So, I needed a new boat trailer,... Quickly,....

[Bondo]

'bout 7 or 8 years ago, I bought a 34' houseboat at an auction, I figured I could use, but didn't really need,....
For $500. bucks, Why not,...

I bought my river front houses a few years prior, so dockage was covered,...
The extra accommodations fits into havin' guest over,...
It's in remarkable shape for a 1969 fiberglass hull,...
'ell,... tax free realestate,...

After I rebuilt/ rebooted the outdrives(ya 2 of 'em), I called an ole Bud who did Boat Movin' all over the place,...
For $300. Charlie moved it the 25 miles from the auctioned Marina in Clayton, to the Marina across the Chaumont river from My houses,...

When We launched her the 1st time, Charlie tells me, he can launch there, but can't retrieve at that launch, not enough water,...
He says I gotta tow it outa the river into the bay, 'round Independence Point, down into Chaumont Harbor, 'n have the Blow-boat Marina guy pull it with his travel lift,...
I go over to see Geordie, 'n inquire 'bout his services,....
He's willin' to pull the houseboat, 'n store in on blocks, as well as droppin' it back in, in the spring,...
For a Grand,.....
He'll pull it, 'n set it on Charlie's wagon for $250....

I'd talked to John, at the marina We launched from,....
We'd agreed to $100. a winter, I provide the launch, retrieve, 'n block it on the ole concrete roadbed runnin' through his yard,...

So,... I call Charlie back, How much to move the barge across town,..??
"How much does Geordie want to lift it,..??"
$250....
"That sounds good, $250. across town it is".....
Ok, how much to launch in the spring, from the blocks, 100' to the launch,..??
"$250."...

Well, that's still under a Grand, so I pull the trigger, 'n We did it,...

The followin' January,..... Charlie Died,... heart attack at 68,....

My houseboat is settin' right in the middle of John's campgrounds, in front of his floatin' docks,...
Docks go in, in late April, early May,....
I Gotta move my houseboat,.... Somehow,......

Mid/ late March, snow melted enough to survey my stash of steel,....
I knew I had a pair of 24' bar-joists, I'd been hopin' to haul to Maine to use as support under the family Lodge on Chemo pond,...

Then the I-beam for a tongue,...

I also called in a favor, 'n got 3 house trailer axles,...
I then started stickin' the various pieces together in the driveway,...

As you can see, I used blocks to true, 'n level the work pieces,...
Welded ole fence posts to hold measurements true,...
All the weldin' was done with my ole Lincoln AC/ DC buzzbox, 'n 7018 rod,...

The hardest part of the build was tyin' the flimsy framin' of the bar-joist/ axles, to a 20'x8"x4" I-beam, which can be wobbly/ twisty in it's own right, dependin' on how ya load it,....
Big iron to little iron is always a tough problem,....

'course, March in NNY,....

Finished up the neape, 'n lined any potential contact points with wood,...

A nice Sunday mornin' in April, I hooked onto this wagon, 'n headed for Chaumont, 13 miles away, with My Love, Deb, followin' closely behind,...
We got to the marina without incident, 'n I proceeded to back the wagon under the houseboat,...
Back up a few inches, get out, 'n move the stacks of blockin' to a new point clear of the wagon, 'n then back up a few inches, rinse, 'n repeat, many times over,...
As We neared gettin' to where I was guessin' it had to go, Deb didn't see one of the stacks of blockin',....
Ka-BOOM,....
All 4 tons of her was On the wagon,......

After checkin' my shorts, 'n the wagon over,...
All was well, 'n placement was workable,.....

In the years since, I rework it once a year, 'n have changed it abit,...
Made it a tandem, insteada a tri-axle,,...
Added Guide-ons to the sides,....
Added more bunks down low to help guide it on, especially in the low water in the Fall,...

 

[classicJackets]

Looks great. Nice documentation as well! What did you end up coating the trailer with (if anything)? yeah for $500 I'd a bought it too, damn good thing I don't go to auctions...

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Cool build. It must have been an adrenaline rush the first time, especially when the boat dropped.

Sent from my XT1032

 

[LB-1911]

Ayuh,.... Great Job

 

[Bondo]

Looks great. Nice documentation as well! What did you end up coating the trailer with (if anything)? yeah for $500 I'd a bought it too, damn good thing I don't go to auctions...

