Trailer advice

normsims

normsims

Morris canoe fan
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I've bought a 16-foot all-wood rowboat, double ended, that weighs about 120 pounds. I need a trailer to haul it. I've heard that too much bouncing, or the wrong kind of support, can damage the hull. It's carvel planked, so the hull is smooth.

I've been looking at a lightweight Castlecraft trailer, but I have no experience with such things. I'd appreciate any advice from those who have used trailers for lightweight boats. Thanks!

http://www.castlecraft.com/sut-500-s.htm

Norm
 
Norm - I would definitely avoid the $375 Harbor Freight trailer. I have a used one, and I wouldn't be comfortable with it on a long, higher speed haul. The next concern with it is that there is some overall flex in the frame between the ball hitch and the rear roller. This might be true of any light-weight longer bed trailer, such as the Castlecraft, and I didn't like the vision of my Sebago tied firmly down in front and back with a roller in the middle flexing the keel area up and down as the trailer absorbed bumps.

What I did was this - I made two three foot long "walking beam" type supports with a roller on each end and a pivot bolt in the middle. I removed the rear and middle roller that came with the trailer and replaced them with the pivot on my beams. The inner ends of the beams are about three feet from each other. This means the keel is supported in four places, each three feet apart, which gives support over a keel length of twelve feet. I don't lash the bow down too tightly, so there is perhaps a little play at that end. Yes, the boat is still supported onto the trailer in two places (the beam pivots), but I like to think that as the trailer flexes, the vertical movement is distributed much more widely and evenly along the keel, and not just that single roller pounding away in the middle. So far, it seems to work satisfactorily. Al D
 
Denis,

It's roughly 1920 or earlier, built in East Sebago, Maine.

Norm
 

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Looks like a nice boat- from this angle resembles somewhat a St. Lawrence skiff... feather-lap?

I have a Trailex aluminum trailer for my 16/30. Nice trailer, but mine developed a vibration that I'm tracking down. Probably the bearings, 'cause I replaced them on one side and it got better. Have to do the other side yet (a project for spring).

Dan
 
Cool boat Norm! Remember the Holsclaw trailers that we used to sell? The absolute, hands-down best small boat trailer I've ever used is my old Holsclaw with coil springs and shocks instead of those damned leaf springs. We've had this one under a couple different sailboats and currently use it for carrying two single sea kayaks and a double or a canoe in the summer and our iceboat in winter. It doesn't bounce, it doesn't clang and if there is anything bad about it at all, it's that it's so smooth and quiet you can sometimes forget that you're pulling a trailer. They're not easy to find, but there are still some out there on the used market from time to time - and they seldom go for more than a couple hundred bucks. Add a brush and a can of Rustoleum and you're in business. It's worth keeping your eyes peeled, just in case. Once you use one you will never want to go back to a trailer with leaf springs again, because the difference in the ride is absolutely amazing.
 

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I have a Trailex aluminum trailer for my 16/30. Nice trailer, but mine developed a vibration that I'm tracking down.

Maybe you've got too many epoxy drips or larger fillets on one side?
Ducking and running.........
 
Dan Miller wrote:
"Looks like a nice boat- from this angle resembles somewhat a St. Lawrence skiff... feather-lap?"

Dan,
It's in the same family as the St. Lawrence skiffs, the Rangeley Lake Boats, and so forth. This one is called a Sebago skiff. I get the feeling these boats were designed to carry a couple hunters with deer plus camping gear. Or whatever. Similar hull shapes showed up around big lakes and bays in the Northeast. This one is carvel planked with cotton batting between the planks, as I understand it.

Which model Trailex trailer do you have? The Holsclaw that Todd mentioned sounds perfect for a lighter boat of this kind, and it gets great reviews from everyone, but a useable one may be hard to find.

Norm
 
I've got the SUT-200 which is rated to 200 lbs. I should also mention that that plastic fenders are not great - I used zip-ties to refasten mine...
 
And besides, whose was it that filled with water on its maiden voyage...
Might have appeared that way to the novice, however i was just washing off the amine blush on its interior.
Geez, forget to bed one hatch and you never live it down...
 
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