trailers for sale, or rent, - or build
Thanks Tony, I'd like a set of plans. Let me know the $'s and I'll send them along. Thanks Mark
TRAILERING ARIELS & COMMANDERS
This exchange took place on the Yahoo site and it appeares interesting enough to repost here.
>>>>>>
Hi, I'm a new member interested in Carl Alberg designs and would like as large a boat as I can safely trailer with a Tahoe or similar SUV. I noticed several pictures of Ariels on trailers on the web and the photo page of the group. Any advice on practicality of pulling an Ariel?
Thanks, Clay
>>>>>>
Mike Goodwin writes:
Pulling isn't the problem if your truck can tow #6000 (boat and trailer + extra gear), launching is the problem. You need a crane in most cases to get the boat off the trailer. Most ramps aren't steep enough to float the boat from the trailer, the wheels would be aprox. 5' underwater and even with a lowboy trailer they would be 4' under. To do it safely you would need a winch on the front bumper to keep the boat from pulling the vehicle into the water too . Around here they charge $100 to crane launch or retrieve a boat .
>>>>>>
Scott Wallace writes:
Check with high quality trailer designer and builder, Mike Otto, at TRIAD Trailers...He owns the company, founded by his father, who got blueprints of most of our old "Classic Plastics" from the manufacturers back in the 1960's and 1970's...they make tremendous trailers, well designed and well built. They also offer a launch package, that includes a metal ladder to reach the winch, an extension for the tongue, so that most launch ramps can launch boats like our old Pearson (Alberg designed) Electra, Vanguards, Tritons and Rhodes Rangers.
His shop is located in New Milford, Ct. and I drove there from Cincinnati, Ohio, a few years ago, picked up my new trailer, drove to Cleveland, Ohio, where the travel hoist loaded my boat, then to a smaller lake in South Central Ohio, where launching and retrieval were amazingly easy!
>>>>>>
Here is their contact info:
Triad Trailers Ltd
90 Danbury Rd # A
New Milford, CT 06776-3412
Phone: (860) 354-1146
http://www.triadtrailers.com/
Business Types: Trailers Boat, Trailers Equipment & Parts, Boat Dealers, etc.
need trailer for a Commander
... this posting is not THAT old :D
I am in need of a trailer for a Commander; If these drawings are still available, I would be grateful if I could get a copy.
Tony G - I have sent message... Please let me know
BTW; Great looking trailer - Thanks in advance.
Has anyone from the above postings built one of these?
yes yes yes but at what cost
I need ball park figures for good condition used trailors for these boats----as I have infact found excellent dry storage in perris valley where I can live on and work on my next ariel.its at the perris vally skydiving center where I am currently camped out.people have rv's here and boats up on blocks, and I have been informed by the management that fer' a mere hun'erd bux a month ------(well I would have to generate my own electricity(hence forth the oncoming diesel generator to power an electric outboard) thats rite folks dont touch that dial---fer a hunskerdabbadoodle per month----that aint even sneakin aboard-----and no harber patrol harralements.you can stay here too------theres jus'one 15000 foot above ground level predicament-----ya' gotta be a skydiver to live here.I have produced the necessary credentials to meet that requirement. :Dan' jus' soze ya kno---even tho' I have had a recurrance of thyroid cancer-----I have had no problem exiting aircraft at such aforementioned altitudes. plus---- I am infact back to work. within a few months----if all goes well----"starcrest recipient"
Most Of That Ain'even Jumpin'
most of that is parasailing.I am gunna' have my own landing area rite next to the boat.
1 Attachment(s)
I know I had posted this somewhere before.
Home built solution
Years before I bought my Ariel, a good friend bought one (243). The boat was about 70 miles from his home, and needed enough work that it was going to have to live in his back yard for a while.
The solution we came up with, and executed, was to build a cradle out of 4x4's and 2x6's so that the foot print would perfectly align with a U-Haul tandem axle car trailer's skids.
Basically it is a large box with no top. There are two uprights on each side, and it was very heavily constructed. We fit the pads to the end of each arm and covered them with carpet. The marina held it on the lift for about 30 min while we fit the pads to the hull, and then set the boat into the cradle.
