Moving a yacht without craneage

[aitchem]

Hi,
Just bought a yacht, 4 Tonnes 27 ft, on a launching cradle.
I am now wondering if I can get her 350 miles to home without a crane.
Has anyone ever winched a yacht on cradle onto a flatbed, then reverse the other end.?
Suggestions.?
The local crane people aren't very interested because it's not a megabucks Oil job.
Initial resting place will be on my drive so I can work on her without a 80 mile round trip to Peterhead.

thanks
Howard

 

[PCUK]

How about a very large Hiab flat-bed truck. We moved a 33 footer which was lifted with the Hiab onto the same truck and then unloaded in the same way at the other end. We used South West Crane hire which isn't much use to you but there must be similar firms up your way. Cost about £250 for the total job - lift and transport.

 

[fergie_mac66]

I once craned a 18 foot amphora (4 foot draught)20 years ago, on to a wheeled cradle on a flat bed and then winched it off at the other end . I wouldnt do it again for all the tea in china !!! The winch held up till the last 18 inch or so then it sort of slow rolled . That was the first time i knew what "got a lump in my throat!" ! meant!

So i guess a 27 foot would kill me off !!

 

[ostell]

This web page will get you some quotes. If you are not in a hurry then it will be even cheaper if you can get one that can pick you up as one leg of a trip.

HIAB truck to lift it on and off. It's amazing what those things can lift ! Used one a couple of months ago to move a Westerly Centaur, 26ft. Needed quite a reach to get it out and onto the truck.

 

[prv]

Used a truck with HIAB to pick our boat out of a farmyard and move her to Southampton. If you're having to hire the truck anyway it might not make that much difference to get the HIAB version? Your weight is well within their capabilities.

Pete

 

[NormanS]

Have done it many times in the past using 5 ton ratchet jacks, and a Pullift. Wouldn't advise it unless you know what you're doing. Once delivered a boat on flat bed trailer, tied the boat to a lamp post, and drove out, (carefully).

 

[Avocet]

Depending on what access is like and how far you are from civilisation, a couple of fork lift trucks might be able to lift the boat and cradle between them.

Avocet weighs 3 tons and is also 27' long. To be honest, I wouldn't really fancy lifting it and a cradle simultaneously on a Hiab! You're talking about lifting a couple of Rolls Royces at once, but with a higher centre of gravity!

 

[prv]

Depending on what access is like and how far you are from civilisation, a couple of fork lift trucks might be able to lift the boat and cradle between them.

Avocet weighs 3 tons and is also 27' long. To be honest, I wouldn't really fancy lifting it and a cradle simultaneously on a Hiab! You're talking about lifting a couple of Rolls Royces at once, but with a higher centre of gravity!

There's HIABs and HIABs. I'm not talking about the lightweight ones use to move pallets of bricks, but big meaty ones that can lift 20 tons if you want them to. See eg here: http://www.wbservicesuk.co.uk/#/wb/4518103292 (site at random from a quick google).

Any hire like this to the general public is going to be done on a "contract lift" basis, where the safety of the proceedings is the hire company's responsibility. They won't do something that's unsafe, so if they agree to move your boat you can be pretty confident that all will go smoothly.

And you reckon balancing it between a couple of forklifts is preferable?!?

Not saying don't do that, I've seen some pretty skilled forklift work including paired lifts like that, and I might be prepared to give it a go if I knew the drivers were good, but it's definitely the risky improvised option while the right-sized HIAB is the proper job.

Pete

 

[underdog]

Here's a picture of my 32 footer being moved last August by Hiab

 

[prv]

Here's a picture of my 32 footer being moved last August by Hiab

Yep, that's what I was talking about.

Can't imagine why Avocet thinks it's risky

Pete

 

[Strathglass]

Hi,
Just bought a yacht, 4 Tonnes 27 ft, on a launching cradle.
I am now wondering if I can get her 350 miles to home without a crane.
Has anyone ever winched a yacht on cradle onto a flatbed, then reverse the other end.?
Suggestions.?
The local crane people aren't very interested because it's not a megabucks Oil job.
Initial resting place will be on my drive so I can work on her without a 80 mile round trip to Peterhead.

thanks
Howard

When I needed to move my boat 33ft/5+ tons from a field in Cannich (Near Drumnadrochit) it was sitting on a cradle and the field was too soggy to take a crane.
I 'found' two lorry axles and bolted/welded them under the cradle. We were then able to tow the assembly using a tractor over a mile of fields and winched it onto the bed of a low loader without any great difficulty (apart from the time it took)
At the other end Steelend (Fife) I had arranged a crane to lift it into my garden.

It is possible to negotiate the prices for the hire of a crane (I got mine down to 30% of the original quote)

It is unfortunate that the boat is a Peterhead. I have had to arrange for a delivery yacht to be lifted out at Stonehaven and it was not cheep. But Unfortunately you are too near the oil industry.

