light-weight trailer for light-weight boats and canoes

[Greg Nolan]

For those interested in light-weight trailers for light-weight boats and canoes, the pictures at this eBay listing (I have no interest and no connection) should be instructive:



For more pictures, see:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1950...62997403?pt=Fishing_Boats&hash=item4abae2ac9b

 

[Benson Gray]

This is an interesting idea. I agree with most of the comments from your similar posting in the Wooden Boat forum. This doesn't seem like a better solution than a traditional trailer with no springs, no fenders, with all of the weight on two ribs and a ring in the bow stem. It is also not clear if it is any lighter than a traditional trailer.

Benson

 

[bredlo]

I've seen several of these in rough shape, but I love the look of 'em.

I agree they don't seem a necessarily better design, and to add to Benson's thoughts there's nothing left between your hull and road debris. At least with a utility-type trailer you have a bit of protection from the gravel, etc. kicked up by your wheels.

I've also gotta wonder what happens going over a speed bump. Wouldn't your boat would jump up from the sling and drive the seat right into that vertical steel post?

 

[Greg Nolan]

I posted the picture and link, not because I think it would be a practical highway trailer, but because it is such an oddity.

However, one of the things that makes it of interest is that I suspect that there is a spring in the vertical post assembly in the truss from which the boat is hung. Note that the vertical post is not just one rod or tube, but seems to have a thin rod above going into a wider tube below, in which a spring/shock absorber might live. If so, and if properly damped, this may deal with the problem that small boat trailers often have of springs that are too stiff. If there is a spring in that post, a speed bump might not be an issue.

 

[bredlo]

Here's the one I was referring to - $195 vs. $3500, on Brainerd MN's Craigslist. Complete with a bow in the profile for a windshield. Obviously my example doesn't have a really nice boat attached to it, which probably explains some of the price difference.

I still like it conceptually - stands to reason that if we're suspending 'em from our garage ceilings... why couldn't a cradle-based design work in trailer as well?

 

[Cliff Ober]

I posted the picture and link, not because I think it would be a practical highway trailer, but because it is such an oddity.

However, one of the things that makes it of interest is that I suspect that there is a spring in the vertical post assembly in the truss from which the boat is hung. Note that the vertical post is not just one rod or tube, but seems to have a thin rod above going into a wider tube below, in which a spring/shock absorber might live. If so, and if properly damped, this may deal with the problem that small boat trailers often have of springs that are too stiff. If there is a spring in that post, a speed bump might not be an issue.

Greg, there's definitely a spring in that assembly. Take a look at a rear view (fourth picture) with the boat loaded. Note that yellow paint that didn't get sprayed on the lower part of the smaller rod/tube. Now look at the unloaded view of the trailer from the rear (seventh picture); that unpainted area has receded into the lower tube. Looks like spring action to me...

As an aside, do you have any plans to be at your place in Maine in September/October? We're (finally!) headed back up for vacation; we'll likely get in the 25th or 26th of September and be around for a couple of weeks. It would be nice to put a face with the forum voice if we could hook up some time in there. If not, we plan to be back for good in the spring.

Cliff

 

[Greg Nolan]

Cliff --

We will probably be in Maine for Labor Day weekend, and then sometime in early October before when my sister and some of her friends will be there around Columbus Day. So if you are around for a couple of weeks after 9/26, it looks good for our meeting. We'll keep in touch and see what we can work out.

Greg

 

[Greg Nolan]

There is an eBay listing up now for a brochure for this trailer that shows that it was intended for use on the road at high speeds, shows in detail how it works, how the boat is connected to the trailer, the spring suspension arrangement, and that the strap/sling is not original.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1947-Boat-R...735?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item56490f1d2f

My guess that one of the reasons (not the only one) this kind of thing didn't catch on is that it calls for
permanently attaching mounting hardware to the boat, limiting the trailer to one boat, unless you bought additional sets of mounting gear.

 

[Dan Lindberg]

I've lived all my live here in MN and have spent a lot of time on the water, (a requirement for a Minnesotian) and have never seen a trailer like this. And I would never put either of my boats on a trailer like this either.

The why is that the garage isn't moving down the freeway at 70 plus MPH, or bouncing down a potmarked gravel road at 50.

I've seen lots of loose and/or broken nylon straps on the road, if the one on that trailer were to break at speed, you have garbage. (or if the hard connections or boat failed)

"stands to reason that if we're suspending 'em from our garage ceilings... why couldn't a cradle-based design work in trailer as well?"

On the other hand, I have a large log that I need to move, wonder what the weight capacity of that trailer is?
Dan

Read the sales blurp - that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.

Hard mounts to the boat? - never
Tilt the trailer to pick up the boat - ya right, and what happens when you get a heavy boat?
Disconnect the trailer from the car to launch - a disaster, it wouldn't take much of a slope to loose control,
and with a line at the access, you'd get a lot of other boaters mad at you and for good reason. You shouldn't take
more than a few minutes to launch or pull out a boat. All prep needs to be done in the staging area.

This trailer was scrap when it was new.