Travel-Lift & trailer bunks

Chester

New member
It would be nice to use a travel-lift to keep the trailer out of the salt water. Thing is, our trailer has bunks. Short of converting to rollers, is there a way to pull this off?
 
Milehog-

Look at this:

Trailer_slots_2.jpg

Slots are cut in the bunks where the lift slings for a travelall or hoist needs to pick up the boat to be balanced. Wood or preferably metal, such as this galvanized steel set up, is used to bridge the gap below and transfer the load.

For a discussion of this in the archives, go HERE.

Joe.
 
Milehog – I read a part of the link you referred to above. The C-Dory with it’s cored hull is much different from a Boston Whaler or most V-hulled boats. When I cut my boat in half for the extension, I got a much better understanding of the strength of the hull of the C-Dory.

You will never encounter the problems of flexing or not enough support or improper support of the hull that the Boston Whaler does. At one point of my extension project, the entire boat was supported on four points of about one and a half to two square inches each with two people working inside the boat. Absolutly no damage done.

I had originally thought I would have to add rollers to my trailer after the extension but now know it is unnecessary.

________
Dave dlt.gif
 
oldgrowth":12lolwzs said:
– When I cut my boat in half...
________
Dave dlt.gif


That sounds just too cool.
What a pick-up line."Hey baby, when I cut my boat in half... " You'd get more action than opening day of fishing season.



Dave, no offense intended, it just seemed funny at the time. And thank's for the response.
 
All of us at Channel Islands Harbor Landing use a hoist to get into the water, and we all have the cutout bunks as shown above. In and out of the water this way certainly does save the trailer from alot of wear.
 
Milehog,

EZLoader's solution to this was the addition of a second carpeted 2x4 bunk bolted on top of the first. This second bunk was sectioned such that there were "missing" portions of the 2x4 where the sling is placed. The only negative to this approach is that the boat is raised approximatley an inch and a half higher than with just one bunk. This has not affected the balance while towing as far as I can notice, but when you launch via a ramp, you would need to back in slightly further.

We did this due to the Des Moines (Wa) lift rules regarding bunk trailers, in that they won't hoist your boat off a bunk trailer unless there are cut outs.
 
Milehog":22ok8u1i said:
A simple and inexpensive solution, I like it. Is a second cutout needed towards the bow?

Yes, a second set is needed. Maybe someone here with the cut-out set up can give you some good working measurments on the placements of the sling cut-outs.

Joe.
 
Milehog":3colqy13 said:
Thank's Joe.
Going through the archives someone mentioned being able to sling his boat 'cause the transom was 4" behind the bunks. My transom is 6" behind the bunks. Well, it seems that having the transom extend beyond the bunks or rollers may place undue stresses on the hull.
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/trailering/trailer.html
Maybe I'll relocate the winch stand and axle for now.

I just checked the bunks on my 22 and they are 28 :disgust inches from the bottom of the transom.

Should I be worried?

Previous owner said he towed this setup from San Francisco to Alaska and back, twice.

Greg
 
Greg S":14r1s08d said:
Milehog":14r1s08d said:
Thank's Joe.
Going through the archives someone mentioned being able to sling his boat 'cause the transom was 4" behind the bunks. My transom is 6" behind the bunks. Well, it seems that having the transom extend beyond the bunks or rollers may place undue stresses on the hull.
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/trailering/trailer.html
Maybe I'll relocate the winch stand and axle for now.

I just checked the bunks on my 22 and they are 28 :disgust inches from the bottom of the transom.

Should I be worried?

Previous owner said he towed this setup from San Francisco to Alaska and back, twice.

Greg

Greg-

Oldgrowth Dave* said today that the cored C-Dory hulls were strong enough to not suffer the problems encountered in Boston Whalers setting on shorter than maximum bunks.

If the hull is still straight and not dented in after all this time, the proof is in the performance already delivered. "Don't mess with success" says it all!

Joe.

* On edit: I oriinally attributed this to Bob Austin, but finally found it in a post above in this thread by Dave.
 
Thanks for correcting this Joe--I know that sometimes I forget--but this was very short term! I would not be as comforatable with the hull of a 22 having the transom twenty eight inches from the back of the bunks. First there is the weight of the engine, It would depend on how much bunk support there is. The worry is a "hook" in the hull. This used to more prevelent in cold molded and fiberglass boats which didn't have stringers.

The C Dory hull is very strong--but the 25 has wooden petitions under the deck, which act as stringers (even though they are not called stringers by the factory). The Tom Cat 255 spreads out the eginge load by the Armstrong bracket, plus the twin narrow hulls, have an "I" beam effect.
With my lift the back of the hull is 18" from the back of the bunks--and I have been watching it very carefully. In a year there is no change or set of the hull. But the boat is not being trailered in this situation--when I trailer the TC, the bunks are the full lenght. The CD 25 bunks on my trailer are about 3" from the transom and this seems to be fine.[/b]
 
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