Anyone ever slid their boat on or off a trailer?

RussGW270

RussGW270

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So, curious... would make it a LOT easier to deal with the trailer.. heh. Anyone ever slid their boat off and then back on their trailer? I saw a video of it.. lol.. but we all know the problem with videos we saw on the interwebs... :P

R
 
Russ, what do you mean by "slid"... as in "power loading" (using the engine to get onto and off the trailer? Or do you mean on dry land - taking the boat off the trailer in your yard? What kind of trailer do you have?
 
Oh, just mean... my boat is sitting in my driveway. I wanted to figure out how to slide it off the trailer so I could work on the trailer or take it to a shop. For some reason, this town simply has this idea that unless you bought the boat from them or get it serviced by them, or have an annual slip lease etc.. no-one has the tools or time to take the boat off the trailer and store it for a day or two while you work on the trailer, and trailer places want me to remove the boat to bring it in. Sorta catch 22.

And, sorry for all the posts, just sorta culminating to a slow boil right now lol.... keep hitting roadblocks.. so figured to see how hard it would be to throw a few of those blocks under the dang boat :p

Not going to try it alone... but was waiting for the end of the day to go home and was curious.

And howdy Dennis ;)

R
 
Tons of wood, mostly cedar. I have enough 6x6 posts to run a few blocks. I think I would feel more comfortable if I got heavier jack stands though. Will consider it.. I mean.. if I could pay someone to lift it off, I would, but I am flat out down to no options atm that are easy....no-one wants to do it, and without the brakes fixed, the closest place I can get it in the water is lake travis and that ramp is too steep.. heh

Thanks.. will keep debating it atm. Just checked, all I have are like 3-ton jack stands. I think I would need like 8-ton stands.

R
 
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Hi Russ! Sure - been there done it many times. With bigger boats, still, than yours. My first time... I was 15 and home all alone with her. She was 17-1/2... feet, that is... 17-1/2 boat Get yer mind out of the gutter! :) I kinda just wanted to do it to see if I could. My dad came home and just stared at the boat on it's blocks... then at me... then at the boat... then simply said "Alright. Well, put it back on when you're done" and he went inside the house.

For temporary blocking, you can get away with just blocking the two aft corners at the chine and one set of blocking under the keel, a few feet before the keel "turns up" towards the bow. If you've got lot's of 6x's, use those. Or cement blocks, stacked in pairs and rotating each level 90*.

Nowadays, I cheat. I use (4) of these: http://www.yardarm.com/marine_products/boat_handling_jacks.htm
 
Lol yea, 2500 for jacks better come with a lot of beer, a blonde or three, and an apartment lol
 
This is what Dennis is talking about. I pulled my trailer out from under a previous boat to redo the anti-fouling paint. Let the trailer tongue as low as you can get it. Build your chine supports to fit tight and block tight under the keel/transom intersection. When you crank the tongue back up high as you can the aft portion of the boat will come off the bunks. While you have the bow up high, block under the keel at the point where the keel starts to curve upward. Lower the trailer tongue down and the boat will be completely off the trailer bunks. At this point you can roll the trailer out by hand so as not to disturb the boat. It is important to place your first set of bow blocking in a spot that allows the trailer to roll forward a bit before a crossmember or axle touches the blocking. Now you jack up the bow off the blocks a bit and place a new set behind that obstruction. Now you can roll the trailer forward to the next obstruction. Repeat this till you have the trailer out of the way. Reverse this process to put the boat back on. If your jack stand does not have a wheel to allow it to roll then use a furniture dolly or such to avoid using a vehicle to pull on the trailer for obvious reasons. If your brakes are dragging a bit and it doesn't roll easy, park your rig out forward and use a com-a-long from the hitch to move the trailer slowly.
 

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I took my boat off my old trailer and put on new. Blocked the aft corners and since I was in a garage, I built a frame and used chain fall lifts and straps on the front.
When I had my new trailer, I had to make adjustments. I ended up having to use some corner jacks and and center jack and walking the trailer out.
Big thing is...don't drop it or let it roll over. :)
 
I have done it several times over the years using same method as halfhitch, not difficult a bit of time a helper and fairly level hard surface.
 
If I was going to walk the trailer out from under it, I would use a floor jack in the front, and every time I came to a cross member, just let it back down on the trailer, and move the jack behind the cross member, instead of building and tearing down stacks of blocks.
 
@Halfhitch wow...that helped a lot with the pics. Honestly, getting it off the trailer was not my concern, it was fearing it would fall over heh. Those pics really helped clear up how to set it. Thanks guys! If the brake lines do not work, I will give that a try. I have a lot of extra 4x6s, 6x6s, and 4x4s in the shop I can use, plus some 2x12s I can stack.
 
