zelatore
06-05-2009, 06:43 PM
I just got a call from a tech at my delta office. We have a 36' Carver Mariner that needs to come out of the water for some minor work. Seems the boss came up with a grand plan of trying to pull it out on an old Sea Ray 34 Sundancer trailer we have laying around.
Knowing that A-this is a bad idea, and B-nobody on earth can convince him that one of HIS ideas is bad, I sent him this note. By suggesting that it wasn't his idea in the first place, I'm hoping to give him an 'out'. Yes, I did warn 'Bob' that I was going to use him as a scapegoat here. The names have been changed to protect the guilty.
I just had to share......
John,
Bob just called me and said he was thinking of trying to put the 36 Mariner on the old Sea Ray 34 trailer we have. He broke up before I could explain why that was a bad idea, but I wanted to let you know what he was thinking so maybe you can head it off at the pass before something really bad happens.
First, the Sea Ray was a stern drive boat and the Mariner is an inboard. That’s asking to damage props, shafts, and/or rudders. And the bunks won’t be positioned correctly for the shape of the hull.
Even if he could somehow position the boat far enough back that the entire aft end was hanging off the trailer to keep the running gear away from the bunks, you would then have nothing providing structure. The transom provides the strength in that area, to leave it and the weight of the engines hanging unsupported would be asking for cracks to develop.
Next, what the heck does he think he’s going to pull it up the ramp with? The company truck and van are not even close to that. My truck is rated at 8500 lbs. Not sure what year your Escalade is, but an ’07 2wd is rated at 8000 and the AWD is rated at 7600. A Mariner is listed at 19,500 lbs + maybe 2500 for the trailer – that’s 22,000 lbs. While either my truck or your caddy would possibly pull it up the ramp, do you really want to risk a transmission?? What happens if a something in the driveline (transmission, differential, drive shaft, U-joint, etc) fails? Now the whole rig goes rolling backward down the ramp.
Plus, with the boat hanging half-off the trailer it’s going to mean there’s no tongue weight, so no traction.
No, this is just asking for trouble all the way around. Like you said earlier about the props – better to spend the $800 and just get new ones. In this case, better to spend the $8 or $10/ft for a haul out than gamble on trashing the boat and/or truck.
Knowing that A-this is a bad idea, and B-nobody on earth can convince him that one of HIS ideas is bad, I sent him this note. By suggesting that it wasn't his idea in the first place, I'm hoping to give him an 'out'. Yes, I did warn 'Bob' that I was going to use him as a scapegoat here. The names have been changed to protect the guilty.
I just had to share......
John,
Bob just called me and said he was thinking of trying to put the 36 Mariner on the old Sea Ray 34 trailer we have. He broke up before I could explain why that was a bad idea, but I wanted to let you know what he was thinking so maybe you can head it off at the pass before something really bad happens.
First, the Sea Ray was a stern drive boat and the Mariner is an inboard. That’s asking to damage props, shafts, and/or rudders. And the bunks won’t be positioned correctly for the shape of the hull.
Even if he could somehow position the boat far enough back that the entire aft end was hanging off the trailer to keep the running gear away from the bunks, you would then have nothing providing structure. The transom provides the strength in that area, to leave it and the weight of the engines hanging unsupported would be asking for cracks to develop.
Next, what the heck does he think he’s going to pull it up the ramp with? The company truck and van are not even close to that. My truck is rated at 8500 lbs. Not sure what year your Escalade is, but an ’07 2wd is rated at 8000 and the AWD is rated at 7600. A Mariner is listed at 19,500 lbs + maybe 2500 for the trailer – that’s 22,000 lbs. While either my truck or your caddy would possibly pull it up the ramp, do you really want to risk a transmission?? What happens if a something in the driveline (transmission, differential, drive shaft, U-joint, etc) fails? Now the whole rig goes rolling backward down the ramp.
Plus, with the boat hanging half-off the trailer it’s going to mean there’s no tongue weight, so no traction.
No, this is just asking for trouble all the way around. Like you said earlier about the props – better to spend the $800 and just get new ones. In this case, better to spend the $8 or $10/ft for a haul out than gamble on trashing the boat and/or truck.