Ayuh,.... Nothin',... Still as ugly today as it was then,...

Though I've added a big winch post, 8 guide-ons, 4 each side, 'n center bunks since then,...

'bout every year, I'll spend some time on it, before puttin' the barge back on it for winter,...

Also cut the aft axle off, 'n made it a tandem,...

 

[Bondo]

Cool build. It must have been an adrenaline rush the first time, especially when the boat dropped.

Sent from my XT1032

Ayuh,.... It only fell a few inches, Ya, My **** puckered,.....

The ole lady didn't stop runnin' for a block or two,....

 

[readhead]

Ayuh,.... You are very lucky so far. The bottom cord of a bar joist is not structural. It is a tension member for the top cord. At the very least put a piece of angle between the bottom and top cords. Any side movement will collapse the web members.

 

[CNGsaves]

Ayuh . . Ayuh . . Ayuh . . . . nice boat for $500 !!!!! . . .

What money do you have invested in homemade trailer ?? Hours to build?? Noticed it has pintle hitch . . . that work all right for backing up??

Curious also what are annual docking fees and registration for a boat that size??

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh . . Ayuh . . Ayuh . . . . nice boat for $500 !!!!! . . .

What money do you have invested in homemade trailer ?? Hours to build?? Noticed it has pintle hitch . . . that work all right for backing up??

Curious also what are annual docking fees and registration for a boat that size??

Ayuh,.... The steel in the wagon is salvaged throw-away from a local contractin' company I'm associated with,...
Paid nothin' for any of it,....

The axles, I was owed a few hundred bucks I couldn't collect,...

Hours,..?? Don't keep track, but done in a couple weeks,... Needed it Then not later, Charlie went, 'n died on me,...

As you can see in the pic, the hitch works just fine,...
I do the launch, 'n retrieve,... 100' or so up, realign, 'n back 'er in,...
John uses his skidsteer to get the empty wagon out into the back 40, 'n back out in the fall if necessary,.... pretty tough gettin' through, 'n around the marina barns, with boats parked all over,...
The wagon is 12' wide now with the guide-ons,...

I got a deal with John, $100. each way, goin' in, 'n comin' out, storage included,...
The launch is just a few yards from where it's parked on the concrete, 'n I own 2 houses, just across the river, behind the boat in the pic. above,...
No dockage fees, just the damn taxes on the houses,...

I tow it across the river with my 12' tinny tugboat, ain't had time to tryin' light the ole 318s pickled in the motor room,...
Did rebuild/ rerubber the drives before I pulled it outa where I bought it though,...
Don't want her sinkin',...

So far, shes just been a guest cottage, that's slowly bein' remodeled,...
No registration fees,...

 

[Bronson]

I could have bought that same model for $500 a couple of years ago.
I didn't have the time to put a trailer together, and the lake was drying up.
They cut the boat up and hauled to the dump, along with several more.
I was thinking I would park it behind My shop for a guest house, etc.
Wish I could have bought it...

 

[ilovevocs]

Nice trailer and boat. I'd love to sell my house, put all the money in the bank, and float that thing off the shore of key west and row the Canoe to shore for wisky and turkey sammiches. Honestly I don't see how a man can need much more. The older I get the less I care about the tangibles. Not that anyone cares about my life perspective. I too like you an a connoisseur of all things cheap, useful, and on the verge of disposal. Most people call it junk, but they lack creativity, tools, and work ethic.

 

[kerrynzl]

Curious also what are annual docking fees and registration for a boat that size??

Do you really need to register boats over in the USA?

Don't tell me also need a license to drive them.


In NZ we only need license and rego for towing on the road [trailer rego, and car license]

It is open slather with alcohol on a boat. Boaties a notorious for getting totally shitfaced on the water.

 

[Uncle_Charlie]

Do you really need to register boats over in the USA?

Don't tell me also need a license to drive them.


In NZ we only need license and rego for towing on the road [trailer rego, and car license]

It is open slather with alcohol on a boat. Boaties a notorious for getting totally shitfaced on the water.

