Agreed - nice restoration.
David - please understand that I mean no disrespect at all, but that rig would scare me. I might be a little worried about the stresses on the unsupported back end when hitting potholes and such, and the dramatic swing in the rear means you'd really need to watch to be sure the end of the canoe doesn't whack things in turns. But two other things worry me more. With that length and the rear tip of the canoe so close to the ground, it could easily bottom out in dips, potentially causing catastrophic damage to the canoe. Finally, I can't imagine this rig being legal in many places. For good reason (visibility to other drivers), some if not many (or most) states have laws regulating how far something can stick out beyond the rear lights, like 4' or so. This is a LOT of length back there - looks like maybe 17' or so beyond the lights.
Regardless of laws, I always worry about my canoes being rear-ended when on a trailer, and with this rig I'd be petrified. A few years ago I was rear-ended by a dump truck in which the driver (as in many massive vehicles on the road today) could not see for a significant distance in front of the the front edge of his hood. The incident happened while stopped at a traffic light. We both stopped for the red light with no trouble, but then the truck's driver started creeping forward until he contacted my trailer, and then began pushing the entire trailer AND my truck forward into another vehicle. There was significant damage to the trailer and some to my truck, and it would have been much worse if the light hadn't changed to green. I called 911 from the vehicle, he was stopped by police, and he told them he had no idea he had hit me or pushed me. If I had canoes on the trailer at the time, they would have been destroyed.
Again, no disrespect; just for for thought and discussion.
Michael
