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Pat Clarke · 12-03-2023, 07:25

I am looking to buy a cruiser but the local marina charges are very high. I live just 500 meters from from the nearest slipway and have about 2 acres of land and access to a tractor. Ideally I would like to be able to keep the boat at my house during the winter and transport it via tractor & trailer from river to house and vice versa. Assuming that the boat could weigh up to 10 tonne and I have a tractor

Would it be possible to do this ?
What type of trailer would be required ?

regards
Pat

SY Harmony · 12-03-2023, 07:30

Sure
You’ll likely need to have a trailer built.

JBP · 12-03-2023, 07:36

Do you have to travel any public roads? If not, then you can get a trailer to do it. There are hydraulic boat trailers that are designed to lift, launch, and carry large boats, but I'm sure they are frightfully expensive. How will you launch the boat? If you will use a travel lift, then any old flat bed trailer that is strong enough could have a cradle mounted on it.

thomm225 · 12-03-2023, 07:46

Alberg 30 on a trailer starting at the :7 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aIKJlfC7GA

rslifkin · 12-03-2023, 07:52

Assuming you're talking an express cruiser style powerboat, it's definitely possible. I know a couple of people with fairly narrow 38 - 40 footers that have trailers. Express cruisers are usually low profile enough that height isn't an issue at that size. You'll need an over-width permit to tow it on public roads though. How easy that permit is to obtain depends on where you are and how wide the boat and trailer combo is.

**TrentePieds** · 12-03-2023, 08:33

Pat Clark:

You don't say whether you are thinking of a power cruiser or a sailboat.

If a power cruiser: Sure. Given the right trailer, no problem, but you'll may want to make sure you meet local highway codes if you are going to use public roads. You'll be very conspicuous, and the Garda may not take kindly to your doing it if you do it without a permit.

If a sailboat: They are awfully sticky-down, what with the keel'n'all, and the real constraint will be the slipway itself if it is what in these parts is called a "ramp". Make sure that, at least at high water, there is enough water over the ramp that you can float the boat off the trailer, and that you have a means of increasing the distance twixt the tractor and the trailer so that the tractor can stay high and dry while the boat floats.

It all depends on the slope of the ramp, so think it through carefully! The ramp will have to be quite steep and with a ten-tonner on a steep, slippery ramp you'll want to make sure that your tractor has enough weight to generate the traction to get the weight up it!

TrentePieds

garyfdl · 12-03-2023, 08:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pat Clarke

Would it be possible to do this?

Yes

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pat Clarke

What type of trailer would be required ?

Depends.

The devil is in the details.

First where are you? I'm guessing not US but maybe UK, from your name and the use of 'tonne'.

You'll need to find out what you can/cannot move on public roads, and whether or not the route has the necessary width, 'air draft' (overhead clearances) and turning radiuses/radii.

That said, as previously mentioned you should check to see how much it would cost to get it professionally moved. It won't be cheap, but neither is a tractor and trailer big enough, and only used to move the boat. And a boat mover will do all of the logistical work (permits, routing etc).

A tractor big enough to move 20,000 lbs (+) will be expensive. And if moving the boat is the only thing you use it for? Not very practical. A trailer big enough to haul 20,000 lbs can be found, but it will have to be modified at additional cost, and then sit around, unused, like the tractor.

Many years ago (in the 70's) I had a friend with a 49' schooner ~23,000 lb displacement. We built a trailer from sound, salvaged steel I-beams, 4 mobile home axles, and moved it with a semi, twice a year - from where it was parked near the yacht club to the club crane for launch, and from the crane back to the parking spot for the winter. The distance was only about 100 m, and his father-in-law had the truck we could use to pull it.

The only reason that paid off was, they did it that way for 20+ years.

MartinF · 12-03-2023, 12:25

you need to refine your question. A 37ft sailing yacht is a completely different kettle of fish to a 30' o/b motor boat. For two similar boats, a 37footer will weigh about twice as much as a 30'. Are you thinking of leaving the mast in place? Are you going to roll the boat down the slipway to launch? Is your river tidal? Do you know how long and wide the slipway is under the water? Are you thinking of doing this single-handed? Are you skilled at handling long, heavy, unstable trailers with your tractor?

This is not a project to be undertaken lightly.
Good Luck,
M

**Jammer** · 12-03-2023, 12:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pat Clarke

I am looking to buy a cruiser but the local marina charges are very high. I live just 500 meters from from the nearest slipway and have about 2 acres of land and access to a tractor. Ideally I would like to be able to keep the boat at my house during the winter and transport it via tractor & trailer from river to house and vice versa. Assuming that the boat could weigh up to 10 tonne and I have a tractor

Would it be possible to do this ?
What type of trailer would be required ?

Yes, people do it all the time. You're in the UK, right (Slipways are called "boat ramps" in the USA)? The details will differ there, but...

Typically in the USA, a boat that size would be moved on a triple-axle trailer. Triad is one well-known U.S. maker - https://www.triadtrailers.com/triad-...boats-31-feet/. Usually the trailers are custom made for the boat, or if purchased used, are adapted by cutting and re-welding as necessary.

Typically for large vessels the ramp (slipway) depth is a limiting factor if launching without a hoist or crane. You will need a ramp that is several feet deeper than the draft of your boat, and the surface of the ramp underwater must be stable and capable of supporting the weight of the boat over a boatlength back from the water's edge.

In the USA typically oversize/overweight permits are routinely issued to boat owners for beams up to 12.5' although this varies from state to state. Typically trailer brakes and lights are required although in practice this is rarely enforced for short, low-speed moves.

I do see tractors and backhoes used for these sorts of moves from time to time.

Lionshooter · 12-03-2023, 15:08

I moved a Hunter 33 from Ft. Myers, Florida to St. Louis, Missouri on a hydraulic lift trailer pulled with a Chevy 350 Dually with a 454. It was January and it was snow and ice pack the whole way. 3 days of 45 MPH. But I was able to back it into his yard and drop the boat on its cradle. But I had to call a wrecker to pull me out of the soggy snowy yard. What an adventure. But the answer to your question is, "Yes, you can do it."

garyfdl · 12-03-2023, 15:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jammer

In the USA typically oversize/overweight permits are routinely issued to boat owners for beams up to 12.5' although this varies from state to state. Typically trailer brakes and lights are required although in practice this is rarely enforced for short, low-speed moves.

And state regs can be nuts. When I bought my boat I was able to move it from the purchase location to where I store it with out any problems - and did it all with the state on-line. The following spring, try as I might, I couldn't get a permit on-line, so I called the agency. Turns out in Wisconsin, the permits the state issues are only for state roads!. You also need permits for the county roads, and even for town roads depending on the local governments.

I moved the boat without permits. (Not recommended.)

That said, I am in a semi-rural area and farmers are moving oversized loads all the time.