Taking your boat off the trailer...

[gcarter]

I know, you take it off every time you launch. LOL!
But I was going through some pictures tonight and I found a series showing how I took the Minx off several years ago.....
The dollies here was a set I borrowed from Poodle. He had a set of uprights that were about 6" longer (taller) than normal....in fact they were so high that he reccomended that I strap the uprights together just for safety.
So I started out w/the tongue all the way down so that one dolly fits under the transom. Next, the tongue is jacked up again so that the boat comes off the rear end of the bunks and the weight is split between the forward end of the bunks and the dolly under the rear.
Next, a small floor jack is used to lift the bow keel where the keel is flat. The boat trailer is moved forward until the jack intersects the next trailer crossmember. The bow is landed back on the bunks and the jack is moved aft of the crossmember and the hull is lifted again and the trailer is moved more.

http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=54402&stc=1&d=1268879729

http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=54398&stc=1&d=1268879729

http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=54399&stc=1&d=1268879729

http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=54403&stc=1&d=1268879729

After the trailer is moved forward to the point where the bow no longer fits on the bunks between moves, I placed a 4 X 4 on a cross member to land the keel on.
Eventually, you can place the jack aft of the rear crossmember and the trailer is pulled free.
This is the only time I get nervous!:nilly:
Quickly, park the other dolly under the flat part of the bow keel. The bow is pretty light. Once everything is secure, you're free to move the boat around at will.
In this particular instance, I removed the hooks w/o turning over the boat.

Easy huh?:wink:

I love dollies!

http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=54404&stc=1&d=1268879729

http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=54405&stc=1&d=1268879729

http://www.donzi.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=54406&stc=1&d=1268879729

[gcarter]

Soon after this, I bought my own set.
I consider my dollies the best boat tool investment I've made.

[Just Say N20]

That Minx is beyond awesome!

Thanks for the instruction.

[Christian]

little high for my taste.
those things work very well.

wow, and the exh tubes stayed on during the process! very nice!

Christian Delcollo

[silverghost]

George:
You make it look & sound so easy.
Much better than trying to work under head-banging trailer!
I need to buy or make a pair. Do your wheel casters have good reliable wheel locks?

With my luck the entire boat on dollies would roll out of my garage and down my steep long driveway.
This actually happeed to a neighbor who had put his old 67 Corvette on those Chinese car skates.
Not a pretty sight !
The perils of living on a steep hill .
I am always chasing sockets down the hill !

[silverghost]

George: That jack photo scares the devil out of me !
Did you ever consider making a custom hardwood V block to fit the lifting saddle of your floor jack with a big locating pin in the Middle?
That way ~ there is no way that keel will ever slip sideways.

[axelkloehn]

I really do see the need for the straps!

Dollies are a "must have"!! Once I have a garage as big as yours I will have a set of dollies!

[gcarter]

I've done this several times now and it looks a lot worse than it is.
Normally it would not be so high. My current set's upright legs are shorter, and I feel it's more stable, but if it were analyzed, I think you'd find the tall legs are good.
You do have to jack the bow or stern to make height adjustments and you do get used to the bow setting on a knife edge. You could use some blocks as a safety precaution if you felt you needed to. I use the small jack because it's so low and maneuverable.
No, the casters don't have wheel locks, and I wouldn't reccomend using dollies for any appreciable slope w/a fully rigged boat. A 22C weighs 3500#+/- and you would not be able to overcome gravity to maneuver it. My shop floor is flat but the outside apron is slightly sloped for drainage. Once I had the hull half way out w/me in it and it started rolling. Fortunately the hull was fairly close to the door frame so I just grabbed it and stopped it. I do chock it if it's outside.
I'm a minimalist sort of guy, and I don't want to have A-frames and such around (where do you store them?). I have four chains bolted to a roof perling, some comalongs, straps, five furniture dollies, a pair of low collapsable scaffolds, and this pair of dollies, and I can do most anything to a hull including rolling it over. And most of it I can do by myself.

[The Hedgehog]

Nice info George. Thanks for sharing. This will be helpful when I redo my trailer.

[Pismo]

If you can lift the bow from above so avoid using the floor jack, you can pull the trailer out in one shot. Works great, much faster, use the lift eye or a strap. Same as bumping a boat onto blocks for the winter.