kieronriley
Member
How would you transport a 12 meter mast from Scotland to Liverpool?
Mast transport
- Thread starter kieronriley
- Start date
harvey38
Well-known member
Speak to a transport company local to the location of the mast and see if they could combine it with another load, you may have to wait a while until convenient unless you get a dedicated truck but big bucks.
dankilb
Well-known member
I know of a few 12+ metre masts in Liverpool. What do you need?!
Daydream believer
Well-known member
Do what most people do
Stick it upright on a boat & sail it round
?
Stick it upright on a boat & sail it round
?
VicS
Well-known member
I dont think there is any way I could do that safely or legally.
Former forum contributor Roger Shaw did post a photograph, many years ago, of how he managed it in South Africa with a mast probably even longer.
William_H
Well-known member
Here in Perth (Oz) local mast riggers have a trailer specially designed to carry a long mast. I believe they have been known to rent out the trailer. So it might be worth asking riggers how they do it and can they help. ol'will
Daydream believer
Well-known member
I used to have a close coupled 5 ton boat trailer for a 26 ft boat. (2 Stellas)They are very common & can be seen in boat yards all round the country.
In between boats I even used it to carry flights of stairs & long items of joinery, plus scaffold poles, on it when I started my joinery business.
It can be easily towed behind something like a transit or a disco. I used a Bedford Midi & a Petrol Disco. One might be able to beg steal, borrow, or hire one from someone for a weekend. Set the mast with 1 Metre over the back & the rest (about 2.5 M) can poke over the top of the towing vehicle.
In between boats I even used it to carry flights of stairs & long items of joinery, plus scaffold poles, on it when I started my joinery business.
It can be easily towed behind something like a transit or a disco. I used a Bedford Midi & a Petrol Disco. One might be able to beg steal, borrow, or hire one from someone for a weekend. Set the mast with 1 Metre over the back & the rest (about 2.5 M) can poke over the top of the towing vehicle.
Bouba
Well-known member
Hire a narrow boat...take it by canal
Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
That’s the way to do it. Hire the trailer if necessary. Whilst the mast might be bastard heavy to lift, it’s nothing in terms of towing load. You won’t need a big 4x4, a normal family car with a hitch will pull it.
steveeasy
Well-known member
The maximum length for a trailer towed by a vehicle weighing up to 3,500kg is 7 metres. This length does not include the A-frame. From memory you can have an overhang at the back of 2.5 mtrs and can be forward of the A frame of a similar lentgh. One would have to build a special frame to support it and add correct markers and lights. As a one off, not really worth the expense. 40 ft flatbed or curtain sider from Scotland to Liverpool on a return load for a haulier would cost anywhere between £600 - £1500. Hundreds of hauliers head that direction each day empty.
specifically where from and too, and the exact length ?
Steveeasy
specifically where from and too, and the exact length ?
Steveeasy
Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
7 metres? That cannot be right, my boat is 9.2m and, according to the manufacturer, legally trailable in the uk and the EU.
Mister E
Well-known member
Ask for a quote on Shipley (I think that's the correct spelling).
Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
Ok then, the trailer might be limited to 7m, though that’s far from clear, the law refers to draw bar trailers. What is clear is that the total vehicle length, car, trailer and load, must not exceed 18.75m
steveeasy
Well-known member
The actual trailer length/frame excluding A frame. Boat Trailers are designed with an overhang.
Steveeasy
Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
Boat trailers aren’t A frame trailers.
steveeasy
Well-known member
But I was not talking about a boat trailer!!. I was talking about a trailer of any design. the A frame I suspect is a general term for the part ahead of the trailer that the hitch is attached too. So perhaps you might have a 7 meter frame/trailer with an 8 mtr A frame attached coupled to a Mini clubman estate heading down the M74 with a 12 mtr mast sitting quite comfortably. might be legal, but maybe not.
Steveeasy
LittleSister
Well-known member
I recall an article in PBO(?) many years ago where someone had devised a cunning method of getting a long mast a long distance (UK to southern France, IIRC) economically.
He got a relatively modest trailer, and then constructed two strong wooden frames, one fixed to the top of the trailer and another above the roof rack of his car. (One would have to check the combined weight of the frame and half (?) that of the the mast against the capacity of the roof bars.) From these frames the mast was suspended by ropes or webbing from each of the two frames. Thus the car trailer combination could negotiate bends and corners without it resulting in dangerous, or at least problematic, overhangs of the ends of the mast beyond the width of the car and trailer (which is likely the result if it was supported on a short trailer only).
The trailer frame was high enough that the mast was held more or less horizontally above the height of the car, and didn't project above some height that would have added to the cost of the ferry or some other height restriction.
The frames were, viewed from the side, an inverted V, and viewed from fore and aft were rectangular (though with triangulation for rigidity). The mast was supported by a V of rope from the upper corner of each side of the frame. Note that the amount of 'dangle' of the suspension arrangements had to be sufficient to allow for the straight line distance between the car's frame and the trailer's frame varying as the combination turned corners (the mast therefore couldn't be fixed rigidly to the frames). That in turn required a fairly simple tether arrangement to allow that movement but prevent the mast swinging too far forwards or backwards under acceleration/deceleration or wind (e.g. such that it swung up and hit the frames).
It's easy when you know how!
He got a relatively modest trailer, and then constructed two strong wooden frames, one fixed to the top of the trailer and another above the roof rack of his car. (One would have to check the combined weight of the frame and half (?) that of the the mast against the capacity of the roof bars.) From these frames the mast was suspended by ropes or webbing from each of the two frames. Thus the car trailer combination could negotiate bends and corners without it resulting in dangerous, or at least problematic, overhangs of the ends of the mast beyond the width of the car and trailer (which is likely the result if it was supported on a short trailer only).
The trailer frame was high enough that the mast was held more or less horizontally above the height of the car, and didn't project above some height that would have added to the cost of the ferry or some other height restriction.
The frames were, viewed from the side, an inverted V, and viewed from fore and aft were rectangular (though with triangulation for rigidity). The mast was supported by a V of rope from the upper corner of each side of the frame. Note that the amount of 'dangle' of the suspension arrangements had to be sufficient to allow for the straight line distance between the car's frame and the trailer's frame varying as the combination turned corners (the mast therefore couldn't be fixed rigidly to the frames). That in turn required a fairly simple tether arrangement to allow that movement but prevent the mast swinging too far forwards or backwards under acceleration/deceleration or wind (e.g. such that it swung up and hit the frames).
It's easy when you know how!
penfold
Well-known member
Yachts, masts, gliders etc are indivisible loads and are not subject to the maximum length of 7m. I forget what the limit is but IIRC it's more than 12m before it becomes an outsize load and the palaver of escorts etc. As LittleSister posts, the most feasible DIY method is using a trailer combined with temporary trestles, probably of wood but I suppose they could be metal.
LittleSister
Well-known member
I know there is a specific exemption, in the UK regulations, from the length limits (a certain longer length allowed) for gliders registered with a specific organisation. I'm not aware there are such exemptions for yachts and masts.
I'm unpersuaded that being an indivisible load exempts you from anything, except dividing your load to a length with less onerous vehicle, marking and escort requirements!
Perhaps as average yacht lengths continue to grow, gunter rigs and topmasts will make a comeback?