Electric Trailer mover?

[wofforduk]

I am investigating different ways to launch and recover my 24ft cruiser. it is bang on the 3.5t weight limit and I have DIY dry storage at Blackness marine. my biggest concern is keeping the car out of the salt water which has to launch/recover the boat every time I come down.

Last year I made up a 10ft push/pull bar with a tow ball at one end and hitch at the other which to be fair does work but its a bit of a faf to put the boat on the slip way as I have to block the wheels and put brakes on, unhitch from car, pull forward, put the bar between car and trailer, line up the hitches (can be a right pain on my own!) then finaly remove chocks and brakes to launch. all of this whilst being ever concious of not clogging up the slipway (although I try and come at quiet times to not be a pain)

I have thought about a towball mounted winch to simply let the trailer out from the car or maybe modifying one of those caravan movers to be submersible? It would be cool to walk my boat down the slipway with no car at all

Has anyone got any experience with this??

 

[rwoofer]

I actually bought a tow bar winch for exactly this purpose and used an old car battery to drive it (if your battery is in the back then you may be able to go directly to the car battery). I've tested it at home and it certainly seems to pull strongly. The only problem is that I just haven't had a chance to use it!

Basically I've concluded for the twice a year that I need it, it is better pay someone to lift out and in.

Would be happy to sell it if it met your specs..

 

[ontheplane]

See http://www.powrwheel.com/support/powrlaunch.html

I know these guys. They did a boat version of the caravan mover. However to get motors etc that were waterproof enough, along with waterproofing all the electronics etc apparently it was not economic. I believe as well they had more warranty issues than with the caravan ones. The reason given on their website isn't really the whole story....

If they can't make it work I doubt you'd do well modding one to work - I also suggest winch etc. I always just used to use a rope tied to the car, keep car at top of slip, boat down slip.

 

[wofforduk]

RB, i would be very interested if you could send me some pics ect! need to do some calcs as to find out how much force is needed to pull the boat up the incline, as its 3.5t, but certainly interested in the idea!

Ontheplane - I spoke to one of their sales guys about this mover. my main concern wasnt the waterproofing, its more the fact that on a slippery slipway I have had my rangie slip so im really not convinced that its going to get enough traction to pull out of the water.

We always used to use a strap, but it still requires blocking the trailer ect.

My ideal system would be to attach a removable winch under the tow ball and to trailer (with trailer still coupled to car). take the strain up on the winch, simply decouple the trailer and let the winch out. once the boats launched, recover the trailer via winch and lower back onto the ball joint. removes the need for blocking/braking the trailer. (ofcourse i would have an emergency strap, just incase the line broke or something.. bit of flexi rope with a carrabena at each end...)

 

[Nick_H]

I think the weight/incline/slippy surface make an electric mover unfeasible.

How many boats share the storage area? I used to store a waterski boat on a trailer by the side of the lake with about 20 other boats, and we all chipped in to buy an old tractor that we could all use for launching.

The winch also sounds a good idea, though making it removable will be tricky. Could it be permanently mounted on the trailer?

 

[wofforduk]

Well, from my thinking, having a motor underwater (in salt too) is asking for trouble!

It is a boatyard where i keep it at the moment so they do have tractors that would easily do the job but I'd like to go elsewhere as well where i may not have access to a tractor (plus they like to have a few beer tokens to use their tractors)

As much as id like it on the trailer, the hitch gets submerged most times when launching. I could definitely do it by using a pulley tho.. you have me thinking now... thankyou!!! have the winch permanently mounted on the trailer near the head (about 2ft above the hitch and use a pulley to lower the cable to hitch height. also means I dont have to touch the cars brackets... cheers Nick!!

 

[ontheplane]

Don't think traction was an issue as it worked on all 4 trailer wheels (or 2 on a 2 wheel trailer) and therefore the full weight of the boat was on the wheels plus they move so slowly that wheelspin not an issue!

 

[wofforduk]

good point, as its pretty slow... but they dont make them anymore, and im guessing its several hundreds of pounds for the unit as its twin axle. whereas winches are pretty cheap (6000lbs @ around £80)


Has anyone got a clue about pulling forces required?? Useless at maths and online isnt being too helpful.!!

 

[jrudge]

tow rope round the trailer and on the toping ball - drive forward - job done for the cost of a towing rope ...

 

[wofforduk]

Agreed its simple enough! but still having to block it all up is a PITA especially as i do this every time i go boating which is normally most weekends from mid may to sept... kinda looking for a system thats quick and easy as im a lazy bugger!