Trailer design to haul a canoe upright

[Douglas Kestell]

I have a 17’ Chestnut Ogilvy that I’d like to haul upright fort ease of launching. I have an old boat trailer I picked up for free that was modified to haul a catamaran.

I am thinking several wide straps/ webbing slung under the canoe to distribute force from hitting potholes. I’m worried bunks could cause cracked ribs if they don’t match the hull profile exactly; but I am a serial / habitual over engineer.

Does anyone have photos of what they use and and suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Dave Osborn]

Doug,
I made a trailer with two carpet slings, similar to what I use in the shop. I used it to deliver a canoe 350 miles away and sold it to the canoe owner when I got there. I found that it was a cheap and easy way to move and store a heavy canoe.

 

[Douglas Kestell]

Slick! Thank you

 

[Maxtoon]

While I understand your reasoning, I am not a big fan of this trailer arraignment. The canoe hull below the wales is very lightly built and intended have broad support from being floated in the water. This is why we all avoid walking inside the canoe when it is on the ground, especially if it has an external keel. Supporting a "heavy" canoe, or any canoe, is point loading the hull at the straps. You do risk cracking frames when moving the canoe over the road. The inwale/out wale/thwart/deck/stem structure is the most robust on a canoe and supporting the canoe here presents the lowest risk way of trailering it. That is not to say you can't get away with the strap design....I am just making the observation that it is a more risky way to move a traditional canoe over the road.

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

I transport my 22' stripper upright on five very simple carpet-padded bunks. The back one had to be mounted to a lengthwise 2x6 because the boat is longer than the trailer. It's certainly not very sophisticated but used what I had available and has worked fine so far. I built an Odyssey acrylic canvas cover, so that it can't fill with rainwater if I hit bad weather. Since the rib spacing on an Ogilvie is only about 1/2", I can't imagine it being too weak to survive just fine when spread over several padded bunks, and there is no penalty for having more than the typical one or two that most boat trailers come with.

 

[Todd F]

Todd, no rush but can you eventually post a picture or two of the trailer without a canoe on it? Thanks

 

[Douglas Kestell]

View attachment 56305I transport my 22' stripper upright on five very simple carpet-padded bunks. The back one had to be mounted to a lengthwise 2x6 because the boat is longer than the trailer. It's certainly not very sophisticated but used what I had available and has worked fine so far. I built an Odyssey acrylic canvas cover, so that it can't fill with rainwater if I hit bad weather. Since the rib spacing on an Ogilvie is only about 1/2", I can't imagine it being too weak to survive just fine when spread over several padded bunks, and there is no penalty for having more than the typical one or two that most boat trailers come with.

Thanks Todd -

I had decided last week to go with your design as well. The Ogilvy has a bit of rocker so I intend on flexing the skids a bit to accommodate the hull profile. I went with 5/4 x 6”x 8’ deck boards for a little more surface area to the skids.

I restored a freebee trailer and have the skid hardware mounted, just have to wire it and cover the skids/ bunks with carpet.

I’ll share pics for the next person to get some ideas.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

Todd, the boat is currently up at our lake house, about four hours away, but I can give you the basic rundown for the trailer. I originally bought it for my 11' long, Mini 12 Meter sailboat, a fiberglass keelboat with a hollow keel. To sail it you add 350 lbs. of lead shot bags inside the keel for ballast. It was the smallest Karavan boat trailer and actually made for trailering a single jet ski. I took the bunks off and made new ones for the little keelboat. After a few years I sold the boat, but the buyer didn't need the trailer.

So, when I needed to move the big canoe, I started by splicing a longer tube onto the tongue. The main bunks were just padded 2x6 lumber bolted crosswise to the frame. Those nearest the stems were very narrow, as the hull is and the second one aft of the bow was attached to the tongue with an old Holsclaw crosswise bolt-on bracket which holds a board on edge, topped with a padded 2x6. The lengthwise hunk of 2x6 hanging off the back end was put there to hold the stern stem's padded support as well as clearance lights. Not fancy, but it works, and you really get lots of thumbs up driving down the road towing this canoe. Unfortunately, I'm getting too old to mess with it, especially after two open heart surgeries in the past ten years. Someone will eventually buy it with the trailer - or if not - I'll re-purpose the trailer once more. Does anyone make a wood and canvas jet ski?

 

[MGC]

This is the same trailer I use to haul our massive motorboat, the 12 foot Thompson cartopper. It works extremely well for the boat but a word of caution if you are not used to hauling a trailer. These tiny trailers are infinitely harder to back up than a larger one. The tiniest steering input puts it sideways and quickly, unless you want it to turn in which case, massive steering input will do nothing until the thing is sideways under your wheel wells......