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Trailer repair: Best way to get the boat off?

Boston Predictor

Boston Predictor

Well-known member
I just picked up some nice Diamond plate fenders and Diamondplate sheetmetal for my Dual axle trailer. The problem is, Ive got a 1500lb 21' rallysport and a 550lb Johnnyrude sitting on the trailer right now. Chris sugested a clever idea, where you lay the toung of the trailer on the ground and block the back of the boat and then jack the toung back up and then slide the trailer out, and the same idea for the front of the boat. Ive got planty of old super swamper tires, boat stands, blankets and lots of friends. I just need some tips on how to get this sucker off the trailer so I can start grinding and painting! Thanks
Geoff_
 
i use a long frame floor jack and heavy duty jack stands

you can lower and raise the bow to set the stands but you have to reset them when you get the boat about a foot off of the trailer

raise the bow with the floor jack and move the trailer forward as far as you can the set the bow down and move the jack and start again
until you can get the floor jack back far enough to completely remove the trailer

daren
 
daren34 said:
i use a long frame floor jack and heavy duty jack stands

you can lower and raise the bow to set the stands but you have to reset them when you get the boat about a foot off of the trailer

raise the bow with the floor jack and move the trailer forward as far as you can the set the bow down and move the jack and start again
until you can get the floor jack back far enough to completely remove the trailer

daren
Click to expand...
ll have to think about that I cant visualise what you mean. Are you saying jack up the boat, block it, pull the trailer up, jack behind the axle, block it, and remove the trailer? Sorry I have A.D.D.
 
What Chris said will work great, we used to doe that when i was younger and we were storing boats. Either that or see if you can borrow a roller trailer for a few hours and get your buddies to help push it off.
 
If you have an old tractor with a three point hitch it works really well.

What you do is put the hitch all the way down so the tongue is on the ground. So at this point the tongue is low and the arse of the boat will be up fairily high.

Then you put blocks, tires or whatever under the back of the boat.

At that point you raise up the tongue with the tractor and the arse starts to sink and the blocks will then lift the boat off the back of the trailer.

Now you just have to get the front off.

At that point you can tie the boat to a tree or something stationary. Or if you have some strong buddies they can push back against the boat so that as you slowly to pull the trailer out from under the boat. You can play around with the height a bit to see where it works best as far as sliding the boat out goes.

Once you get the trailer about three quarters the way out, you can do the same trick and you lower the tongue a bit again which raises the arse of the trailer again where the bow will be, thereby raising the bow. You then block the bow and then raise the tongue up and the boat should at that point be on the blocks.

Just make sure you've got stable blocks and that the boat stays stationary while you slowly pull out. Otherwise your boat will end up on the ground pretty quickly. :eek: :yell: :)
 
You can bring the boat to Tampa and tie it up to my parents dock and I'll keep the seat warm for you. Just dont forget to leave the keys.
 
Chris, Question. Im not sure but wouldnt the blocks be in the way of the axles and crossmembers while pulling the trailer out from the boat?
 
chris is saying block the stern corners with the bow lowthen when you raise the trailer the boat will set on the blocks

from there the only difference from the way chris does it and the way i do it
i dont have a tractor or any thing to tie the boat to most of the time

so set block under the stern corners with the bow all the way on the ground raise the tounge up with the tounge jack
place your floor jack as far forward as you can (opening with the most length
jack up the bow with a 4x4 between the jack and the boat
the boat will be higher than the trailer at this point
slide the trailer out as far as possible
let the boat down on blocks or on the trailer reset the jack and start over
repeat until you clear the trailer
stabilize uder the boat with blocks and set the boat down
if you have a tree to hold the boat still you can use your pickup or a tractor to pull the trailer out just make sure you go straight
i have unloaded 30 and 37 foot cruisers the same way and it works the same way but we use side stands and blocks under the keel

good luck hope this clears things up
its not so bad after the first time

daren
 
Boston Predictor said:
Chris, Question. Im not sure but wouldnt the blocks be in the way of the axles and crossmembers while pulling the trailer out from the boat?
Click to expand...
Basically you want to catch the back corners of the hull.

If the bunks or rollers are in the way, you can slip the boat off the trailer a couple of feet.

Most of the time you don't really have to do that though.
 
Thanks Daren, I understand what you mean now. I do have some boat stands I could possible use. Have plenty or lumber and tires. I dont have a tree behind the boat. It will be done the same place as in the pic, But I could park a truck in the yard to anchor the boat to something though.
 
Try to use blocks that are really stable.

Also you have to make sure the boat doesn't come forward with the trailer.

If you have stable blocks you're ok, but if you don't and use something tippy, it's possible that you'll pull the trailer forward and your blocks will tip forward. That's why you want to make sure the boat stays stationary.
 
Thanks fellas

Im thinking I will need to borrow some tripod boat stands from the marina. My dad can get me some. He is worried that Im going to damage the hull doing this:p You guys give me the confidance to prove him wrong though:surf:
 
Hey guys this is how I got our IMP of the trailer a couple of years ago.

I backed it up to the to 'ol oak tree next to the shop. Then took a 20ft tow strap hooked it in one of the tow eyes then around the tree a couple of times and the hooked it in the other eye. I pulled the boat about 4ft off the trailer and put a couple of hay bales under the back, then continued slowly pulling the trailer out form under the boat. AS it was sliding off I was putting more bales under it. When it was almost off, I unhooked the trailer from the truck and lowered the tongue to the ground (it took several big guys to do puch it to the ground) . When they were holding it on the ground I placed pallets under the nose to keep it high and supported. It sat in the yard until the I finished the trailer. When we put the boat back on the trailer I put dish soap and water on the bunks and backed it under the nose. We pushed the tongue to the ground and removed the pallets, and hooked the trailer to the truck. Then I took a 2-ton come-a-long and pulled it back on the trailer. It was a simple task. It took 2 hours to take it off and half a day to put it on. I will try to find the pics. My wife said it would never work, so she took pics to show everyone.

I hope this helps.
 
Well...

I got lazy and took the easy way out. Spent a few weeks grinding the trailer with the boat still on it. It wasnt as bad as I thought it would be.
Here's what it looks like now. I just gotta mount the lights and diamondplate fenders and Im all doneski. I might add some pinstriping also but Im not sure yet.
102107017.jpg
102107018.jpg
The old:
4-3.jpg
 
Add just a simple black stripe it will dress up the trailer.
I know it did mine.
I've removed the boat twice from the trailer to refinish the trailer.
 
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