my trailer floats

[dingdongs]

Re: my trailer floats

sorry but had to smile as i was thinking if you could put an outboard and a couple of seats on it would look amusing.pun aside i would say holes have to be drilled in various positions on top surface at highest point to let any air escape as filling with water.holes underneath to let water drain once removed from water too.failing that more ballast is required.

 

[erie_guy]

Re: my trailer floats

Tom,

Does the trailer have fenders that perhaps capture an air bubble ? Drilling a couple of holes in the top of the fenders may give you some negative bouyancy.

erie_guy
Port Clinton, OH

 

[hungupthespikes]

Re: my trailer floats

Had same problem with trailer from Florida. The bunks are made from Cyprus wood.
I replaced the bunks with pin oak and the problem is gone.

 

[bowman316]

Re: my trailer floats

pine is a really light wood, and is what most lumber is made of.

oak is about as hard as you can get, unless you go to locust.

i'm assuming your trailer has bunks, and not rollers?

 

[DJ]

Re: my trailer floats

here is the fun part of physics... a tire at 60 psi or one at 30 psi, which one floats better... The one at 30 psi. Air has weight, the absolute best tire to float would be one with a vacuum, IF you had a tire that wouldn't change shape. You could go the other way, if you could figure out how to compress air enough, say 10000 psi, until it turned into a liquid, that would basically be a huge amount of air in a tire, and it would be fairly heavy with all that 'air' in it! (yes, i know, you can't liquify air at room temperatures)

.

Scuba divers know that. Full tanks sink, empty ones float.

Seriously, there were some good points made about the bunks.

If you have large expanses of bunks, perhaps 2" X 6"s and they are of a light wood, that may be your issue. Going to a denser wood may solve the problem.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: my trailer floats

Leave the boat at home, add a couple of seats and go fishing on the trailer
More seriously though work out how many cubic inches of wood are on the trailer and what type of wood it is. Weigh the trailer by itself and we will do the math. A photo of it floating would be great to see.

 

[gotmeaboat]

Re: my trailer floats

thanks for all the ideas. i'll look at the fenders and see if holding a bubble and change the bunks, they are large.
tom

 

[bowman316]

Re: my trailer floats

ok, honey, i'll drive the boat, and you drive the trailer...

 

[Stachi]

Re: my trailer floats

you know someone should invent something like an air bag to install on the rear of the trailer in case you back off the end of the ramp so you can float the trailer, I have a tandem axle pontoon trailer and accidentally backed off the ram one time, got in the water thinking I could lift it up as my wife pulled the truck forward, no way, that thing still had to be 400 + lbs, I had done this before with a single axle BTW....had to have wrecker with an extendable boom come out and put the cable down on the trailer and lift up as he pulled forward.....

I believe that some trailers float, but mine is just as heavy in the water, believe me

I can't remember where I saw it , but a device that is basically a triangle of steel , that bolts to the trailer frame just forward of the wheels, that will allow the trailer to slide back up onto the ramp until the tires are back on it...very simple device...no moving parts... could easily be fabricated DIY style.....it prevents the axle from hooking on the end of the ramp

 

[bowman316]

Re: my trailer floats

if the trailer is empty, you should just be able to drive back onto the ramp. the trailer wheels will just climp the bank at the end of the ramp.

Trying to do that with the boat on, is another story.
I'm assuming it was only a 4-6 inch drop off?

 

[H20Rat]

Re: my trailer floats

if the trailer is empty, you should just be able to drive back onto the ramp. the trailer wheels will just climp the bank at the end of the ramp.

Trying to do that with the boat on, is another story.
I'm assuming it was only a 4-6 inch drop off?

I've seen it happen where there is a hole from powerloading that is deeper than the radius of the tires. No way to climb out, the tires are at a 90 degree angle right into it.

Depending on the size of boat/trailer, you can rig a line off the end of the trailer to the bow eye of the boat. Then SLOWLY back the boat up and put some tension on the line. Usually it doesn't take a whole lot, as you are backing the boat up the vehicle driver can usually inch forward until the trailer starts to lift. (and then STOP!)

 

[bigskiohio]

Re: my trailer floats

could you use your boat to lift trailer by putting boat on trailer and
ratchet stap the trailer up or will it pull the boat down, when it falls off ramp.??????

 

[wajajaja02]

Re: my trailer floats

take the trailer to a tire shop that does tractor tires and have them put calcium in the rear two. it that doesn't do the all four, it take a special machine, but cheap weight. and they will advise on the safety of this approach.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: my trailer floats

putting calcium in a tire that will be used at speed is a recipe for a tire that explodes

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: my trailer floats

putting calcium in a tire that will be used at speed is a recipe for a tire that explodes

If you have car tires they generally hold a higher volume of air and weigh less than st tires...Smaller tires, narrower rims, steel instead of alum.... also wood floats but rollers don't so consider less bunk and a roller or two.... and as stated above MORE ballast

 

[wajajaja02]

Re: my trailer floats

that was a thought, but I didnt know the answer

 

[eli_lilly]

Re: my trailer floats

Rolls is one of the best trailer builders down here and their trailers are known for floating. I don't have a Rolls but my trailer floats also (like someone else said, it's the cypress bunks). I find that the floating makes it much easier to land the boat if the trailer is rigged properly for the boat. All I have to do is get the boat between the guides and the boat and the trailer will both move towards each other.

Check how your guide poles are adjusted, they should have no more than an inch on each side.

-E