Trailer getting in the way of your boat work? Here’s a no-crane solution.
Issue 139: July/Aug 2021
The stern support completed, though still without the spacer between the hull and support beam.
Trailers are great for moving modest-sized sailboats from one place to another. They’re also a good platform for storing a sailboat. But trailers can get in the way of accomplishing some hull work. I’ve often needed to suspend Old Duck, my 1967 Vivacity 20, just to get at places the trailer makes inaccessible for work and inspection. And because a crane service is not always available or convenient, last spring I came up with an alternate approach that is a model of self-sufficiency.
As a concept, my plan was simple: Lower the trailer tongue completely to the ground and, with the boat’s stern tipped up like a duck’s tail while diving, build a structure to support it. Then, use the trailer jack to lift the tongue as high as possible and build a similar support under the bow. Once both ends of the boat were supported, I would lower the tongue to the horizontal and simply pull the trailer out from beneath the boat. Voila!
Zoran topped the stern support with a spacer curved to the hull’s shape and a thick strip of rubber padding between the wood and the hull.
Well, not everything went as smoothly as I’d imagined, but here’s how it went.
I first tackled the design of both supports. Despite Old Duck being on the heavy side (she tips the scale just under 2,000 pounds empty), I chose to use lumber, as I already had some on hand. I worked out static load calculations for two main horizontal beams and then verified my numbers using safe-load tables. And I was conservative; while the stern only needed a 4-foot beam span, I calculated as though it was an 8-foot span.
With the stern supported, the bow support begins to take shape.
I built the stern support first. I lowered the trailer’s tongue completely to the ground and then took final measurements of clearance underneath, where I wanted to place the support. Next, I traced the curve of the hull onto a couple of lengths of 2 x 4 lumber and cut out the gentle curves. I attached these to the top of my horizontal beam and then laid a strip of thick scrap rubber atop this spacer to avoid any hard spots.
I used standard framing carpentry methods to create legs for my support, and then I pushed the completed support firmly under the stern, wedging plywood scraps as shims between the ground and outside corners of the structure where needed.
Satisfied that the stern was well supported, I used the tongue jack to lift the front of the trailer as high as possible. Then I supported the tongue with blocks, retracted the tongue jack, inserted blocks of wood underneath the jack, and went even higher. I was ready to construct the forward support, which I planned to place about 4 feet aft of the bow.
The bow and stern supports are completed. Note the wheel wells that are too high to clear the bow support and will need to be removed.
For this support, I did need to use a full 8-foot-long beam, as that span would give me just enough width to pull the trailer out between its vertical members. Again, I took a final vertical measurement and built the bow support. Like the stern support, I made the legs from three pieces of 2 x 4 lumber. I constructed the horizontal beam by joining two pieces of 2 x 8 lumber. To attach everything, I used 3-inch and 3½-inch deck screws throughout.
This time, to accommodate the hull curvature, I cut a shallow V-notch in the beam, added angle-cut 2 x 4 pieces on either side of that cut, and again laid a strip of heavy scrap rubber atop the surface. I then aligned the completed front support structure with the hull centerline, pushed it back snug into place, and shimmed with plywood on corners where needed.
The boat rests rock solid on her supports after the trailer is removed.
After raising the tongue jack a bit higher, I removed the support blocks under the trailer tongue and lowered the jack. The moment of truth had arrived! My boat was unsupported by her trailer, and it was time to find out if my concept would prove itself.
I noticed immediately that both wheel fenders had to come off, as they were just a bit taller than the bottom of the front support beam. After unbolting them, I removed the wheel blocks and tried to pull the trailer out from under the boat. It did not move.
Looking closer, I saw that both keels were not yet in the air; there was still some weight on the trailer. How? It was already getting dark, so I packed my tools and went home.
A closer look at the car jack arrangement under the bow support and the starboard keel.
I spent the better part of that evening wondering where my calculations had missed, and then my mistake dawned on me, clear as day. Old Duck was indeed sitting higher now, perched on the supports I’d built, but not high enough to overcome the release in tension on the trailer springs!
I struggled for a while to figure out a way to safely and practically lift the boat higher, but I was coming up empty. Then an idea struck me; what if I just let some air out from the trailer tires? I was eager to try it out the next morning.
I woke early, and after downing my morning espresso in one draft, I drove to the club. I depressed and held each tire valve pin in turn, listening to the long hiss as my trailer dropped down 2 more inches on each side. Standing back, it was clear to see that the trailer was completely free now. Happily, I began pulling the trailer out, but as soon as it started moving, I realized I had another problem to deal with.
Old Duck sits on her new support cradle, the trailer now out of the way and on the side.
Old Duck’s previous owner used the trailer to launch and retrieve the boat from the water. To make it easier for him to blindly direct the twin keels into the narrow channels on the trailer in which they rest, he built two guides from flat iron. I’d missed these guides in my measurements, and they were a couple inches too tall to clear the horizontal beam of the front support.
But I had a solution to this problem, and it was easy, quick, and ruthless. I dug my small grinder out of the toolbox, and five minutes later, the trailer was parked alongside Old Duck.
The old girl was sitting securely on top of the supports I built, but I wanted to make sure she didn’t move when I was aboard. Using some additional 2 x 4s, I built additional lateral support bracing that I screwed securely to the bow support structure. I positioned this new framing adjacent to the bow cleats, and then used rope to secure the bracing to the bow cleat on each side. Finally, for added security, I positioned car jacks under each keel and under the middle of the front support beam. I then tried rocking Old Duck, but she was solid as a rock.
Zoran added extra bracing to the supports, as well as car jacks under the keels and the forward support beam.
At this point, I was able to begin the boat work that the trailer had prevented me from doing, but at leisurely pace, with no crane operator standing by or the clock ticking on a space I was occupying. When I was finished, Old Duck was launched for the season using the yard crane as always, and I used the supports for another couple of days as sawhorses, supporting the mast and allowing me to work on the standing rigging at a comfortable height.
Eventually, I disassembled everything and loaded the lumber onto my poor Saab for a trip to my son’s backyard, where another project was waiting.
Zoran Glozinic is a retired business professional who has been messing about in boats and old cars all his life. He lives in Laval, Quebec, where he divides his free time between a good old English bilge-keeler and an 18-year-old Saab car.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
