Following the sale of the Wanderer I found myself with one combi type (piggy back) road trailer and three boats.
The road base came with the Cornish Cormorant and although old is actually in good condition. So what I needed were two launching trolleys for the other two boats and which fit securely on the road base, so I can keep all the boats on a dedicated a trolley and move whichever one with the road base as necessary - tall order.
Unable to buy anything suitable, I set too with some steel section, angle grinder (with cutting disk - hacksaw is far to slow). After watching some Youtube videos I bought one of the flux core MIG welders which after a bit of practice was quite easy to use and get good results - Welding tip buy an Auto Darkening welding helmet.
Eldest son also brought down his more powerful gas shielded MIG which was good for the heavy components like the axles, plus it was a really good father and son time and a good excuse to go down the pub afterwards..
Above collecting the two new trolleys from our local galvanizers. All up probably not much more than four days work in total. All that's left to do is fit the new wheels and buffers and I'll be ready for the new season.
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So is the road trailer going to have a rego, number plate etc so you can tow on the road? And I am curious about where the axle is on the road trailer (attached to the white car). My road trailer has the axle on the end which makes the front end very heavy, in fact with the OK Dinghy and it's beach trolley loaded up I can't lift the front end of the trailer onto the tow bar on my car (thank god for jockey wheels). Now, (I kid you not) yesterday when I got home from Tuesday night racing the tow bar on my car collapsed as I was backing the car up my drive. If it had broken completely it would have taken the safety chain etc with it and there could well have been a very bad accident - and my boat completely wrecked. I am sure the huge weight of the front end of the trailer has contributed to all of this - so I would be interested in your thoughts on axle placement and weight. I think I may blog about my experience with photos etc. Cheers - Alden
ReplyDeleteHi Alden - sorry for the slow response, as you say position of the dinghy relative to the trailer wheels is a critical measurement. For each boat found the centre of weight and then adjusting the position the boat would sit on each of the trolly's so that the centre of weight would be aligned to the road wheels. I always strive to have a slight weight forward so there is pressure on teh tow hook, maybe 20-30lbs and often arrange gear in the boat to get a good weight.
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