with one cable and a rectangular frame to spread the load with straps on either side of the keel at the preferred lifting points (usually at the bulkheads). I wouldn't put the strap under the keel as you will lose the stability of the ballast when lifting and it may roll on you.

 

[Night Sailor]

Simple way to use single lift.

Use two straps from your single fall. Make sure each strap is located at some point where the hull in reinforced on the interior by a bunk, galley, partition or other feature. This helps prevent caving in the lower portions of the topsides. Don't need to worry abou the gunwhale. Next put one two by six boards bstween the straps at deck level or just above the gunwhale. One each side. Tie, staple or screw then to the ends of the boaeds so the straps will compress the ends of the boards when under pressure. Thsi will keep the straps from pulling to the center when you lift. Lift boat as high as necessary and pull out trailer.

 

[RTSKI]

You seem to have all the advice from those who have done it. I haven't done it as yet, but would think in terms of the Letter I: the top and bottom cross pieces being spreader bars (say a 2x6) as long as the beam at that point, running crosswise, to which are attached straps (2-3" wide perhaps car tow straps) that go under the hull. Those in turn connected from each end to the center (vertical when looking at it as an "I") horizontal beam aligned with the centerline of the boat. It would need several attach points for your gantry hook so you can by trial and error find the balance point to lift evenly. This bridle should allow a straight vertical lift without undue "squeeze" on the sides of the boat. I have seen a number of boats sitting on their keels and blocks but with several wood braces coming in at an angle (padded) against the sides to prevent tipping; braces frequently a triangle of a vertical, a horizontal ground piece and the hypotenuse pushing against the side at an angle. You could always have some low (vertical weight) and some higher up near the gunwale for the side load. Keep in mind if leaving her outside that the sides present a large surface area for the wind to push against, so the side braces need to be sturdy and secured to the ground.
Colorado sailor