peterhull
Well-Known Member
I am interested to hear that thanks
Stainless steel launching trolley for my trailer sailer
- Thread starter peterhull
- Start date
peterhull
Well-Known Member
mmm the Stella was a wooden Holman design wasn;t ? That is a heavy cruiser!! The disco of course will two 3.5 tones I think so within its towing limits I guess.
peterhull
Well-Known Member
Yes I tend to agree but I live on the Bristol Channel, West Somerset. Watchet marina is being mismanaged full of mud and quite frankly unusable. I have sailed on the Bristol Channel and with the right tides and weather it is OK but all the harbours are drying ( as well as Watchet Marina!!). It is challenging and I do like the deep water harbours of the South Coast so I traile the boat there every summer for a couple of weeks for sailing hol.
DownWest
Well-Known Member
Longest single tow was a Fairey Atalanta (26ft) from St. Tropez to Poole harbour in '69. The tow vehicle was an Austin Champ. Lucky I wasn't paying for the petrol at 9mpg! Oh, and I built the trailer too.
Edit: Forgot... I picked up a 24ft cruiser that my father was working on when he passed away suddenly. Hull and deck/cabin only, so not so heavy., and trailed it from Norfolk back to the Algarve where I then lived. Again, built the trailer and towed it with a Montego Estate. 2500km. Very easy. Far more than the above one, which really was an adventure.
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peterhull
Well-Known Member
Blimey!! Impressive My neighbour still has an Austin Champ, a jeep , I seem to remember they had huge Rolls Royce Engines, is that right.Longest single tow was a Fairey Atalanta (26ft) from St. Tropez to Poole harbour in '69. The tow vehicle was an Austin Champ. Lucky I wasn't paying for the petrol at 9mpg! Oh, and I built the trailer too.
Edit: Forgot... I picked up a 24ft cruiser that my father was working on when he passed away suddenly. Hull and deck/cabin only, so not so heavy., and trailed it from Norfolk back to the Algarve where I then lived. Again, built the trailer and towed it with a Montego Estate. 2500km. Very easy. Far more than the above one, which really was an adventure.
DownWest
Well-Known Member
That is what I understood, a 4lt RR engine, they certainly had great pulling power and with the screen down would do over 90mph. All independant suspension and rack and pinion steering, could chuck it around corners at speed. Somewhat later, I found the RR bit was a myth. The production ones had a much smaller engines, but still pokey compared to a L-R. One oddity was the gears. five speed box, with a F-N-R lever. In theory, faster backwards than forwards. No low ratio, but 1st was low enough for hill starts. They had a rep for stripping the rear diff, so the co-driver would engage the front axle for every start, than as the driver went to 2nd, take it out again. We reckoned that would ease the load on the diff. My mother 'volenteered' me for that one. Chatting to a woman at a party, seems she had the boat in Sardinia, but no way of getting it back. Mother.' Oh, I am sure my son can help you out....' I was 21 and it sounded fun. Mad!
peterhull
Well-Known Member
mmmm mothers tend to be ambitious for the sons!!
Davising21
New Member
I see it's been a while since this was discussed, but I'm curious—how has the stainless steel held up over time? Any rust issues or unexpected wear? I'm looking into something similar and wondering if it's really worth going with stainless over galvanized. Also, did you end up making any modifications after using it for a while? Would love to hear how it's working out in the long run.
peterhull
Well-Known Member
In the end I did not pursue the idea so cannot provide any feedback sorry.
Davising21
New Member
Stainless steel sounds great for avoiding rust, but it can be pricey and heavy. Galvanized steel might be a more affordable alternative, especially if weight is a concern for handling.
chriscallender
Well-Known Member
I did exactly that, I made a launching tolley for a leisure 17 (with a car tow hitch) - when I want to move it I piggy back it on to a car transport trailer. In theory I could do that with the boat on it too, but I have only ever needed to move it with the trolley empty so far. The trolley has no suspension or brakes, just a couple of solid axles and heavy duty wheels/tyres.
I took it to a place for hot dip galvanising, from memory it was something like £100 or £150 to get the galvanising done and it was a week or 10 days or so when it was ready to be picked up, although that might have been down to my availability to collect it.
It was really easy because they took care of all necessary prep before it went in the galvanising tank, getting rid of any surface rust, mill scale etc.
The welding process is dead easy for mild steel too, much less hassle than welding stainless.You just need to make sure there aren't any sealed up tubes or spaces as those would explode in the hot dip.
Galvanising is definitely the way to go.
Chris
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peterhull
Well-Known Member
That sounds good Chris. That sounds quite a practical solution . I hate the idea of dunking an expensive road trailer in salt water with all the inherent problems with bearing and brake corrosion leading to more maintenance.