2 things:

@Ky Grady - wow.. beautiful boat. I am not sure I have seen it in full before. What are the 4 antennas?

second thing....this is how "out of it" I have been lately.. lol. I needed 1 flat washer for the water pump....seems I ordered 4, from two places.. lol.. I was like, "uh.. I hit order?" heh... so, I have extras for the next water pump install/replacement.. heh

R
 
RussGW270 said:
2 things:

@Ky Grady - wow.. beautiful boat. I am not sure I have seen it in full before. What are the 4 antennas?

second thing....this is how "out of it" I have been lately.. lol. I needed 1 flat washer for the water pump....seems I ordered 4, from two places.. lol.. I was like, "uh.. I hit order?" heh... so, I have extras for the next water pump install/replacement.. heh

R
Click to expand...

2 antennas 2 outriggers

It was a good boat, no complaints.

IMG_0134.JPG
 
Uh was? Sorry, I forget...what do you own now?
 
I have removed a trailer from smaller hulls several times. The approach is the same for larger hulls but the actual job is a lot scarier the bigger the load.
Even small hulls can pose significant risks to you should loads shift.
To do it correct for a small hull, you need at a minimum 2 boat stands (cement blocks are too scary), a bottle jack, a steel channel or flat plate and preferably a keel stand or as a substitute 4x4 or 6x6 cribbing.
You put the boat stands under the rear outer ends of the hull and tighten. You need to take some load off of the rollers or bunks and to do so the safest way is to jack up the trailer at the rear a little bit, one side at a time, and re tighten the jack stands. When you have some of the load off, it's time to jack up the front keel. Using the bottom jack, cribbing as needed and the steel plate perhaps with a piece of carpet on it, jack up the hull till the trailer is free. Extend the keel stand or install cribbing. Pull the trailer forward until a cross member bumps into the keel cribbing. Jack up the keel (you probably will have to move the jack, remove and relocated the cribbing aft past the first cross member or axle. pull the trailer again and repeat as necessary. It may take 3 to 5 repetitions to get the trailer cross members cleared. Go slowly and be aware that the hull and/or trailer may shift. Try not to be under anything that might crush you if the boat slips off the cribbing or the stands.
Instead of a bottle jack it is also possible to use a garage hydraulic floor jack. Since those have a much larger plate on top, you can use a 4x4 or a 2by piece of lumber instead of the steel channel or plate.
As I mentioned, the process is scary and honestly for me , not something I want to do again.Be careful with floor jacks since either the load ot the jack will move sideways as it raises and lowers.

For the last several years, I have taken a different approach. I jack up the boat on the trailer lifting the trailer from its frame about a foot and use boat stands and a keel stand to hold the boat at that height while I hen lower the trailer. The hull is in effect suspended over the trailer and there is enough (still a pain to work though) space to sand scrape and paint everything except where the boat stands support the hull. Those areas get worked on after the majority of the hull is finished and the boat is lowered back onto the trailer.
The up side for this approach is that should the hull slip off the stands, it falls onto the trailer. When the hull is in the raised position you should block the trailer frame in the rear so that should the load fall down the frame will not crush you when the springs get compressed if you are under the hull. Avoid having you arms or hands between the rollers or bunks and the hull.
The second approach can be scary too but a lot less than the trailer removal operation.
 
If its something you do often, a set of boat stands is the ticket. Don't need hydraulic jack just turn the screws a half turn at a time, evenly on each side.

I don't trailer this one. They come with a hydraulic trailer and set it on my bocks & stands.. But I use the stands to lift it off the blocks for power washing & painting.

The fwd stands are not necessary but they add redundancy and allow lifting off the fwd blocks for painting and allow for removing the rear stands for painting.

With these 4 stands I can lift the boat entirely off the blocks if necessary just by turning the screws


Edit; I got the fwd galvanized ones from http://www.scaffoldmart.com/marinemart/boat-stands cheaper than the blue painted ones at West Marine.

o4G8CaOl.jpg
 
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Either my stands are getting old or I am. ( Most likely the later) but I can't easily raise the hull just using the stand screws. Now if I use a length of pipe, it is easier but it takes a lot longer since I can only rotate the screw a quarter turn before it hits something. Jacking up the trailer and then raising the stands works better for me.
I can't tell from the picture but do you block the aft keel also?
 
seasick said:
Either my stands are getting old or I am. ( Most likely the later) but I can't easily raise the hull just using the stand screws. Now if I use a length of pipe, it is easier but it takes a lot longer since I can only rotate the screw a quarter turn before it hits something. Jacking up the trailer and then raising the stands works better for me.
I can't tell from the picture but do you block the aft keel also?
Click to expand...
yes

Lifting off blocks doesn't take much.
I suppose you might have to turn them more to unweight the trailer springs before it starts to lift off
 
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