Actual weight by angle, how to calculate?

[smokeonthewater]

you couldn't possibly lose the boat off the trailer if you attached it to the trailer... The bozo's who lose their boats are the ones who don't hook em for the ride up or down the ramp,,,

ALSO you only need slicks on the front half of the trailer ..... The back of the boat floats

 

[frantically relaxing]

Here's the trailer and its history--

What I started with:

The frame extensions being added on--

The old carriers chopped off and reworked, wood for the bunks sitting in place. This was all in 2007--

Trailer about a month ago, after sitting by itself for 3-1/2 years...

Some measurements--

backing into it's parking spot about 100 yards from the ramp--

Blocked up a couple hours later...

Now, I don't need to be told I need more axles under the thing! That's another project... But everybody I've talked to (truck drivers, etc) say those beefy little 15" tires are fine for a short trip across the parking lot. They flatten down some, but they've done the job so far. Not shown is the new axle, right between the bumper and the first brace. I'll probably just remove it, since the barrel thing actually sounds promising, and it'll just be in the way. What I don't know is the ground clearance, it's not a ton, but I believe there's room for barrels between the ground and the frame supports--

 

[smokeonthewater]

might be worth while to weigh the trailer.... you will need enough flotation to lift probably 1/3 or more of the trailer weight... figuring that it weighs less under water and that a little less than half the weight will be on the kingpin and that the tires provide some lift.... You ALSO might be able to fashion some sort of skid, maybe even plywood, for the tail of the trailer to keep it from digging in.

I think I would mount barrels under the outer bunks and between the frame rails....


The earlier suggestion about floating a trailer with the bow eye wouldn't be done with a second boat, it would done with the house boat while backing the trailer in....

attaching the trailer to the stern while still in the water if you needed to would be pretty easy..... attach the straps to the trailer before backing in and float em with a couple fenders.... then snag em w ur boat hook n ratchet em to the stern.... possibly even lifting the trailer... maybe

Just more food for thought.

 

[H20Rat]

Maybe add another axle as far back as you can, just in front of that last crossbeam. It then wouldn't dig into the dirt and would in theory roll over. (if you have a halfway reasonable bottom, otherwise it might just sink in.)

 

[UncleWillie]

Why the "V" notches in the middle of all the cross members?
That feature severely weakens the I-Beams to the strength of the center web.

 

[funk6294]

The barrels plus the flotation the tires provide will help get it over the hump. Plus I would call the local rental yard and snag the dump truck before using your motorhome. Just remember it's a rental don't be gentle. If you need to go deep to get it out, then go deep. The other a added benefit of a dump truck is they usually have creeper first gear which will help you get that much weight up the ramp.

 

[frantically relaxing]

Well, I feel a little stupid--- Uncle Willie and the other Kevin (I'm also Kevin) had my problem all figured out and it went straight over my head-- I mentioned borrowing air bags from Jim Cross... In my pics above while parked, one of Jim's boats is parked next to me- Notice the big crane boom? DUH...:facepalm:

I can just have him pop in and lift the back of the trailer so I can back it in over the mud! Once I get the boat up on the trailer, options to pull it out include anything big with a pintle hitch (dump truck, etc), and if that doesn't fly I should be able to pull it out far enough with the motorhome, or even with my pickup truck, to disconnect the congear and get it out of the way so Gary can hook his semi up without getting his axles wet. The trailer shouldn't move since it'll still be in the mud...

Thanks guys, sorry for the brain fart!

Pics of the ordeal should follow!

 

[frantically relaxing]

Why the "V" notches in the middle of all the cross members?
That feature severely weakens the I-Beams to the strength of the center web.

The hull has three 3" tracking fins, 2 on the edges, one down the middle. I didn't want any taller bunk boards so we went with notching out the supports. The top plates are 1/4" steel, the notch is 1/4" x 4" angle, all fully welded. The guy who did all my welding is a genius at this stuff. When we adding the side supports he assumed I was going to support the boat on ONLY the outer bunks, and assured me the trailer would do so easily, even with the notched supports. But the boat rests perfectly on all the bunks, so there's pretty much no weird stresses put on the trailer. More than adequate for a yard trailer!

 

[UncleWillie]

... The top plates are 1/4" steel, the notch is 1/4" x 4" angle, all fully welded...

I feel better now.

It wasn't apparent that the notches had been reinforced; especially the final one on the back of the trailer.
That one will not get much load anyway so it will probably survive.