The only draw back to this arrangement was that the tow vehicle had to be pretty substantial. The trailer is 3400#, the cradle was at least 500#, and of course the boat is 5500-6000#. The trailer has surge brakes, so that is taken care of. My F-250 pulled it with no problem.
Of course this post is only intended to give ideas, I am not proposing that any sane person would ever try this. It worked for us though, and the boat has been sitting in that same cradle for several years.
Removing the cradle
We jacked up the cradle using bottle jacks placed between the skids. Then 1" pipes were placed under the skids and the cradle was lowered onto the pipe 'rollers'. The cradle was tied to a fence post, and the trailer was SLOWLY pulled forward and cinder blocks were placed under it as it hung off. Really no harder then setting up a trailer, or a mobile storage shed.
It sounds like a PITA, but it really was not too bad. The credit for the engineering goes to my buddy, the only problem we had in the move was when he pit a boring bit into his ankle. The cradle was quite overbuilt, and we took our time on the trip and unloading it so I really don't think it was overly dangerous.
.
The one quote we got before the move was over 2 grand, and we did it for about $250.
http://www.pearsonariel.org/discussi...1&d=1087963284
sticking with the cradle/trailer option
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bill
Search on "transport" to find threads in which this was discussed. As I recall, there was a posting that reported lower mileage costs than your quotes, but maybe that was due to longer distances. :confused:
You speak the truth...
from one of the shippers: "Kyle,four bucks a mile is high dollar but, most of your boat haulers dont like to do short 250 mile runs like this because it makes it very hard to make money in one day of loading and unloading. most all of our drivers average 800 miles per day on regular loads (long hauls) take that times 1.35 per mile they make and you have a daily average for a big rig in one day. hope this helps explan the four bucks per mile qoute. thanks."
locating the boat on the trailer/supports
When working out the supports for C231 pictured earlier in the thread, I did not work from the cradle design, which seemed to restrictive. I started with laying out the possibilities on the trailer.
First thing I did was to shift the axles as far forward as I could, which made sense considering the length of the front part of the trailer. They tend to be too far aft on power poat setups.
Next I assessed the crossbeams that were existing. The forward one on my trailer was fixed (welded in position). The rear one was possible to adjust by shifting it to different mounting holes.
This left a big gap in the center near the axles where most of the weight effectively falls. Luckily I was able to order a copy of the rear "pivot beam" from the original manufacturer, galvanized and all, and it was not to spendy either. I located it as close as I could to the center of gravity of the boat, perhaps aft a bit to get it under the level portion of the keel bottom. Had to add my own mouting bolt holes to the frame, but the bolts I obtained from the manufacturere too, as they are a particular grade of bolt, and they pretty much support the boat.
I then decided to allign the vertical support posts with the crossbeams. Originally I was going to mount them on the longitudinal rails of the trailer so that the cross beams were not doing all the work, but the complexity of angling the cuts and welds inward enough to land the pads below the waterline intimidated me, so I opted for mounting them to the crossbeams and running them straight up vertically.
So that leaves the all-critical question of how high to make them so that they work with the boat. I did the calculations graphically using the lines drawing which I downloaded from one of the other posts on this site. If you can figure out how to work a lines drawing, it is not too hard to "connect the dots" and measure off the drawing to the right spot. Then just deduct for the pads and adjustment. I think I cut off 6" to allow for brownell boat stand pads plus some adjustment.
I will look for the drawing I did to figure this out, which is not elegant, but might help in the understanding.
I cannot remember if I used 2"x2"x1/4" or 2"x2"x3/16" tubing for the verticals, but one of those works well with the stock brownell pads.
I also had to grind off one side of the brownell pad sockets so that it would be able to pivot enough to meet the slope of the hull without binding first.
I found large thick galvanized washers to go between the top of the post and the round portion of the pad adjuster. The pad adjuster are designed to sit on close fitting round tubing of to small a dimension for a trailer support.
If needed I can get a picture of exactly where C231 is sitting (in my backyard) in relation to the axles and the keel, which might be helpfull when the time comes to place the boat.
Honestly, it was a pretty big head scratcher for me for a lot of evenings, and some of it did not come together until I was cutting and welding, but it did work and felt pretty good to figure it out on my own, for the most part.
Oh, and the lines drawing should have the center of gravity indicated on it, not to be confused with the center of lateral area....