Hauling an Alberg 30 on my own

[Mickeyrouse]

Originally Posted by GadgetGeek

Yves Gelinas used to do it all the time. There is a photo on his site with the Alberg 30 behind a Suburban.

No doubt highway towing with a suitably sized vehicle like a Suburban is reasonable. However, trying to pull it up a ramp from 7 ft water...well, that’s another matter. I’ve seen the video, and we encountered Jean Du Sud off Swan’s Island in Maine 20 years ago. I have always thought an A-30 and most other Alberg designs were sailors’ sailboats. My opinions differ on most contemporary designs.

[GadgetGeek]

A little further down in that article in the mast stepping part he says he always used a travel lift to put the boat in the water and the bonus as he used it to step the mast too. After doing it manually many times, I'd have to agree on the mast stepping part!

[marshmat]

Originally Posted by Mickeyrouse

The strap (be sure it’s rated for the load) will work if you have a straight-ahead pull coming up the ramp- the trailer will be very unresponsive to turning.

It will NOT work for backing the trailer down the ramp, which will be necessary for both positioning the trailer at haul-out and for re-launch.

Do *NOT* use a flexible strap between the truck and the trailer. That is an excellent way to get on /r/idiotsincars and will probably cost you both a trailer and an insurance policy, with a good chance of damaging the boat in the process. Hitch up on level ground, and then do not uncouple the hitch, for any reason, until the wheels are chocked on level ground. Oh, and test the e-brake at 2000 rpm or higher a week in advance, so you can get it fixed if it turns out to slip - a Very Not Fun thing to discover on the ramp itself.

If you are worried that the truck itself will not have enough traction to get back up a slippery ramp, you can have a second truck on level ground 20 ft ahead with a tow strap to your main truck's front frame hooks.

Alberg 30s are 4.1 tonnes, so add 1 to 1.5 tonnes for the trailer and you are right at the sweet spot for an F-250, Silverado 2500, or Ram 2500. It will likely be a hair over the weight limit for driving with a standard, as opposed to trucker's, licence. (Depends on your local rules.) The only Uhaul that comes close is their 15'/17' Econoline-based straight truck, rated for 10,000 lb (4.54 tonnes) class IV; that truck is RWD only, has no low range, and at one tonne over its tow rating will be *extremely* marginal on anything other than flat paved ground.

On a deep concrete ramp, you can pull a boat that size up the ramp in 4x4 low range quite nicely, as long as the ramp isn't insanely slippery. With RWD open diff and no low range..... I'd not try it, myself. If the ramp is not deep enough for all tires to be on solid material when the trailer starts to take weight, you are better off using a travelift or crane, and loading the trailer on level ground.

The Alberg 30, at 2.67 m beam, is 7 cm too wide for the common 2.6 m wide-load limit. There can be a bit of leeway on that though. Where I live, they allow up to 10 cm of rubrail, roll-up awning, stake pocket, marker lamp, etc. to hang out past the 2.6 m limit before requiring a wide-load permit.

You should be able to get the balance close enough for low speed (target about 7% tongue weight) by positioning the cradle so that the point where the leading edge of the Alberg's keel meets the flat bottom of the keel is directly over the front axle, which will put the 3rd axle roughly in line with the base of the rudder. If you want to get it balanced just right for higher speeds, then use the crane or travelift to haul the boat and set it down, and adjust the cradle a little bit forward or back to get 300 to 350 kg at the tongue jack.

Definitely check the aerial clearances on the route. I know someone who's had the TV/internet cable ripped out of her house three times in a year by truckers who forget that their load is tall, and snag it when turning onto a road that's marked as low clearance / no trucks.

The authorities mostly worry about people doing stuff that's obviously stupid, like skipping your circle checks and therefore not noticing that three wheel nuts are missing, or forgetting to tighten the ratchet straps & loadbinders. If you plan it out in advance with an eye towards safety first, it's not terribly difficult to move a boat like that by road.

[Carl-T705]

Let me get this straight, your plan is put a cradle on a trailer, back it down the ramp on a tongue extension or a strap , somehow position the boat on the cradle, position the cradle on the trailer, in about what ? 8-10 feet of water and then pull the entire piece up a boat ramp.with a couple of trucks .... Wow I hope you can make a video of this and post it. How about this, have the boat hauled out and set on the cradle on your trailer and not a Uhaul trailer and then have a wrecker service tow the boat the 4 miles to your house. What you are proposing is more than a one man job and dangerous. Especially when you don't know what you are doing. I have yet to see any post here with information that could help you move a 9000 lb boat . From what you post you don't have any equipment Ito do this task, how would buying a 3500 pickup , a trailer and spending a day at the boat ramp in cold water a better deal that out this move? My guess is about 500.00 to pay a boat hauling company to get this move completed. That sure sounds cheaper than a truck , a trailer , hospital bill and a damaged boat repair. Best of luck with the move

