Anyone Else Lift Boats Off Trailers?

HAP · Jun 1, 2013

Today was the day to try and put a little shine back on the bottom of the boat. Tanic acid in the river tends to stain the hull after a few years. On/Off takes care of the staining but the acid stippes away all wax. Kind of a PITA job but it will only get worse if not addressed.

R,
HAP

White 99 · Jun 2, 2013

Wow, if I had a garage like yours and a boat like yours I sure would.

Very nice set up.

Zelatore · Jun 2, 2013

With that much lifting equipment, it's not much of a challenge now is it?

I lifted my Donzi 22 off it's trailer using a HF gantry and a simple chain fall to lift the back, then a floor jack at the bow. Lift, roll trailer forward, set back down and re-position jack, then repeat until you clear all the trailer crossmembers.

I've lifted mid-size stuff in the 25-30' range using nothing more than a series of Brownell stands under the chines.
http://www.boatstands.com/catalog/motorboat-stands
6 or 8 of them, each screwed up a little at a time, will do the job. In fact, I've got to put a boat on a trailer next week and that's going to be the only option since I don't have anything else to use at that sight. Be sure to grease the screws!

A lot of marinas use Yardarms to lift larger stuff.
http://yardarm.com/marine_products/boat_handling_jacks.htm
One of the trucking companies I (and a lot of other local dealer) used to use for moving in/out of out of the water boat shows built their own powered version of Yardarms. A pair of deep cycle batteries ran the hydraulics. We used 4 of them to lift stuff up to 60' on/off the trailers. Only problem was they were HEAVY. I bet each one weight 400+ lbs! Not easy to just wheel around. He had a seperate utility trailer just for lugging those things around to the shows!

Zelatore · Jun 2, 2013

BTW, what's the little blue guy off to the side? When I caught the flag on the side my first thought was one of the Donzi 16 clones, but on looking closer the deck is all wrong and the hull is nearly flat-bottomed.

marinusdees · Jun 2, 2013

I thought this was a poor or at least ordinary man's forum. Count me out.

pantera1 · Jun 2, 2013

Mines been in the air twice

HAP · Jun 2, 2013

Zelatore said:
BTW, what's the little blue guy off to the side? When I caught the flag on the side my first thought was one of the Donzi 16 clones, but on looking closer the deck is all wrong and the hull is nearly flat-bottomed.

Zelatore, that one is a 1963 Glasspar "Super G". I have modified it a bit with a 429 engine and lots of other stuff.

Alleged to be a Glasspar concept boat for that year with a 263 V drive. Was told that it was not very popular beacause the engine ate up too much interior space and it was cast aside. This hull was originally intended for an outboard and you can see where the transom had been drilled for one.

Fun project that never really ends...

R,
HAP

JCQuick · Jun 2, 2013

did you use the lift to raise the transom?

Kev442 · Jun 2, 2013

Have had mine off twice. Involved a engine hoist and some tires to rest it on while off. I rewired my trailer and put new carpet glides with some new guide rollers the first time. I needed to use the trailer for hauling the second time. All I can say is fiberglass boat + motor weighs plenty!

Zelatore · Jun 2, 2013

marinusdees said:
I thought this was a poor or at least ordinary man's forum. Count me out.

Have you seen some of the shops and tool boxes on this forum? Guys with full machine shops in their garage?

Boats can be as expensive or as cheap as you want...it's all priorities.

BTW HAP, if you ever plan to have her off the trailer for a longer time, say for a project or the like, it's well worth it to make or buy a set of dollies. I made a set to put my Donzi on when I was building the engine and doing a number of other projects and it's a god-send. Of course you do have to pull the drive, or outboards in your case, but having the boat down low and able to move around the shop is great.

Zelatore · Jun 2, 2013

pantera1 said:
Mines been in the air twice

Now see, I would have assumed your screen name was referring to the car, not the boat. But where are the eyes?

I really like the 28 Pantera with a big-inch single. Very nice 'old school' sort of hull, and a great reputation. I don't think I've ever seen one out here in the west though. All we seem to get are the Havasu-specials which for the most part don't do much for me.

HAP · Jun 2, 2013

JCQuick said:
did you use the lift to raise the transom?

Nah. Just lowered the front to the floor, put the boat stands under the B bracket, hoisted the bow and rolled the trailer out.

SGKent · Jun 2, 2013

I"ve done it with old encyclopedia and 5 gallon Jerry cans plus a few jacks stands for added safety. Really doesn't take a lift like that. Some guys pull the engine off and glass off then roll it over carefully onto dollies then work on the bottom where they can sand and gel coat if there is any damage, hook or rocker.

Ray-CA · Jun 2, 2013

May I ask what maybe a dumb question?

How do you keep the lifting strap from slipping off the bow?

Thanks,

Ray

HAP · Jun 2, 2013

Ray-CA said:
May I ask what maybe a dumb question?

How do you keep the lifting strap from slipping off the bow?

Thanks,

Ray

With the strap passing through the bow eye, the weight easily overcomes any tendancy for the strap to slip forward. It stays centered in relation to the hoist hook and just squeezes the rub rails really hard.

Zelatore · Jun 2, 2013

HAP said:
With the strap passing through the bow eye, the weight easily overcomes any tendancy for the strap to slip forward. It stays centered in relation to the hoist hook and just squeezes the rub rails really hard.

Yeah, it's a pretty common technique on smaller boats and I've never seen one slip.

Ray-CA · Jun 3, 2013

Bow eye? Is that the metal ring that I've seen used to winch the boat onto a trailer?

Thanks,

Ray

Zelatore · Jun 3, 2013

Ray-CA said:
Bow eye? Is that the metal ring that I've seen used to winch the boat onto a trailer?

Thanks,

Ray

Yup. All trailer boats will have them. Even my little inflatable RIB has one.

Come to think of it, I did take a boat off a trailer today. But it was just a 12' Rendova RIB w/o a motor on it. I just used my cherry picker to lift it up and roll the trailer out from under it. I probably only weighs 300 lbs or so.

zkling · Jun 3, 2013

Nice boat(s), nice shop, nice old mercs :drool:

I need to replace the wood bunks on our trailer. Planned on having a friend come over and help me lift the boat off. :willy_nil

It's only a 10 footer :sad:

. But it gets great gas mileage. :thumbup:

Zelatore · Jun 3, 2013

SGKent said:
Some guys pull the engine off and glass off then roll it over carefully onto dollies then work on the bottom where they can sand and gel coat if there is any damage, hook or rocker.

One 'old school' technique was to make a huge circle out of plywood, bolt it to the transom, and use it to roll the boat like a big wheel.

But really, most 'glass boats are pretty light when you strip the motor out. A friend of mine in FL flipped his Donzi 22 by simply running a come-along to the rafters and rolling it over (after bracing the interior - he had the deck off for a restoration) onto a bunch of 50 lb bags of water softener salt he had laying around. Other than a little drama as it went 'over the top', it was pretty straight forward.

csp · Jun 6, 2013

I lift mine off the trailer regularly with hydraulics. We back it into the water and it comes up off of the trailer.

denis4x4 · Jun 6, 2013

I've lifted the stern of a couple of sailboats using the front bucket of my tractor...put a couple of hull stands under the transom and then lifted the bow with a chain fall so I could pull the trailer out.

atfulldraw · Jun 7, 2013

csp said:
I lift mine off the trailer regularly with hydraulics. We back it into the water and it comes up off of the trailer.

I've used this method, once or twice myself.

If you use the proper launching fluid, it always goes smoothly!

Anyone Else Lift Boats Off Trailers?

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