I apologize to the list since I promised to share my trailer construction
details last week but I have been busy with work and kids' sports.
Yesterday I put in a 15 1/2 hour day timber framing on a home construction
project on Flathead Lake in Montana. What a lake!! We had
everything...sun, snow, wind, rain. We were in the lee of some hills to the
west so it was pretty calm until the evening when it shifted NE and we
needed a reef in the main and to battened down the hatches (the "hatch
drill" as we called it). My part of the project is pretty much done so my
schedule will open up soon.

Our trailer is a steel square tube frame and it is fully adjustable. The
three dropped axles are on a frame that bolts to the long square tube frame
so the axle set can be moved forward and back. In addition, all the
stantions are adjustable and can be removed to use the trailer for something
else. We went with a tag-along design since we were not sure if we were
going to have a gooseneck in a pickup to do the hauling. I was considering
using a small boom truck to haul the boat since I thought it would be a nice
addition to my business, as well. Wouldn't it be great to have your own
boom truck to step your mast, too??

We ended up with a pickup with a gooseneck hitch now so it would have been
the way to go. Gooseneck trailers pull a little better than the tag-alongs
but ours seems to do well. The welder I hired did a really nice job of
welding but did not pay attention to the plans I provided very well. I had
to make some changes after we had the boat on the trailer so it worked the
way I wanted. He also did a poor job with the electrical wiring which is a
pretty common shortfall on trailers. I have upgraded the wiring where I
could. I wanted to be sure ALL six electric brakes were going to be working
with my load. I figure the trailer weights about 3000 pounds and our boat
weighs about 14000 dry and unloaded (not 12,500 factory specs). I think we
had a 19000 pounds behind the truck.

Most of the time it was pulled by a fellow I know from my business that
hauls timbers for me. He offered to tow my boat to Florida from Montana for
$2000 in year 2002. (Once there he ended up asking for $2500). It is 2800
miles. I paid him under the condition he would also do the return for
$2500. I sold my own pickup when he committed to hauling us down to Florida
with his Ford F-550. I now have a older Ford F350 one ton for my business
with a gooseneck hitch and wish the trailer was a gooseneck. I have
considered changing it and it would be pretty easy but at this point, we
think it pulls well the way it is so we plan to leave it. I wish the long
tongue was a little stiffer so we would only "hobby horse" when at sea. I
also could use my equalizing hitch to lessen that and that could mount that
easily. Actually, we don't hobbyhorse that bad on land or at sea.

Van, as far as the axles go, the manufacturer did not want to warranty
torsion axles in a triple configuration. Tight turns drag the tires/axles
sideways and apparently they had some trouble with the torsion type. I have
a friend with a trailer built for a Pacific Seacraft 31 with torsion axles
and they work fine. His axles allow him to have the boat lower to the
ground, too. My trucker has suggested "slipper springs" as a better axle
set-up but I never researched that approach for my "next" trailer.

I would have made the bearing for the keel a little different next time. I
did not allow for getting straps under the keel for the travel lift. I
ended up blocking the boat up enough so I can get the strap in there. If I
ever retrieve the boat on a boat ramp, I will have to fasten the blocks in
there ahead of time. I have a wheel that mounts on the tongue so you can
send the trailer down the ramp on a cable or chain. There is a bit of the
pucker factor when you disconnect the tow vehicle from the trailer but we
have done it with my friend's boat by using two vehicles. We connect a long
cable to the trailer before we chock the trailer and then disconnect the tow
vehicle and let it down or up the ramp with the second one. It all goes
pretty well. You need a good ramp though. You would probably be interested
to know I now have about $9000 into the trailer. Whew!

Then there is the subject of permits and "wide loads". Let me know if you
want to hear about that one.

Having the boat on a trailer is fabulous for us. I have it under a roof in
a 3-sided building 100 feet from my shop. I have some recycled steps from
an old factory so we don't even need a ladder to get up to the cockpit. It
is as good as it sounds. We have it half-heartedly for sale since we are
just too busy to use it. That could change in the future but we worry about
storing any boat for 6 years. I have a number of upgrades I would like to
do if we keep it in our barn. I want davits/solar support, a single galley
sink, and might also do something differnt on the bow where the grated area
can take water into the anchor locker when getting green water over the bow.
The barn is a perfect place to do all those things and the trailer makes it
happen.

Let me know if you want any more details. I also have some pictures I could
share somehow. You could contact me off list and I could send them that
way.

Ken
Moonshadow II

-----------------------------------------------------------
Baba Panda and Tashiba Owners Mailing List --
For more info, please check out the FAQ...
http://www.ballreich.net/hypermail/baba-l/faq.html
Received on Tue May 9 09:59:45 2006