trailer loading- winch on or float on?

[curt goodnight]

Well I am truly closing in on the end of this decade long project...  My ironworker friend has my flatbed trailer and will be converting it to  swing out cradles for my Tiki 30.   He is a monohull sailer and has a nice trick set up for his full keel 30 footer.   So he is very leery of pulling my Tiki onto  a trailer vs all those years he floated his boats on to his trailers.

To float on , he adds a long hitch extensions [20+ ft] When he backs down a ramp, the entire trailer is submerged and his truck is still dry....

I have winched my old Lund fishing boat onto my trailers for years with no concern other than replacing the tow eye .  I figured good keel rollers would be sufficient.

Has anyone had an issue with winching decent sized Tikis ?   If so, what points do you use to pull from?  Or do you grab the rear beam with a sling and use that?

As always- I am so grateful this site exists- its been a world of help...

Curt

[curt goodnight]

i'm gonna bump this .   Might be another week or so til my buddy gets to the real meaty part of this trailer re-construction- but i sure would like to hear from tiki30 or tiki 26 owners about this..

thanks!

[john james]

Yes a trailer  Ive been contemplating a trailer too its  come to that point! If possible could you post some pictures of your trailer construction also costs  I wonder what sort of cost to to expect in building a trailer.

[curt goodnight]

John- When Scott sold Element , he posted pics of the trailer his buyers had constructed-  we hope to use that as a design template:    http://tiki26element2.blogspot.com/2013/08/element-ii-sold-last-aug...

[boatsmith]

The trailer bunks swing out on this trailer. If the pivot tubes are angledaft at the top then when the buns swing out and back they will also swing down. This will make for easier launch ramping.

[curt goodnight]

thanks for that hint Boatsmith - i have passed it on to my builder - because we are using my existing flatbed as our "platform"  [Colorado has made the paperwork/inspections for a 'scratch built' trailer a bureaucratic nightmare] it may be that we have too much width to allow us to do that- I hope it can happen- sure makes sense.

boatsmith said:

The trailer bunks swing out on this trailer. If the pivot tubes are angledaft at the top then when the buns swing out and back they will also swing down. This will make for easier launch ramping.

[Rod McLaren]

Has there been follow-up on this trailer with the "swing out" bunks? Would sure like to see that in more detail. I was not able to see that in the photos on Scott's blog post. I have been considering the idea of bunks sliding out in a pipe inside a pipe configuration but the limitation is the height required to clear the trailer fenders results in the boat sitting high above the water. 

[curt goodnight]

I trailered my Tiki 30 some 100+ miles of twisty Rocky Mountain roads and passes and  launched it last October.  This winter  my welding buddy and I tweaked the design still further and I think we may have it right.   The boat now sits more forward on the trailer which DOES have me concerned that it won't float off as easily.  We have a tongue that slides out once we are launching- it adds 10' to our length and on first launch was just enough to see us float off the cradles .  I won't be surprised if our upcoming March/April launch sees me do what some of my mono hull friends do and release the tongue with a winch and allow the trailer  to roll down a few more feet - the first pic shows how much the cradles were down in the water on last year's launch.  

These are shots  of current configuration

I have temporary jack stands under the pivot /hinge points of the outriggers because the trailer itself wobbles while I am up in the cockpit ...

Side view- I will move the hulls rear ward about 1 foot - I think the rig now is a tad too tongue heavy and I will need all the room at launch to clear the keel past the rear roller- our first iteration had the keel on the roller but that was not well balanced on the cradles.   Although this DOES worry me about the clearance to float that first pic shows that we had decent difference in the angle ...  wish me luck!!

an idea of scale

[Rod McLaren]

Thank you, so much for posting these photos, Curt. This is inspiring. If you can do this with a Tiki 30 at 220 pounds dry weight, it should be much easier to do for the Man 24 at 990 pounds.

[Gary Prost]

How long does it take to launch with that trailer? I see you're using straps instead of lashings on the beams.

[curt goodnight]

Maiden voyage was last Oct.   Took waaaay too long to assemble [3+ days!] BUT A] trailer hinges were too weak so I spent 8 good hours jacking and cribbing a few inches at a time whilst 'unfolding' each hull B]  Flipping and moving the cockpit from my truck to final tiedown was an ungainly awkward process that ate up hours of time    C] howling wind [up to 50 mph] meant the mast raising was likewise a complete rodeo- had to spread that process over 2 tense days  [its sch 40 aluminum  Very Not Light!]  all single handed mind you....

So....  since then: A] I spent a weekend with my welding guy and we doubled  the rear hinges and brought the rear cradle aft of the keel for better weight distribution.  That nervewracking unfolding process now takes less than 15 minutes. Another 15 minutes to set those scaffold jacks under the hinge pins B] Total rethink of cockpit positioning.  My latest go here in the driveway was still a few hours but I will in the future have the cockpit 'right side up' on my truck and I feel it will cut that time in half again  .   C] Re mast: I now have a remote wireless control for my elec winch and , unlike that first launch , will not have to worry that the ramp will close for the week the next Monday [and indeed, close for the season the following weekend] so I'd be willling to wait out those conditions.  I am also right now reworking the mast foot - I broke off most of the hinging piece so the mast kept sliding all the way into the tabernacle and would bind hard against the forward portion.  

I am now very optimistic that I can have a trailer sailer that won't beat me [or scare me] to  death - we will head for a large reservoir in a few weeks and I'll know a hella lot more....  not a weekender , mind you, but if i can launch within 2 non stressful days we can continue the plan to do several 21 day trips to various West USA spots.  

[Bruce Williams]

I am going to add a comment for future reference. This is cool.