Wheel assembly for trailer tongue to pull boat?

[dude11]

Re: Wheel assembly for trailer tongue to pull boat?

I guess you've already come up with the wheel deal--but I was going to suggest removing tires from trailer,along with adding one up front and half-bury a couple of pipes for rear wheels and one in the middle for the front to the boat house-- trailer would run'em like a railroad track!!And you could still cut your grass.dude11

 

[huttcraft]

Re: Wheel assembly for trailer tongue to pull boat?

Reviving an old thread here but I'm looking at the same issues faced by phlogiston the original poster. My lakefront property has a rudimentary, fairly steep grass-and-gravel launch area. My little car doesn't have the gumption to launch my boat (a 15', 1700lb Seadoo jet boat) so I have been using a winch to move the trailer the last 50' or so. The tongue jack has a wheel but it digs in and is going to be destroyed if I keep abusing it like this.

Phlogiston, are you still using your double-castor set-up? Did you change to turf tires or anything else to deal with the digging-in you describe?

I'm amazed there's no off-the-shelf commercial product for this very thing -- like a dolly on turf tires with a trailer ball on it and an anchor-point for the winch to attach. I don't have the resources to build something like that myself but wish somebody would!

Has anyone seen anything like that they can recommend?

Dave

 

[phlogiston]

Re: Wheel assembly for trailer tongue to pull boat?

OK, I know this thread is over a year old. But, I thought I would post an update to the solution I have been trying to engineer. The original design was lacking in a number of respects. The caster wheels would turn too freely upon encountering any kind of resistance. So, I created a rudder system to steer the wheels. However, the rudder had too much play in it and required that someone stand close to the cable to steer it.

This was not satisfactory when pulling the boat up from the lake. The wheels would dig into the clay and gravel and the cable would be under signficant tension. I don't want anyone near the cable when we are pulling the boat trailer with the boat up into the boat house. Safety first!

So, to lessen the stress that was caused by the wheels sinking into the clay and gravel, I added two more wheels to give a surface area equivalent to about two car tires to help the wheel assembly float better on the gravel. I also put the wheel assembly on a larger caster. It raises the boat tongue a couple of inches higher than the previous one. Given the weight and pivot angles involved, even a couple of inches should make a difference in the weight pressing down on the wheels and assist in providing better wheel floatation on the gravel and silt. I also fixed the rudder system (a square aluminum tube) rigidly to the caster to make steering as responsive as possible.

Finally, I added a locking mechanism to the caster to lock the wheels firmly in place on demand so that they will not swivel, removing the need for some one to stand close to the cable to steer the wheel assembly as long as the boat is aligned properly.

In the attached pictures, you can see some details of the new design. I just put this new caster on the trailer and have not launched the boat yet. I will follow up with my experience with the new design later this summer.

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Wheel assembly for trailer tongue to pull boat?

When i was a kid we had a boat house situation similar to yours. My Uncle got some rails and a cart out of an old Quicksilver mine. He laid down the track and secured it some how and then converted the cart into a bunked trailer. We'd just drive the boat on and winch it in. It was really easy from what I remember. Launching was just the opposite and really easy. Once in a while we'd let the winch free wheel and play like we were launching a battle ship.

 

[huttcraft]

Re: Wheel assembly for trailer tongue to pull boat?

Hi Phlogiston --


Thanks for coming back with this update. I will be interested to hear how your mods work.

I'm still using the tongue jack wheel to roll my trailer in and out. Far from ideal but I figure if it wears out it's not a terribly expensive replacement. I also got a 'Shoredocker' ramp kit (http://www.shoredocker.com/us/shore-docker-boat-ramp-kits) to put the boat in and out during the week and for the most part it's working well, avoiding the need to use the trailer as much. The Shoredocker is light enough that I can just reposition it as the water level changes through the summer. With a full tank of gas I think I'm pushing the thing's weight limit but so far so good.

Dave

 

[phlogiston]

Re: Wheel assembly for trailer tongue to pull boat?

Hi Dave,

The shoredocker looks very interesting. Wouldn't work for me because the water level could go down a lot within even a few hot days at the lake I go to--the boat could end up pretty high and dry. I usually leave the boat on the water on a buoy. But, can put the boat on the trailer and move it higher ground if I expect a big storm.

I will be sure to post an update about the effectiveness of the modifications. I have high hopes. The previous design did work fairly well, though, just not as well I expected it to.

Martin

 

[phlogiston]

Re: Wheel assembly for trailer tongue to pull boat?

