will this work to get my boat in the garage?

[daaw]

Let?s see if I can explain what I am thinking of doing:

I am in the process of a buying a small boat (14?-15?) as I need it to fit in my garage. Problem is that the way my driveway and side entry garage is set, there is NO WAY (not enough room for both boat and vehicle) to back it in the garage.

I have contemplated securing a winch on a stand near the back wall of my garage. I could trailer the boat perpendicular to the garage, secure the back of the trailer with the garage installed winch cable, unhook the trailer, push the front of the boat on the front wheel of the trailer 90* and then winch it in the garage. Does any of that make sense?

Can anyone tell me why this would not work? Boat weight with motor would be somewhere near 1300 lbs. so it not like we are talking about a heavy boat. Would 3/16? cable work?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: will this work to get my boat in the garage?

Do you own a riding mower perhaps. Works great. The winch will work but you will need to have the boat lined up fairly straight.

 

[daaw]

Re: will this work to get my boat in the garage?

I have one of those zero turn type mowers so I doubt it has the gumption to back it in. I think with my setup, getting it lined up would be fairly easy. My driveway has a slight decline away from the garage doors, which should aid in pushing the trailer front so it's lined up. Getting the boat out of the garage should also be aided by this decline, although I better be sure my cable holds the weight.

 

[Bob's Garage]

Re: will this work to get my boat in the garage?

Get a trailer dolly. You are only talking 130lbs tongue weight, if that, and a heavy duty dolly should handle it with no problem. You could even get one with an electric motor and it will be a lot easier to manuever than trying to
winch it in from the back. And you will probably get tired of the hassel of the winch in short order and start lookinhg for something to take it's place.

 

[asautt]

Re: will this work to get my boat in the garage?

Couple of suggestions... I have a 17' Arima so probably a bit more weight than you are talking about. Kept in a commercial storage unit with a 12' wide door and very narrow access in front.

Before you invest in a lot of gear try just pushing the boat in. I'm 60 yrs old and some days depending on the temp and if I've had enough fiber I can unhitch and push the boat in the door. There is a lip up from the drive to the door and some days I just don't have enough oomph to get over the lip.

Then I go to plan B. Unhitch, push the boat up to the door keeping it angled because I still do not have enough room to line my truck up for a straight in push. Drop the hitch down onto the ball and back up enough to get the tires up over the lip. Unhitch and push it the rest of the way in.

Alan

 

[scoutabout]

Re: will this work to get my boat in the garage?

If you are talking a hard, good quality surface, you'd be surprised what you can push around. The secret, of course, is making sure you can stop it and that it doesn't get away from you and that slight incline.

Having said that, though, I think your plan would work and would be a fun rig for a tinkerer to set up. It sounds like just the kind of solution I'd dream up myself! I can see my wife rolling her eyes as I described it to her...

 

[timdan94]

Re: will this work to get my boat in the garage?

I push this around by and without a dolly just a trailer jack. I have to pull it up a slight incline and do it by hand sometimes I struggle but I can get it done.

 

[daaw]

Re: will this work to get my boat in the garage?

great to hear no one thinks it's a stupid idea!!! If I go these route can anyone comment on the 3/16" cable? I am kinda confused on working load (840lbs). My thoughts are that there is no way that cable would break pulling a 1300lb boat on a trailer, but I am not a cable expert.

If I do this I will be sure to post some pics

 

[Jeep Man]

Re: will this work to get my boat in the garage?

Would probably be simpler to get an electric trailer dolly. It is powered by a battery.

 

[itsaboattime]

Re: will this work to get my boat in the garage?

I would probly use 5/16 cable just for piece of mind. You have to remember that the safe working load of a cable is under ideal conditions and is only a guidline. Actual conditions usually are not ideal. The 5/16 cable is still small enough to manage yet strong enough to do the job.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: will this work to get my boat in the garage?

i think you are far over thinking this situation. i solved my same problem for $50.00. just had my friendly welder make this and bolted it to the front end. they also make a reciever hitch that mount on the front. makes moving any trailer simple and easy.

 

[MudSkunk]

Re: will this work to get my boat in the garage?

pushing things isnt a problem stopping them is. from your description you have an inclined drive. pushing a boat around that weighs 1300lbs you weigh maybe a 1/10th of that. if it gets out of control which isnt too hard to do if you add in a day of frustration maybe some extra tiredness or a friend or relative standing there telling you taht your doing it wrong. all or some of that can add up to disaster quickly. i would recomend a trailer dolly of some sort for more positive control. when i move my boat by hand i have my wife standing by with a chock block to toss in front of a tire if the boat gets out of control as i have a slight incline onthe drive myself. i also store the boat in the garage.

my two pennies: get a trailer dolly those air filled tires make it soooooo much easier than that hard plastic front wheel. they only cost 45-60$ for a muscle powered one. prolly less than what your planning on. not that your idea isnt a neat solution.

 

[MudSkunk]

Re: will this work to get my boat in the garage?

oh one last thing about trailer dollies not all are good quality. i have one from northern tool and equip it is doing ok so far the only thing i would replace would be maybe the tires with beefier rims at some point if they break.

 

[Sikiguya]

Re: will this work to get my boat in the garage?

Geez-o-pete! Much ado about not a lot... Just like the other guy said, give pushing it a try. I have a 21 foot Seadoo boat. It weights 2600 plus trailer. I pull it up my 200 feet driveway to my sideload garage. Unhitch it and spin it around. Push it back into the garage. My wife assist a bit...it isn't that bad.

 

[daaw]

Re: will this work to get my boat in the garage?

u da man I will try pushing it before going to all the trouble to set up a winch. I will keep some chocks handy, just in case

 

[timdan94]

Re: will this work to get my boat in the garage?

I just wear steel toe boots and then if it starts to get away I slide my foot sideways in front of the trailer dolly wheel and that stops it just fine with no pain.