Is the boat in the yard? perhaps you can share a crane with someone else? Talk to the harbourmaster.

It should at possible to add axles to the cradle and pull it onto a low loader as I have already said. I did remone the wheels on the axles once the boat was on the low loader.



Just a few ideas

 

[Heckler]

Hi,
Just bought a yacht, 4 Tonnes 27 ft, on a launching cradle.
I am now wondering if I can get her 350 miles to home without a crane.
Has anyone ever winched a yacht on cradle onto a flatbed, then reverse the other end.?
Suggestions.?
The local crane people aren't very interested because it's not a megabucks Oil job.
Initial resting place will be on my drive so I can work on her without a 80 mile round trip to Peterhead.

thanks
Howard

In the oil field we used truck with a winch on the back. All our equipment was built on skids with a turned up front, we backed the truck up to the skid, attached the winch wire and started winching, the skid front would butt against the back of the truck and then the winch wire would lift the front up and half on to the truck. Away we would go, 20 tons not a prob ( it was a big truck)
You should be able to get it on the back of a decent break down truck with a winch.
Stu

 

[Herald]

Hi,
Just bought a yacht, 4 Tonnes 27 ft, on a launching cradle.
I am now wondering if I can get her 350 miles to home without a crane.
Has anyone ever winched a yacht on cradle onto a flatbed, then reverse the other end.?
Suggestions.?
The local crane people aren't very interested because it's not a megabucks Oil job.
Initial resting place will be on my drive so I can work on her without a 80 mile round trip to Peterhead.

thanks
Howard

Why not give Macduff Shipyard a try. They have a crane division and do the annual lift in and lift out at Whitehills.

 

[Bobobolinsky]

It's a larger job than you might expect. Four tonnes puts it above what an ordinary drawbar boat trailer will handle. You need a fifth wheeler 8250Kg set up. A six or eight wheeler hiab is needed, that's going to be thick end of £1600

 

[ghostlymoron]

A telehandler will lift that sort of weight. i had mine lifted last year with one of these for about £100 cash. Ask around locally and you are bound to find something. Try harbourmasters or yatch club officers.

 

[Avocet]

There's HIABs and HIABs. I'm not talking about the lightweight ones use to move pallets of bricks, but big meaty ones that can lift 20 tons if you want them to. See eg here: http://www.wbservicesuk.co.uk/#/wb/4518103292 (site at random from a quick google).

Any hire like this to the general public is going to be done on a "contract lift" basis, where the safety of the proceedings is the hire company's responsibility. They won't do something that's unsafe, so if they agree to move your boat you can be pretty confident that all will go smoothly.

And you reckon balancing it between a couple of forklifts is preferable?!?

Not saying don't do that, I've seen some pretty skilled forklift work including paired lifts like that, and I might be prepared to give it a go if I knew the drivers were good, but it's definitely the risky improvised option while the right-sized HIAB is the proper job.

Pete

Sorry, I'd got it into my head that the OP wanted to move the yacht and cradle as a pair. I've nothing against using a big Hiab with a modified trailer to take yachts, and moving the cradle separately. In fact when I next come to move Avocet, I might even look into that option myself! I didn't know there were firms that specialised in self-lift boat transport.

However, I'd like to see longer strops than those in the photos (or spreader bars between the strops) in an ideal world.

The two fork lifts would be suspending the boat on slings (with the cradle strapped to the bottom of the boat). I certainly wouldn't put the forks of each truck under each side of the cradle! I did lift a (much smaller!) boat like this once, and backed the truck underneath it.

 

[prv]

Sorry, I'd got it into my head that the OP wanted to move the yacht and cradle as a pair. I've nothing against using a big Hiab with a modified trailer to take yachts, and moving the cradle separately.

Don't see why you couldn't life them together with the HIAB. You're going to need the cradle on the flatbed to put the boat down onto. (In our case the boat stands up on her own without a cradle, so we didn't do this.) How much does a cradle weigh? Sure some of those big beasts would have no trouble with it.

However, I'd like to see longer strops than those in the photos (or spreader bars between the strops) in an ideal world.

Yes. I said much the same when we were hitching KS up, but everyone else (including the previous owner and the HIAB driver, who had originally put the boat in the farm yard we were picking her up from) said it would be fine. To be fair there was no visible flexing or ominous noises during the lift, and nothing's come to light since. Crabbers build a pretty solid layup anyway.

The two fork lifts would be suspending the boat on slings (with the cradle strapped to the bottom of the boat). I certainly wouldn't put the forks of each truck under each side of the cradle!

Ah - must admit that was what I imagined . I've seen a pair of forklifts do it that way to move a portable site office (kind of static caravan affair) and although they never looked as if they were going to drop it, you got the impression that a lesser pair of drivers might have done.

Pete