As promised, I thought I would provide additional information on how my final design for a castor wheel assembly for the boat trailer tongue worked out at the end of the season. It has taken me a few seasons of trial and error to figure out a good solution, but I can report that I am now very happy with the solution. I am sure that the design I came up with eventually can be improved upon, but I see no need to pursue any further improvements. The boat came out of the water into the boat house very nicely. The only issue I encountered was the result of the very soft gravel and silt that caused the trailer wheels to sink almost to their axles. A few minutes of shovelling the gravel out of the way of the wheels was all that was required in order to resume pulling the boat and trailer by the winch. It would have been very problematic to tow the boat out the water with a truck or a car on this soft ground.

I have posted some pictures to give you an idea of the operation of using the caster wheel dolly in the environment I have to deal with at the end of the season.

Martin

 

[batman99]

Re: Wheel assembly for trailer tongue to pull boat?

.

Hi phlogiston.

If your small tires on boat trailer's tongue doesn't work in the long run (and on your soft beach), do re-view the fixed ramp idea instead.

Typical DIY Boat Lift Ramp:
http://di1-3.shoppingshadow.com/ima...+ShoreDocker+Boat+Ramp+System+Shore+Docke.jpg
Notes:
- Instead of rollers on upper portion, most use soft covered bunks - to better distributed the boat's weight even better. Or, they use many rollers.
- Many use side soft covered bunds guide rails as well. Especially at top of ramp, where strong winds nail the side of the boat.


Much stronger DIY Boat Lift Ramp:
http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=boat+...dsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:0,i:105&tx=110&ty=64
Notes:
- Instead of steel rails on upper portion, I've seen 4x4 wood rails. Only steel in the water.
- Instead of steel wheels, I've seen folks simply use an older Boat trailer, remove its small rubber wheels and replace with much larger steel "only rims" tires. re: Remove 13" tires and replace with 15" rims - which cup the 4x4s very nicely.

For full winter storage, they remove their boat using local public boat launch (and store their boat inside a large shed). But for spring to fall docking times, they use this simple slopped ramp winch method (with 12V winch on the shore).


If wondering, we many many of these fixed ramps (of slightly different design) around my local lake and since so many are used, the owners must like them….

Hope this plan B helps (if you plan A doesn't work in the long run).

 

[Paisley]

Re: Wheel assembly for trailer tongue to pull boat?

Love this thread. Seems like such a simple and universal problem, yet, similar to there being no cure for the common cold, we are left to innovate for ourselves..

I was thinking, what if you obtained a set of Andersen Rapid Jacks... or something similar?

http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Jack,Wheel-Chocks/Andersen/AM3620.html

Have two available for each wheel on your set up. Place one under each wheel in the direction you want to go, then pull the boat out of loose gravel-mud onto the cupped jack wedge. Place the second Rapid Jack or similar in front of the first and proceed. You would increase your surface area (without adding wheels) much like a snowshoe works.

For that matter, what about using small hoops or even tennis rackets with canvas stretched and secured across the opening? Wheel would pop over frame and settle, and unit would be unlikely to sink. Place a second one in front and proceed.

Just a thought.

I am facing a similar situation with my tiny camper trailer, and am seeking a solution for moving it to where I want it on a campsite regardless of terrain, and without using a hand dolly with a tow ball, which would be too big to bring along.

Best of luck,

 

[huttcraft]

Re: Wheel assembly for trailer tongue to pull boat?

I used the Shore Docker roll-up system with my 16' SeaDoo boat this season with good success.

The whole assembly is light enough that I can reposition it by hand as the water level changes. I added posts to elevate the winch end to provide a better angle at the shoreline, but otherwise assembled the kit to the manufacturer's spec. I'm interested to read Batman99's suggestion of substituting bunks for rollers though: with my boat I'd be concerned it would not slide well.

At the beginning and end of season I have to get the boat in and out with the trailer over similarly loose gravel. In past years I've used an electric winch to put the trailer in and out, with the tongue jack wheel burying itself in the ground and getting beaten to death. This year I gave up on the winch and simply pulled the trailer out with a rope through some blocks and to the front of the car. It worked fine but I'm still killing the trailer's tongue jack wheel.

How about a wide, flat skid under the tongue, instead of a wheel? I'm imagining something with a 2" ball and a hook to attach the rope, and with slightly raised front and rear edges. Something like that would pass over my loose gravel much better than any wheel.

I think that's what I'll try next year. Got to find some way to avoid destroying my tongue jack.

Dave