Boat is now on the new trailer

[Ed.]

The boat is finally on the trailer but unfortunately, I cracked the windscreen when I was positioning it, I had been jacking the boat up and down all day getting the rollers in the right place and the last lift of the day, I was very tired and just forgot to check how close it was to the garage roof beam. Not happy, there goes another couple of hundred bucks out the window,( excuse the pun) anyway it is position now, to top it off I have also torn a ligament or muscle in my shoulder from manoeuvring and positioning the 12 ton bottle jack under the boat all day, so that has slowed me down a little and it is quite painful.

I have just about finished off the trailer, made a bracket to hold the spare wheel on the winch post, had to modify and move the winch back another 200mm to move the boat forward a bit more as it was a bit too light on the draw bar, putting the wheel on the anchor post will also help to increase the weight on the drawbar, originally planned to put it underneath the boat at the start of the walkway, but that space is now available for a tool/rope box that I will make (much later), made 3 sets of double keel roller brackets to add more support for the boats keel and only need to make a bracket to hold the vee block for the bow of the boat and that's the trailer done. It now has 32 wobble rollers and 6 keel rollers under the boat.

 

[reds]

Boat looks well built.
You did the right thing mounting the spare tire where you did.
To heavy on the draw bar will cause unstable towing.

 

[Ed.]

Re: Boat is now on the new trailer and the latest updates

Here are some more pics of the almost finished boat with the parts I built and added. The cockpit and cabin has been recarpeted and new hull liner put in the cockpits and the side of the cabin footwell, 330lt Fuel tank fitted, pressurised drinking tap and water tank/footrest fitted and carpeted, hatch in the middle for putting ice in to keep water cool, Seat base with live bait tanks made and plumbed, 2 smart gauges, GPS/Chartplotter and VHF radio, and a 1Kw transducer fitted plus networked together, 80% rewired. New 150amp AGM battery and a digital VSR added for charging between the two batteries. Duckboard made and fitted with LED lighting underneath, Hydraulic trim tabs as well as the live bait sea water pickup fitted. Tool Box made to hold the spare ratchet straps when not used. The winch post had to be changed as the wife wasn't strong enough to wind the boat on to the trailer even a little bit, so had to modify it to hold a 4000lb electric winch with remote to haul it up, once she clips the cable to the bow hook I can operate it from the cockpit of the boat. 2 more keel rollers to help rolling it off. Added a battery box at the front of the trailer. A Stainless pulley roller added under the boat for helping the boat off as it didn't want to come off easily when I took it for the first water test, basically you run off a length of cable and loop it under that roller and back to the boats eye bolt, as the winch winds the cable back in, the boat gets pulled off the trailer and into the water. Made a box to house the electric winch. New electric toilet(no Pic) still have to make a holding tank for it out of PVC and also have yet to make a targa top, covers for the boat and a new windscreen. Next thing is to also fit another front hatch just in front of the anchor well. Moved the boat up towards the front another 200mm as not enough weight on the towball causing the trailer to sway at 85+Km/hr. I am sure there are a heap of other things that I have done or added but this will do.

So this refit has been going on for the last 15 months and still 3 months to go to get it all done, I am only 8 months behind schedule so far but getting there.

Cheers

Ed.

 

[November X-ray]

Ed - is the last two pictures a cable guide for the trailer's winch line?

 

[Ed.]

Ed - is the last two pictures a cable guide for the trailer's winch line?

Hi, I put that there as the boat didn't want to roll off easily on the first water test unless the trailer was in the water up past the axles, I added another 2 keel rollers to help but in case it wasn't enough I made this setup, to use, I unwind a length of cable, loop it over the stainless roller which is about 3 mt back under the front of the boat on the trailer frame and then conect to the boats bow hook, and then as the electric winch winds the cable back in, it results in the boat being pulled off the trailer. As I don't like to putting the hubs under water this will pull it off if it gets stuck again without me having to back the trailer right in even though I have fitted a set of bearing buddies as well. I will be taking this boat 1500Km up north and don't want to find that when I get there that I should have done this or that and didn't. So for me prevention is better than worrying about whether it will work or not next time.

It would have been too much effort to take the existing keel roller frame off to modify it so I made anther bracket to go over that bracket and then just strapped it down with the two existing U Bolts

Cheers

Ed.

 

[jumps4]

nice boat and trailer ed
your really good at welding aluminum is that from a spool gun?
I'm not sure if it was just a boat i had that was really old but i tried to stop in different locations by a few inches because the rollers were dimpling the boats bottom on extended storage? I was thinking about some type of adjustable rails to add to mine for seasonal storage but i got rid of the boat for more shop toys :lmao:
steve

 

[roygpa]

Nice boat. I was a powerboat owner for the past 20 years or so, and just recently sold mine so that I could build a workshop (That's how I got the lathe and milling machine) I still have a canoe and an inflatable one man pontoon if I get the urge to get back out on the water.

Thanks for the pics.

Roy

 

[Ed.]

nice boat and trailer ed
your really good at welding aluminum is that from a spool gun?
steve

Thanks Steve, all the Aluminium is TIG welded although I wouldn't say my TIG welding is all that great, I do have a few screw ups, in which case I have to cut them out and redo, I have only been TIG welding for about 16 months and I don't do a lot of it as most of my welding (99%) is steel which I MIG weld and not ally, so I don't get a chance to practice TIG. But what I have welded with TIG seems to be Ok and hasn't fallen apart...yet! )

 

[Ed.]

Thanks Roygpa, I will probably keep this boat for a year or two then most likely get a smaller one, it is too big to handle on ones own and the fuel bill is a bit of a shocker, but I wanted it for our 25th anniversary where I am taking the missus up to North Queensland for a 6 week trip to the Islands off our coast, so I will decide it's fate after that. I do like boats but they are a very expensive hobby.