Ooops

Wow.... I don't know that I ever saw one of these launch before...but always feared the winch strap breaking... for years, I have used a tie down chain...from the front eye to below the winch...and a larger chain down from the eye to the main beam of the trailer..... thinking, if I ever did a panic stop the boat might launch up on top of the car..... never was much concerned with the rear tie straps....now I will always use em....

I will start worrying about the bow eye breaking...

Joel
SEA3PO
 
Could you position the winch arms where you want them on the post and drill through both with the proper size tap drill. Then tap a quarter inch, 5/16", or 3/8" thread through both pieces of metal at the time. Then run a stainless bolt with anti-corrosion grease through both pieces of metal. That would prevent the arms from moving or sliding on the post. Using this method would allow future adjustment if needed where welding wouldn't (without a lot of grinding). Also welding would remove the galvanizing leading to rust or corrosion along the weld.
Forrest
 
Boris,
Strap over transom was about 2". Destroyed.

Forrest,

I think there are easy fixes as you suggested for the arm but until we have a post that doesn't bend........

I don't want to have to do the stress analysis for them (unless I have to !). It's their responsibility.

Merv
 
Looking at the pictures of the trailer again I would say a re-design is in order. the upper piece with the wench on it is moving because the up right is bending. Reinforcing the upper piece is not going to stop it from moving when the up right bends. Looks like a larger thicker plate at the bottom of the up right is going to be the fix. as long as this plate bends under load no amount of bolts is going to help. I just hope that after a larger plate is installed that the welds can handle the load and do not become the new weak link. a backing brace forward of the up right to support the load make be another option.
 
Ok, I cannot sit back any longer. From everything posted here and from the photos, I think it will be very interesting to see how successful your insurance company is at recovering every cent they pay out from King.

The events you detail are well within the norm and the steps you took to secure the boat were well beyond what would be expected. In short, the forces which caused the incident should have been obvious enough to drive reasonable design for a trailer rated for your boat. The fact that this did not occur more than likely creates liability for King. Further, even if King did a better job of limiting its liability than it did designing a safe trailer for your boat, they would be wise to recall all such trailers and make the needed modifications.

On my King trailer for instance, the arm which shifted on yours is held to the upright with four nuts and bolts, two fore and two aft.

I am not saying you should be mad. Still, this is an important moment for the King line, and how they react will be very telling.
 
Anyone have any local knowledge on reputable surveyors in Anacortes area?
Yellow pages are full of 'em but I need one to make sure there is no hidden damage before I start repair work.

Thanks to all for being such a great resource.

Merv
 
One other point for those of you who are really engineers, involves the arm that the bow brace and winch are mounted to and its angle in relation to the upright. It looks to me as though this setup creates a mechanical advantage where the longer the arm is the more upward force is transferred to the upright.
 
Merv I would be interested to know how well the skag held up to the weight and the impact. Looks like the boat came off slowly? Is the skeg a solid piece of fiberglass or is it cored with something?
 
Tom,

Primary point of impact was the aft end of the hull extension. As you can see in the pictures this barely crushed the gelcoat and there are not visible signs of any damage to the extension. Note that this part take all the weight and stress of the engines so it is pretty darned solid. The transom is 2 1/2 +/- inches thick of fibreglass over two layers of ply.

From there it must have just rolled onto the skeg and then over sideways. Again, it looks like minor crushing of gelcoat.
Fortunately forward motion was virtually nil.

But to be safe I am getting a survey.

I will let you know how it goes.

Merv
 
Merv,
Thank you for sharing the story and the pictures. Just seeing those pictures causes anguish to me! I'm sure most of us will be spending a bit of time inspecting our trailers. When I had the 16' C-Dory, I had my winch release and the chain was all that held the bow on. After that I rigged another chain from the bow eye to the main beam of the trailer. When I took delivery of the 22', I immediately set up a similar system. Now, I'm going to take another look at it and see if I can improve upon it.
 
We have had problems with the bow post on our King trailer. The geometry of it is such that any rough road was almost a guarantee that the piece the winch is mounted on is coming down. And it did... repeatedly. King sent me a new winch arm to replace the one that actually twisted, but that does NOTHING for the bad design of the upright. I made a 2x4 support while on the side of the road to keep the winch arm in place. I was going to have something fabricated from metal, but this "fix" has kept the arm in place for plenty of miles. Our winch arm is held in place with 3 (???) bolts, all of which have sheared off at one time or another. I replaced them with higher strength bolts and have had no shearing since.