[GadgetGeek]

Originally Posted by Carl-T705

Let me get this straight, your plan is put a cradle on a trailer, back it down the ramp on a tongue extension or a strap , somehow position the boat on the cradle, position the cradle on the trailer, in about what ? 8-10 feet of water and then pull the entire piece up a boat ramp.with a couple of trucks .... Wow I hope you can make a video of this and post it. How about this, have the boat hauled out and set on the cradle on your trailer and not a Uhaul trailer and then have a wrecker service tow the boat the 4 miles to your house. What you are proposing is more than a one man job and dangerous. Especially when you don't know what you are doing. I have yet to see any post here with information that could help you move a 9000 lb boat . From what you post you don't have any equipment Ito do this task, how would buying a 3500 pickup , a trailer and spending a day at the boat ramp in cold water a better deal that out this move? My guess is about 500.00 to pay a boat hauling company to get this move completed. That sure sounds cheaper than a truck , a trailer , hospital bill and a damaged boat repair. Best of luck with the move

https://youtu.be/LYxhD7NJpB4

My friend took this video in Buffalo.

[marshmat]

Originally Posted by GadgetGeek

https://youtu.be/LYxhD7NJpB4

My friend took this video in Buffalo.

That's a purpose-built vehicle designed specifically for getting boat cradles up and down a shallow beach. Cool, but probably not available here.

The OP's idea of putting the cradle on a trailer and hauling out on a ramp is not dumb. People do it all the time with boats about that size. But it calls for an appropriately capable truck driven by someone who knows what they're doing and has planned it out carefully; doing it with a Uhaul truck will not work, and letting the trailer free in hopes of pulling it out with a strap later is definitely a Bad Idea.

[acem]

I did that last year!

We had a historic flood (500 year level) here in Arkansas. Half my farm was under water. I hooked up my Catalina 22 on its trailer to my 8 wheel drive tractor and drove it out in the water and floated it off. Floated it back on the same way. I'll find a pic and post it.

Don't worry, my farm was backwater from the flood so there was almost no current. It was like a bay. I had lakefront property and I was taking advantage of it!

If you have an appropriate beach you might find a farmer to do it for you. My big tractor can go in water over 6 foot deep with problems. It gets a little messy when the fan sprayed water out the sides!

Thx-Ace

[acem]

Here is a pic of the big tractor with my catalina 22 behind it.

The water was receding so we pulled her out.

Thx-Ace

[acem]

Here we are on part of my farm last spring.

I had rice 10 feet under water at that spot. The rice survived being underwater for two weeks and I made a crop off it.

Thx-Ace

[Mickeyrouse]

Originally Posted by GadgetGeek

https://youtu.be/LYxhD7NJpB4

My friend took this video in Buffalo.

So who inspects that thing- the Highway Dept. or the Coast Guard?
Everybody should have one.

[acem]

My personal mooring field. The corn in this field didn't make it.

[DanielPerry]

Originally Posted by gulfislandfred

Try to rent a truck that weighs more than the boat. Really helps with stopping in a straight line.
I really suggest that you use a lift to load the boat, at least the first time. The lift operator can move the boat an inch or two to get the tongue weight you want, so much easier than in and out of the water each time. No tongue extension, no roller on the front of the trailer.

A bigger truck will take more tongue weight. More tongue weight is your friend. (up to a point. Keep an eye on those back tires)
Strap the cradle to the trailer so there's no play fore and aft. Chain and chain binders are what the pros use. Strap the boat to the cradle AND the trailer. Use heavy straps. You can tighten the straps with line, or more straps, around the upright parts of the straps, between the trailer and the hull. Tie from one side to the other, go around, cinch it up, repeat, until you have 5 or 6 turns around both straps, and they sing like a guitar string wen you pluck them.


Good luck, and drive slow!

Thank you for the encouragement. I am leaning towards having the boat lifted this time, but keep going back to the " I can do it". Its a good point about getting my marks for tongue weight.

[DanielPerry]

I am about to haul out, and I am considering putting the boat backwards. It would fit a bit better behind the truck (Uhaul). Any thoughts? Much much appreciated. I feel grateful for everone's two cents thus far. It's caused me to think broadly and carefully. I am also very glad I gave myself some time to do this since I am a safety and math nerd. The feedback has been invaluable.

[Boatguy30]

I mean maybe, no way to ramp load that way.

[DanielPerry]

I've just gotten my boat home after a slow but uneventful lowering of the mast with an a-frame made from dead-standing Red Cedar trees.

I used the tow strap method and a Uhaul. Both worked fine. The hardest part was definitely getting the boat centered on the cradle which I messed up on the first try and broke a pad, but was able to fix it and the rest went like it never does: smoothly.

Thanks all for the advice. It really helped me a ton, I cant say that enough. Thank you thank you!