Moving boat 500 meters WITHOUT a trailer?

[dr_g]

Hi Cruisers
Looking for options from those more experienced than me!

Here's my situation:

Looking to get my first small monohull (have been a beach cat sailor) to take the fam out with. We own a place that is 500 meters from a long boat launch with 7% grade. Water is well over 2.5m deep where the ramp ends. ALSO, have a small private marina nearby but no crane / lift / launch facilities.

Was contemplating a 22' trailer sailor that I'd put into the marina at the beginning of the season and park at our place at the end.

But looking for a trailer built for highway speeds feels overkill to move a boat 500 meters! Anybody ever move a boat on a cradle this distance without a "purpose built" highway trailer. Large casters on the cradle?

The launch is 500m away. There is an 7-8 meter elevation change. I'd do the shuffle once to launch in the spring, and once to retrieve it the fall.

I'd rather spend the money on a boat than the trailer, any advice gladly received!
G

[Gone Gypsy]

We had a small trailer sailor and one of the joys was being able to put in several regional sailing spots. A small used trailer should be well under $1200. Instead of the time and questions around building something of limited use you might be better to consider a real trailer. Should you ever get the urge for the next (always bigger) boat, you could offer a complete sailing package tot he market. Fair winds.

[Orion Jim]

The design of the 22 footer will dictate your trailer needs. There are 22 foot boats with fin keels, bilge keels, full keels, centerboards, daggerboards, etc. The complexity of the requirements to trailer your particular design will dictate the trailer you need.
If it’s a light displacement centerboard design and you don’t require a true road worthy trailer a standard lawn service flatbed trailer might be all you need.

[psk125]

The boat is on a cradle now? Yards used to use rollers to move cradles around. 6" iron pipes would probably work, maybe 10' long. You need wide, flat spaces to do this. Seems to have worked for the Egyptians. Make sure you can retrieve the rollers from underwater, and that the boat will float out of the cradle cleanly when the time comes. Trailer would be a lot easier.

[mlydon]

You can home-build the cradle into a cheap trailer by adding some old axles and wheels from a junkyard - several folks at my club remove their cradles that way. Hauling the boat is more of a challenge- to capture the keel in the right place, you’d have to make some guides/cage to slot the keel into, and the angle of the trailer relative to the boat (7 degrees, you said), would leave the front poppets low while you were pulling it...

Overall, a lot of work, but it could be done....

[Spot]

I enjoy having my trailer sailor on its own trailer. We have driven it 550 miles one way to go boating over 100's of feet of elevation change and do not have to mess with haulout schedules, stands, or cradles. Being that close to the water is nice, I hope something works out for you.

[GordMay]

[Sailmonkey]

I’ve not seen many cradles that would reliably hold a boat coming out of the water at a 7% grade!

[Chotu]

I am always one for moving things in crazy ways. You can see evidence of this all over the place on the forum.

We don’t know what your boat looks like. If it’s a barge, pretty easy. If it’s a Mumm 30, maybe not so easy.

Can you show us the type of boat you have?

Finally, in many places, there are hydraulic boat trailers. These are used to pull all of the boats out of the water in the winter. They have pads that come up and meet the underside of the boat. They typically charge you for the haul out, and then mileage. Most people have to pay a lot of mileage. It looks like you don’t. So it might be very cheap to do that.

But you basically have to build a trailer anyway. So you might as well buy a cheap one. Any cradle you put together, and then put wheels on the bottom of it is a trailer. It’s not any cheaper. It’s just gonna take you a lot more time.

[hugosalt]

Ask around local boat yards. Often time there are "yard trailers" not considered road worthy. May be adequate for your needs that and inexpensive.
If your handy and can weld, something considered a throw away may be your ticket.

[Dymaxion]

Maybe borrowing/renting a flatbed car hauler would work, if you already have a cradle. Only if water is deep enough at the ramp to accommodate boat+cradle+trailer draft. You'll have to skid the cradle and boat off/on flatbed...

[Piratenorm]

Rent a car trailer from UHaul, daily rate is cheap and use that. A pickup truck will handle the weight. This will work as long as the cradle will collapse, or can be disassembled. Getting boat and cradle atop the trailer will be the tricky part. Maybe HD casters on the bottom of the cradle?

[zstine]

as many have said, a cheap used trailer is probably your best bet. doesn't have to be in good shape, just structurally sound.
There are boat moving companies that have trailers who can do this. probably cost you the price of a trailer after 2 or 3 times though.
Ask someone who has a trailer if you can borrow it for a day. block the boat and give the trailer back.

[TrentePieds]

Dr g:

Any little trailer-sailer in the 20 to 22 foot range is going to weigh a little over a ton. If you keep "stuff" in it [because it is so very convenient :-)] count on a ton'n'an'arf.

So answer truthfully: Do you have the heft and the strength to pull a ton'n'an'arf up a 7º slope? That means a rise of 1.4 metres in every 10. Surely you need a vehicle to do that?

You'll not be doing yourself any favours by dodging the trailer issue. I understand that living in the "Senior Province" you'll need to haul the boat out for the winter. Depending on what boat it is, and how it is rigged, you may be better off saving the marina fees by buying an appropriate trailer and hauling the boat home twixt each use even if that means raising and lowering the mast each time. In the size range you are talking about, provided you put some thought into the just how to do it, raising and lowering the mast is a pieceacake.

Let us know what boat it is, please? Also, is the road between you home and the launching ramp a public road and is it blacktopped?

TrentePieds

[DocHolliday]

I suppose that you have to move the boat on a public street. Usually things like trailers used in a public street have to be licensed....