When the arm would drop, there was nothing to keep the boat from moving forward on the trailer. I first became apparent to us when there was a lot of "bounce" in the bow while going down the road. We now use the winch strap, a safety chain, a rachet strap going from the bow eye down to the trailer frame, and two heavy trucker straps on the stern. Yes, it takes a few minutes to strap all that down, but it beats the heck out of having a big accident while going across west Texas (no implied insult to the fine residents of west Texas - that is where we first saw this problem).

I'm guessing the thing that kept our boat from departing the trailer when it first happened was the fact that it is a bunk trailer.

This was 2 1/2 years ago, and the response from King (through C-Dory) was that no one else has had this problem. It took over 3 months to get a winch mount from King (I had requested a better designed upright and bow stop arm... this request was ignored). I offered to PAY for it (the trailer was less than 3 months old at the time) and was finally told that they would replace the necessary parts under warranty. After I sent photos THREE times. They replaced only the twisted winch mount.

The trailer itself is a decent unit; the bow stop upright (as it was) leaves a lot of room for improvement.

I guess I'm not the only one who has had a problem. :?

Hope the repairs go smooth and you're back out on the water soon, Merv.

Best wishes,
Jim
 
Thanks for all the support guys. I know this is not specifically a C-Dory topic but I believe it is one which affects us all (and I'm still secretly a C-Brat at heart).

Right now the insurance company has appointed an adjuster who will get all my concerns and photos plus all the advice & comments that have been offered here and on the RF website. he will also get the police report.

Good reason to have two boats :lol:

Merv
 
Merv, Thank you for both explaining in detail and doing the photos. I am glad that there does not seem to be any more damage than on the surface.

I have always been leery of the roller trailers, because there is less friction holding the boat in place than on bunk trailers. Thus I have always favored bunk trailers.
We have slicks on the Tom Cat trailer, but they are most useful for the first 1/3 of the boat, when launching or retrieving. I just double checked the Float On trailer. Of course it has bolts (a total of 12) holding 3 plates in place, with the tripod type of bow stop (with the bar which stops both hulls)--and the winch post is entirely welded.

This is a great reminder to check the bolts and geometry on the CD 25 trailer. I can understand the 2" strap over the cockpit or hull breaking as the boat rolled over. The strap is more to give friction to hold the boat down. I prefer that the chain foreward be secured with shackles to the bow eye, and either welded or shackled to the trailer. But for the best strength, a good turnbuckle (such as used on sailboat rigging) with shackles--not one from home depot will tighten the chain adequately.
 
Good point on the straps and that leads to a question. Which is better A) a strap that goes over the rear of the boat or B) two tie downs that go from the trailer to anchor points on the rear of the boat ? In Marvs case tie down straps would not have came loose and if they did they are still tied to the boat, which will (or should) limit movement. I use a strap over the boat and I can see where It could come loose if the boat is sliding forward and back.
 
Bob,

My only objective in publishing the details is to ensure that all of my many friends are made aware of the need to check for all of the issues that have been raised in the interests of their safety and liability. You do not drop 9,000lbs on boat on the public highway and walk away smiling. This is anyway a public knowledge issue since reporters and police were present.

I am thankful that many have shared their experiences with me and much useful advice as to how to avoid this kind of predicament has been brought to light.

The outcome is in the hands of those to whom we pay premiums to resolve such issues. I am only happy it is not a criminal court and that no-one was injured. (except my underpants) :shock:

Merv
 
Well, here's how another manufacturer mounts the winch and front bow support:

[img=http://www.c-brats.com/albums/Journey-On/Winch_mount.sized.jpg ] Test [/img]
 
after reading your report again marvin I was suprised the stern strap did not hold better. Did it part or come loose?
and what type of strap is it? The one i have is the one Les gave me. 4 inch or so wide and when tightened down its like a gutiar string. Very tight. Do I have unfounded faith in this thin strap.
 
Merv, Sorry you had to go through this. It seems like you have taken a very analytical (and helpful) approach, must be that cool engineering thing showing through. Sure glad there was no one hurt, and that, hopefully, there is only minimal damage to the gel coat, and that the OB's were up. Sorry about the "comes in Three's" thing. I was worried that with all your composure, and the pucker factor involved, that septic problem may have been the results of a delayed reaction.

I will learn from this, and I thank you for that. More and better tie down, Always.

Harvey
[b]SleepyC [/b] :moon
 
Back
Top