Just for grins, here is the information for registering a boat that is operated on public waters in Arkansas: http://www.dfa.arkansas.gov/offices/motorVehicle/Pages/BoatRegistration.aspx

Basically only boats without motor or sail are exempt.

 

[7thDimension]

Hey Bondo, any pics of inside the boat?

 

[ilovevocs]

Do you really need to register boats over in the USA?



Don't tell me also need a license to drive them.





In NZ we only need license and rego for towing on the road [trailer rego, and car license]



It is open slather with alcohol on a boat. Boaties a notorious for getting totally shitfaced on the water.

More on the stupidity of our government.....If you want to watercross a snowmobile it legally has to have be liscenced as a watercraft. DNR gave my friend a ticket for crossing an open river a winter ago, then they started messing with everyone watercrossing in the summer. Anything to make a buck I guess. So if the lake is frozen you can legally ride it, if you hit open water it isn't liscenced as a watercraft so they can ticket you. I just don't cross open water in high traffic public areas. Stay off the trails all together.

 

[SK Eric]

So far, shes just been a guest cottage, that's slowly bein' remodeled,...
No registration fees,...

What a great story, and ^that's^ a guest cottage worth staying in!

 

[Kevin54]

At first when I read it, I was picturing a Pontoon boat in my mind until I saw this.....

That is a nice sized boat, and I imagine any guest would be more than HAPPY to stay in that. Great job on the trailer, and like others, when you say it dropped.....oh yea, I would have been cleaning out the shorts also.

 

[Bondo]

Hey Bondo, any pics of inside the boat?

Ayuh,.... A few,.... It came dressed exactly as it was when the owners stepped off her, 'n went home the fall before,....
The clan of a retired Great Lakes Captain from the Buffalo area,...
It'd been moored/ stored at the same marina since new,...

 

[Bondo]

A few more,....

Pretty weird,... good links, looks right in the text editor, just ain't showin' for me,....

 

[ishiboo]

Great story! I heard 34' houseboat, took a look at that trailer and thought this should be an epic disaster... can't believe it works

When you say "re-rubbered the outdrives", does that mean they are Stringer drives? Good luck with those, if so.

 

[bczygan]

Always wanted to live on a houseboat like that....


Nice looking DOT approved trailer BTW!

 

[Bondo]

Great story! I heard 34' houseboat, took a look at that trailer and thought this should be an epic disaster... can't believe it works

When you say "re-rubbered the outdrives", does that mean they are Stringer drives? Good luck with those, if so.

Ayuh,.... My thought as well,... That wagon is the lightest built thing, I've ever built in my entire life,...
I Always, Over-build,...
'splain's the extra **** pucker when it fell 3" onto the wagon, the 1st time it saw the wagon,....

Nope,.... No OMCs for Me,....

Not unless ya count buyin' a classic hull with a Stringer drive in it, strippin' it, 'n repowerin' with Mercruiser,......
Done a few of those, with more in the works,...

The houseboat has what was state of the art of the day, for houseboats,...
1969 Chrysler 318s, 'n Dana/ Eaton drives,....

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... You are very lucky so far. The bottom cord of a bar joist is not structural. It is a tension member for the top cord. At the very least put a piece of angle between the bottom and top cords. Any side movement will collapse the web members.

Ayuh,.... I was concerned with that, 'n added a piece of 1/4"x 5" flat stock under the bottom angle irons, tyin' it together where the axles are,...

I also welded the axles on, exactly under the V of the tie-bars,...
'n in some of the pictures, you can see the angle iron runnin' from center axle to the top cord to help side to side,...

 

[oldmxracer]

New members do this all the time, thread is 6 years old !

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,..... Seein's somebody brought this back up,.... I'll close out the story,.....

A year ago last October, I sold off both houses, 'n the houseboat at auction,.....

Barely broke even on the houses, 'n sold the houseboat, 'n trailer for $1800.00,....

Lotsa reasons,.... The IJC decided on new water levels for Lake Ontario, 'n the St. Lawrence river, which turned the downstairs level of the lower house into a wetlands,.... flooded 3 or 4 months a year,...
Broke up with the Ex,....
'n my job of 27 years changed to a unenjoyable situation,.....

So I sold off everything, 'n moved back to my hometown, Milford Maine,....