How do you move a fin keel boat on a trailer?

[William_H]

If the greatest mass of the boat is sitting on the bottom of the keel then you want rollers under the keel. If you can jack the hull enough to fit something like steel water pipe or steel rod under the keel in several places it should make it much easier to slide forward. It is naturally in the nature of a keel boat if you pull it out on a steep ramp that the keel will lodge in the trailer further aft than you want whne the top of the bow arrives in place. When you haul out and get on flat land the keel bottom stays in place but the bow will tip back to settle too far aft. So bow attachments can be a real problem when pulling out. The attachment should be movable further forward and clear of this tipping of the bow relative to the trailer. ie fit the bow attachment after the boat is out on flat dry land. good luck olewill

 

[Tintin]

You may find you can use a normal 2 inch ratchet strap. A bar thru the handle increases leverage. Worth a try before shelling out loadsa money.

 

[ferrispeterchris]

If all else fails spotted this on ebay at £13.85 View attachment 45773

 

[maxi77]

You may find you can use a normal 2 inch ratchet strap. A bar thru the handle increases leverage. Worth a try before shelling out loadsa money.

N

Thats how I used to move my seawych into the right position on the trailer. You can get a fair ammount of tensionin the strap without extra leverage. I used a spare one of the boat tie downs on the trailer.

 

[Seajet]

Is there a winch on the trailer ? If there is, I'd think a slope with a little gravity assistance as previously suggested should do the trick; a vee bow rest on the trailer would give a guide as to positioning, so if it's your trailer this with a winch might be worth considering.

As I'm sure you know, the boats' weight should be taken via the keel, but if possible the hull steadies should be near bulkheads; on my also Oliver Lee designed boat I can find the bulkheads quite easily by tapping on the hull from outside, despite the strong build.

 

[ferrispeterchris]

No winch on trailer I'm afraid. Might try the webbing idea.

 

[Concerto]

To make life a bit easier I would wet the pads the hull is resting on. The lubrication will reduce the friction and you will need lees force to pull it forward.

With such a small boat, a couple of people under the aft section of the hull should be able to lift the boat sufficiently for it to slide forward. Otherwise I would use the Spanish windlass.

 

[davidpbo]

Sorry if this has been covered by others.

I have moved my 1900kgs boat (stub keel). By using a trolley Jack with wheels aligned to take the weight and then a ratchet strap to pull it forward.

Retrieving the boat, I use a 10m strop to get trailer in deep enough and put a long line to the samson past on the bow to the tow hitch as well and put a bit of tension on it so the boat sits where it should.

 

[PetiteFleur]

I used a ratchet strap when this happened with my Halcyon 23 fin keel. Put ratchet strap around base of keel and winch tight, if it does not move use a lever under the keel and it should inch forward. Slow but sure.