Re: Moving a 30ft boat 450 miles on a converted mobile home trailer
Now that you mention your driving a K1500, my concern now is whether or not your transmission will endure 400 miles of that kind of load? With or without a trans cooler or what every suspension mods you made, the most common trans in a K1500 is a 4L60E automatic, which by no means was meant to pull that kind of weight. If your truck has the larger 4L80E or any of it's more modern derivatives then you have a chance if your very careful.
As to the flybridge, I don't think it looks all that bad but I see two concerns, one obviously is if it stands over 14' on the trailer, the other is wind resistance, both on the road and on the water. That thing will act like a giant sail. The flybridge will also cost you plenty in extra fuel both for the tow home and on the water.
How tall does it measure from the ground to the top?
Most semi trailers are within 14' tall with a few going near 15' tall but that's not common anymore. Keep in mind that manufactured house movers travel the highways too, many of them build to 16' tall and use only limited access roadways, often without permits in some western states. You might want to call one of them for advice on the route too. I worked for a guy moving buildings for a few summers years ago, we generally kept everything to within 15', at that height you can usually maneuver around obstacles enough to get through most towns. (Lifting wires, tilting stop lights, etc.) But on the highway your limited to the overpass heights. Also keep in mind that some lanes offer more clearance than others just due to the slope in the road, also keep in mind that the marked height may not always be correct if the road has been paved recently. We used to carry a measuring stick with a red mark at the height of the load we were carrying plus 3" to allow for inclines under the overpass.
Its hard to tell by the pics but it don't look 14' tall. If that boat measures under 13' 9" tall, I'd have little worry in my mind about it going down the road. At 10' wide you may not even need a permit, I do know that some western states don't require one until you exceed lane width. Texas for example I believe was 16' for trailers and 20' for housing on a trailer. Things change though when you get into a small town environment. But unless your hitting street lights or wires, I doubt they would bother you, especially if you call ahead and ask. We often had small towns just send a car out to help direct traffic if we asked.
If your over the 13' 9" height, I'd think about carrying either a couple of air tanks or a good air compressor in case you need to lower the rig by letting air out of the tires. Doing so can buy you up to 4" or so if needed.
I also can't help but think that you may be better off just calling a boat mover, it may be cheaper in the long run. Or else, call a heavy duty towing company, one that regularly moves buses and heavy equipment, it may be a whole lot cheaper to just have it slid onto a low boy and hauled for you. Keep in mind that those new tires you buy, probably about $550 or so, will likely just age under the boat while you work on it over the next few years. That would be money better spent on something else on that boat, as would money spent fixing the trans on your truck.
A few years back I had a motorhome hauled from TX to NJ by truck, they loaded the thing on a flatbed and delivered it to me here for $1100. That was over 2400 miles. I called a local heavy duty towing company and they found a guy that would bring it to them. They did the work and no doubt made some profit off it but considering the thing had a blown rear axle and wouldn't roll, I thought it was pretty fair overall. I'd have spent that much just going there and back in my truck, burning my gas, plus hotel stays to deal with the move. That 400 or so mile run may turn out to be far cheaper than you think and leave you with more money in your pocket. Keep in mind that times are lean now and you may find someone that really needs the money.
The way I see it your looking at $550 or so for tires, plus rims if you didn't take the old rims home with you when you were there.
Gas there and back, (I'd figure with that thing behind a 1/2 ton truck that gets 10 empty, your looking at about 5 or 6 tops heading home, so figure closer to about $400 for gas.
Then figure your time, the wear and tear on your truck, which if it's got a 350, isn't very new, and then you will have to deal with old electric brakes which may or may not work.
If you had a bigger truck I'd say the brakes may not be too much of an issue so long as one axle had brakes but you will need good brakes pulling that thing. I also think 60 mph will be optimistic at best. I hauled a 22' enclosed car trailer about 200 miles once with a 95 C1500 with a 350 and 4L60E trans. Any incline was an issue, hills all but stopped me, and there are no big hills around here. The trans fluid was burnt and the trans failed a month later even though I babied the thing the whole way. Luckily the truck was new and under warranty. I got it fixed and bought a diesel to pull the trailer. There's big difference to being able to move a big trailer and being able to do it over a long haul without damage to the truck.
Since you already made the deal, you most likely have limited time to move the boat, I'd start calling both boat haulers and tow companies. You may find that a tow company will be far cheaper. If the boat is secured well to the trailer, they should have no issue with getting it on a flat bed low boy trailer. If you do intend to loose the flybridge, doing so now will no doubt lessen the hauling fee if its over height. They can also lower the trailer on the flatbed by both removing the wheels or dropping the wheels into the deck. One hauler near me here has a deck that has removable panels to allow for tires to drop down to lower the overall height. If that were me hauling that, I'd load the boat and trailer onto a lowboy trailer, tilting it to gain the most height and then pull off the wheels and block up the frame of the trailer and bind it down. Chances are if it leans forward, the highest part of the flybridge will be a lot lower, maybe even as low as just being pulled behind your truck. Tilting that thing forward and removing the wheels may lessen the height by two feet or even more.
As much of a feeling of accomplishment it may be to say you hauled that yourself when it's all over, it's a matter of cost and good business sense to just let a pro handle it. Any legitimate business whether a boat hauler or towing company will have insurance to cover the job as well. Being that the boat is only 10' wide and only 30', and the fact that it's already fitted on a trailer I feel it's more the territory of a heavy towing company than a boat hauler. A boat hauler will usually have a hydraulic trailer for moving boats that are in dry dock. They may not even have a good way to remove the boat from the trailer on site, it may still have to be towed to a marina to be lifted off with a gantry crane and set on their trailer. Whereas a tow company will just load and secure the boat and be on their way. You will need to know the full measurements and approximate weight of the boat when you call around to get an accurate estimate.
make sure the truck is ready for the task as well. Truck tires good, cooling system in order etc. Not that the boat will be super heavy with no powertrain but there is still some weight there thats alot of wood and alot of side force from winds. I think I would inspect each bearing over just jacking and trying to see if there is side slop. A good clean and repack would be a minimum for me as well as a few good spares. If you have access to air I would deflate the tires a bit and then check for sidewall cracks etc while they are partially deflated, then air back up to mfg. reccomended psi and recheck when you return so you know if they are losing air. Also check out the brakes on the trailer if you are trusting just the truck brakes you may be asking alot of your truck plus its probably not legal, so if there were an accident you would be liable. Which brings up one other point does your auto or homeowners policy cover anything on this, if not and something happened you could be in a real bad spot if someone got injured and you had no insurance. Good luck with it all that is a cool old boat for sure.
