Disassemble and load a Tiki 26 onto a trailer on dry land?

[Randall S Anselmo]

If anyone has advice on conducting this operation without a crane, I would be much obliged to hear it.  The boat is currently resting on four stacks of 6x6" blocks in a boatyard, with the trailer close by.  There is also a set of cradles, presumably left over from the building process.  My best idea so far is to mount wheels on the cradles, place them just aft of the midpoints, lower the hulls down onto them using jacks, then disassemble the crossbeam lashings and separate them.  I then picture rolling each hull individually up to the back of the trailer, pivoting the bows up, then letting them gently down onto the trailer and levering the stern up, then using the winch and rollers on the trailer to move them forward into traveling position.  I welcome critiques!

[adriano meis]

winch the two-hull unit forward up onto the trailer.

isn't this to violent for the hull?

Bob Bois said:

Hi Randall,
How far do you have to go? We did something similar to what you describe when we sold my Tiki 30 (We're now building a Tiki 46 - god help us ). BUT - if you have enough manpower, your proposed solution will definitely work. The trick with the cradle with wheels is to find the 'sweet spot', where the hull will balance with a minimum of babysitting. We used my beefy nephews as counterweights fore and aft on the hulls to balance them on dollies. At any rate, one of the fun things about the Wharram spirit and KISS principle, is figuring out novel ways to move stuff around with a minimum of modern technology.
We did this with a 30: remove the cockpit tray, replace the beams (one at a time)and replace with 4X4's (lashed loosely enough to allow lateral movement but tight enough to keep the hulls upright), jack the boat off the 6x6's with 2 floor jacks with wheels, PUSH the two hulls together, lash them together, back the trailer up under the bows, send cargo straps under the hulls around the skegs, winch the two-hull unit forward up onto the trailer.
Hope my prose makes the image clear. Sorry, I don't think we took pics of this process.
Remember: it's always fun to devise a clever way to do this stuff, but with enough muscle, beer, food, and music, it's quite easy til you get to the really big boats....
Good luck!us

[Randall S Anselmo]

Hi Adriano,

If your boat is in the water, the best thing to do is disassemble it while it is floating.  If you need advice on that, I will be happy to tell you.  My problem was that my boat was fully assembled on land when I bought it, and I didn't want to pay $300 for a crane to put it back in the water.  When I did the job, I started with my original plan, and changed it along the way as needed.

If you must disassemble your boat on land, and then put it on a trailer,  I think it would be possible for 4 or 6 men to just lift each hull onto the trailer.  Looking back to the way I did it, I think this would be much easier.

Good luck!

Randall

adriano meis said:

HI everybody. I've the same problem anselmo had. my T26 is now floatin in croatia but soon I've to carry it on dry land and put it on a trailer Without crane. I'm now building two small trailers to carry it from the water to the ground, and I think there should not be big problem to diassamble it.

The big problem is how to put the 2 hulls on the road - trailer. Can saomebody of you please exlpain me (in easy english) step by step how I can do. if there are any pictures wolud be big present

[marco]

hello Adriano,

when my boat was from the trailer i could make some better detail pictures,on the first photo you see the nylon ring who is bedded in the biggest diameter with epoxy,with a bit of oil it runs very smooth

adriano meis said:

HI everybody. I've the same problem anselmo had. my T26 is now floatin in croatia but soon I've to carry it on dry land and put it on a trailer Without crane. I'm now building two small trailers to carry it from the water to the ground, and I think there should not be big problem to diassamble it.

The big problem is how to put the 2 hulls on the road - trailer. Can saomebody of you please exlpain me (in easy english) step by step how I can do. if there are any pictures wolud be big present

[adriano meis]

we should be around 6 men, but you really think it's possible to lift the hull without any other help? i think one single hull is around 300kg. 6men = 50kg each, but the real problem is to keep it in balance while lifting it up. above all the trailer is a normal boat trailer I rent. This mean no V-shape

marco: great Job. can you post more details 

[Randall S Anselmo]

When I had the hull in a sling or on a work horse, it was not difficult for me to lift one end by myself and hold it up for 30 seconds or more, and I am a small guy.  That makes me think it would not be difficult for several more men (or healthy Croatian women) to lift the whole thing.  You might be able to rest one end on blocks, with two people keeping it steady, then the rest of the people lifting the opposite end sideways onto the trailer.  Once that is done, it could be repeated with the other end.  

If there is no V-shape on the trailer, I agree with you that it could be a problem to steady the hulls.  That, however, will be a problem regardless of how you get the hulls on it.  Another idea might be to lash timbers, maybe 2 - 3m long on the lashing blocks to provide a place for your men to lift from the shoulders, like Egyptians carrying a Pharoah.  That way, the hull is hanging and not likely to roll on its side.

Please don't get hurt!!! These are just my ideas, so use good judgment and don't take any unnecessary risks! 

[marco]

hi Adriano, i made the trailor for my 21,witch is 2,74 meter from keel to keel and a 26 is 94 cm more !!!,better said 47cm per side,my trailor is folding out 35cm,add 47cm gives 82 cm per side,this in combination with a boat who is 700 kg is quite something,and i live in turkey a few km from the sea where they don"t look so close if a boat is 2,80m on the trailor.

at the moment my hull stayes outside of the tire,but the original design from the stiletto 27 goes over the tire !,i have to have foto"s from this,i will have a look if i can find them back.

 

gr,Marco

adriano meis said:

we should be around 6 men, but you really think it's possible to lift the hull without any other help? i think one single hull is around 300kg. 6men = 50kg each, but the real problem is to keep it in balance while lifting it up. above all the trailer is a normal boat trailer I rent. This mean no V-shape

marco: great Job. can you post more details 

[marco]

hi Adriano,

 i found the detail foto"s of the stiletto 27 trailor where the hull goes over the tire,it"s a bit difficult to see but foto 045 sits in the centre of the trailer ,a bit right from the dubble rope on foto 048.

a good trailer gives a shorter set up time and good control with raising the mast with the winch !

with lifting the hull with 6 men there comes a time that 3 are walking higher if they stay on the trailer,not that easy 

marco said:

hi Adriano, i made the trailor for my 21,witch is 2,74 meter from keel to keel and a 26 is 94 cm more !!!,better said 47cm per side,my trailor is folding out 35cm,add 47cm gives 82 cm per side,this in combination with a boat who is 700 kg is quite something,and i live in turkey a few km from the sea where they don"t look so close if a boat is 2,80m on the trailor.

at the moment my hull stayes outside of the tire,but the original design from the stiletto 27 goes over the tire !,i have to have foto"s from this,i will have a look if i can find them back.

 

gr,Marco

adriano meis said:

we should be around 6 men, but you really think it's possible to lift the hull without any other help? i think one single hull is around 300kg. 6men = 50kg each, but the real problem is to keep it in balance while lifting it up. above all the trailer is a normal boat trailer I rent. This mean no V-shape

marco: great Job. can you post more details 

[adriano meis]

this is how we did. But...

[adriano meis]

[adriano meis]

BUT....

[boatsmith]

oops

[Randall S Anselmo]

Oh no!!!  Is everyone okay?  Is the boat okay?  I was really admiring the process, right up until that last photo. My deep sympathy goes out to you!

adriano meis said:

BUT....