Mast transport

[penfold]

It applies to all indivisible loads; the law is not specifically drafted for the benefit of glider owners.

Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986

Regulation 7
3A Items 6, 7, 7A, 8 and 9 of the table do not apply to—
(a) a trailer which is constructed and normally used for the conveyance of indivisible loads of exceptional length,

 

[AntarcticPilot]

It's worth bearing in mind that even professionals can get transporting masts wrong. A friend got a new mast because the company moving his boat got it wrong when negotiating a tricky place, resulting in a broken mast. Of course, the transport company's insurance paid out. The ends of the mast will sweep out a MUCH wider path than a towing vehicle and trailer.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

It applies to all indivisible loads; the law is not specifically drafted for the benefit of glider owners.

Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986

Quite. My boat divides width wise, obviously not length wise. The hard and fast rule is the overall length of the outfit. 18.75m. And the plted towing weight of the trailer, and towing capacity of the tow vehicke of course. A mast is going to be nowhere near either of those. You can put a 12m mast on a trailer with a simple crutch at the front provided ypu take note of the sweep of thefront end when negotiating corners. I’ve towed a boat with an 11.7m mast, care is needed, but it’s not hard. Plan your route. I have not yet towed Chiara. Her mast is 13.7m IIRC. It is legal.

 

[Daydream believer]

The 5 ton trailer design I was thinking of has 4 hull supports plus a bow support. One just needs a ratchet strap between the aft 2 supports to keep the end up off the ground & make a soft point for the mast to sit in This can be restrained with some ropes. Then rig a couple of bits of 3*2 sticking out the back to carry a lighting board level with the end of the mast( which I did for my Stellas)

At the front the mast will sit in the bow support & be angled upwards to clear the towing vehicle. Another strap can go across the front 2 of the 4 hull supports to resist flexing of the mast
Obviously, on a very tight bend the mast may stick out from the side. The driver needs to be aware of that & not drive down narrow streets bound by buildings at junctions, or watch out for passing high sided vehicles at "T" junctions.

My trailer weighed .75 tonnes & if one adds, say, 0.25 tonnes for the mast the towed load will come in at circa 1 tonne

 

[Chiara’s slave]

There might br a lighter trailer than that, but that will certainly do the job. You don’t need a lot of trailer to carry 250Kg, and that’s being generous about the weight of a mast. Best to err on the side of caution though, rather than blithely think it’s 100Kg and find it’s not, somewhere on the M6. I’d be looking for a lighter trailer as my car is only rated for 750Kg. With a better tow car, I’d grab whatever was offered with both grateful hands.

 

[davidej]

I remember in my youth strapping a 26 ft mast to the roof rack of my mini and driving along Southend sea front. The bus in front of me stopped and obviously so did I. I looked at the end of my mast and realised that it was sticking inside the passenger platform of the bus. Luckily no passengers were trying to get on or off.

 

[footsoldier]

How would you transport a 12 meter mast from Scotland to Liverpool?

If it was me, I would ignore all the flights of fancy, and I would seek to identify - via mates and their mates - a truck driver who regularly runs from Scotland to Liverpool in a standard curtain-sider (13.62m load-bed) who would do it for fifty notes.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

If it was me, I would ignore all the flights of fancy, and I would seek to identify - via mates and their mates - a truck driver who regularly runs from Scotland to Liverpool in a standard curtain-sider (13.62m load-bed) who would do it for fifty notes.

A bit of harmless bribery goes a long way sometimes.

 

[coopec]

Is this meant to be a trick question?? (I don't see any problem at all)

 

[coopec]

Just recently I had my 32ft yacht mast transported 110km and it cost $500 (That was calculated on a time basis) The transport rig was similar to this.

 

[dunedin]

It applies to all indivisible loads; the law is not specifically drafted for the benefit of glider owners.

Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986

Important words if want to be legal - a trailer constructed and used for such loads. So adapting a general trailer could be considered illegal if stopped?
I remember many decades ago being asked by my dad to deliver a new mast for a 22 footer. On an Enterprise dinghy trailer the overhang at the front was very scary. Nearly got hooked round a lamppost on a right turn.
Even more worrying was the the weight of mast made the trailer very unstable. Made it very slowly but vowed never again

 

[DownWest]

I carted a 50ft mast by strapping a trailer in the middle, screwing a hitch to the foot and a rag on the aft end. First light Sunday morning.... Only glitch was at the last corner, where a keep left sign got wacked by the swing. Car up front and one behind. About 15km.

 

[penfold]

If it was me, I would ignore all the flights of fancy, and I would seek to identify - via mates and their mates - a truck driver who regularly runs from Scotland to Liverpool in a standard curtain-sider (13.62m load-bed) who would do it for fifty notes.

What's a flight of fancy? I've towed an Impala many times; the mast is a bit over 11m. It was entirely legal.

 

[Pump-Out]

How would you transport a 12 meter mast from Scotland to Liverpool?

Ask a rowing club; make a donation to club funds:

 

[Jodel]

The rules for glider trailers are here... https://www.gliding.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2015/04/Trailers-Guidance-.pdf
Maybe a call to some of the Scottish gliding clubs would show up a trailer that could be hired?

 

[kieronriley]

Thanks very much for all the advice , I think I may have found one closer to home , I will still have to get it transported but , it should be a lot easier to get a mate or mate of a mate to go and get it for me , as suggested by penfold . Once again . Thanks to all of you. Kieron

 

[Rafiki]

How would you transport a 12 meter mast from Scotland to Liverpool?

A couple of weeks ago at Fox's in Ipswich I saw a specially made trailer towed by an ordinary Pick-up delivering a mast of at least 12metres. Clever clever extending trailer arrangement and also vertically extending supports so that the mast was supported in 3 or 4 places.

 

[harvey38]

The rules for glider trailers are here... https://www.gliding.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2015/04/Trailers-Guidance-.pdf
Maybe a call to some of the Scottish gliding clubs would show up a trailer that could be hired?

Wouldn't be long enough, even a twin seat, high performance glider is around 7m long, the wing breaks down into four parts to assist in transportation, the trailers are a clam shell design so no good at all. The open trailers used primarily for vintage machines are around 8m long so still quite an overhang.

 

[Daydream believer]

I carted a 50ft mast by strapping a trailer in the middle, screwing a hitch to the foot and a rag on the aft end. First light Sunday morning.... Only glitch was at the last corner, where a keep left sign got wacked by the swing. Car up front and one behind. About 15km.

Must have been fun trying to overtake you

 

[William_H]

Must have been fun trying to overtake you

Try driving in country areas of West Oz. A road train can be well over 100 metres long. ie tractor with semi trailer and an additional 3 or even 4 trailers behind. 21 axles or more. Yes difficult to overtake especially when they are traveling at 100kmph. ie you don't overtake them. ol'will