Getting the boats off the trailer for bottom cleaning

Heavy Duty

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Does anyone have any tipps on how to get a boat off the trailer and onto stands so the bottom can be soda blasted. I have found a a company that will come to your house and soda blast the bottom of the boat. Problem is the boat needs to be off the trailer and at least 3 feet up so they can get underneath. I had one guy who told me to tie the back end of the boat to a tree, place supports at rear of boat, use truck to pull forward and place blocks as you go. In other words drag the boat off of the trailer. Now to me that sounds like a great way to screw up your boat :shock: .


Thanks.

HD
 

Legend

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A friend of mine does it by puting stands under the stern and then Raises them up so the boat is off the end the trailer. He then starts to pull forward slowly and the boat begins to slide off the trailer. As he inches forward he begins to ad blocks and finally the front stand. I have watched him a couple of times and I would never do it with my boat. Too nerve raking for me. Prpbably the safest way would be to just bring it to a boat yard where they can pick it up with a fork truck and put it on stands for a few days. Good Luck
 

izzy

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Legend said:
A friend of mine does it by puting stands under the stern and then Raises them up so the boat is off the end the trailer. He then starts to pull forward slowly and the boat begins to slide off the trailer. As he inches forward he begins to ad blocks and finally the front stand. Good Luck

Works every time........tried and true :D
 

Heavy Duty

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Legend said:
A friend of mine does it by puting stands under the stern and then Raises them up so the boat is off the end the trailer. He then starts to pull forward slowly and the boat begins to slide off the trailer. As he inches forward he begins to ad blocks and finally the front stand. I have watched him a couple of times and I would never do it with my boat. Too nerve raking for me. Prpbably the safest way would be to just bring it to a boat yard where they can pick it up with a fork truck and put it on stands for a few days. Good Luck

I'm with you on the nerve raking. Not to menton as to what happens IF you drop the boat on the ground. That would be one of thos "Oh Sh**" moments.

The company quoted me $500.00 bucks to remove the bottom paint via soda blasting. The price sounds good but taking the boat off of the trailer and setting it on to blocks may be beyound my level of expertise.

Thanks.

HHHHHD
 

jehines3

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tounge all the way down
Blocks under back of boat, Keel and sides
tounge all the way up
place keel block under approximate location of forward bulkhead
lower tounge to normal height
attach to truck, pull forward until front axle can;t go anymore due to keel block.
redo the tounge up/down trick to get keel block aft of the trailer axle
rehitch and pull trailer out.

Good luck. This works best if you know someone with a front load tractor with a hitch ball it takes all the hitch and unhitch work out. jh
 

CaptKennyW

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when i had my bottom paint done i took it to a marina had them pick it up off the trailer with the travelift and put blocks under it. it wassnt that expencive for me and it was an on/off trailer price.
 

Brad1

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Here's a technique I have used, though depending on how high your boat sits off the ground when it's on the trailer, it may not (probably won't) satisfy your 3 ft off the ground requirement. This must be done on LEVEL, HARD ground.

Lower the trailer tongue jack all the way down. Put blocks under the chines at the rear of the boat. The last time I did this, I used two foot sections of wolmanized 6 x 6 for blocks. With the blocks under the chines, raise the tongue jack. The rear of the boat should now be off the trailer and on the blocks. Next, put blocks under the keel, towards the front of the boat, just behind the forward most cross member. Lower the tongue jack. The boat will now be off the trailer. But you got to get the trailer out from under the boat. Pull the trailer foward until the next cross member approaches the keel blocks. Put a floor jack behind the cross member, and jack the boat up so it's lifted off of the keel blocks. Remove the keel blocks and pull the trailer foward until the next cross member (or axle) approaches the floor jack. Put the keel blocks back under the boat in front of the floor jack, lower the boat onto the blocks, and re-position the jack just behind the cross member (or axle) Keep repeating this to get past all cross members and axles. It's a bit of a PITA, but you'll get there. I hope I described the process clearly. I can't emphasize enough that this must be done on flat, hard ground. Take your time and do this slowly and carefully. I've used this technique several times over the past 15 years or so. I have never done this with a boat greater than 22 ft however. I have also read this same technique being recommended in Trailer Boats magazine. It does have the potential to be extremely dangerous if not done properly. If you do not have an area of flat, hard ground to do this on, or you are not confident in your skills or abilities, I recommend that you look for an alternate approach. The last time I had to remove a boat from a trailer, I used the hoist at my Grady dealership. Then again, it was because of their inability to set up a trailer properly that I needed to do so.
 

Heavy Duty

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CaptKennyW said:
when i had my bottom paint done i took it to a marina had them pick it up off the trailer with the travelift and put blocks under it. it wassnt that expencive for me and it was an on/off trailer price.

Thanks CaptKenny.

Hey I work over here in Portsmouth, VA. I just came from Portsmouth boating center and they are going to give me a price to pick it off the trailer, soda blast it, set back on trailer. They do have a forklift and a travelift. What do you know about these guys? They OK? Fair on price?

I think that if they give me a good quote I'll let them do it. I do have a tractor with a front-end loader on it. But I still feel like this is out of my area of expertise. I can paint it on the trailer by using the car jacks to get it up off of the bunks once I get the bottom take care of.


Thanks guys for the advice.

HD
 

GT

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most boat haulers up here will charge $100 to put a boat up on blocks. Not a bad price for the piece of mind and guarantee of no "oh shit" moments
 

CaptKennyW

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heavy duty I took my boat to Nautical Boats Marina on the western branch all he did was lift and block the boat i did the bottom paint myself. I sent you a PM as well PBC is a good place.