An Iain Oughtred designed piggy back boat trailer.

[PeterSibley]

I found this in an old issue of Watercraft magazine, No15 1999. I seems like a very good idea for those who have poor boat ramps or muddy shores . It was designed for a Eun Mara yawl so it should be capable of launching most small boats.








If the pictures aren't clear enough I'll send anyone who is interested a scan of the original story and photos. I don't think a 13 year old magazine would be readily available .

[kenjamin]

Thanks for the post, Peter. More interested in the boat than the trailer but I guess the point is one enhances the other. Eun Mara is a whole lot of boat for its 19' 9" length and seems like it could go a lot of places. It's one of my favorites although Haiku has my heart (but not in my budget). Thanks again, kenjamin

[skaraborgcraft]

Ken,i think if you see a Haiku in the flesh,you would take Eun Mara.....i certainly would. But each to their own....its actually one boat that looked better on paper.....maybe it was the colour or something. Kotik? YES!

[Lewisboater]

If you want to see one in action check out Dylan Winter's blog...he launched his new boat using just about the exact same thing...I thought it was pretty nifty as I had never seen the like before.

Katie-L hits the water is the one you want.

[sailoar]

The tow car of that Eun Mara appears to be the same Volvo 760 wagon that I have - and I thought it wouldn't be strong enough. Oh no, now I've got those pangs in my groin again...

[skaraborgcraft]

I noticed the Volvo.....i think that trailer would be on the brink of maximum towing capacity, though i have seen them towing trailers in Sweden with much larger loads, although only at 30kph. Tough old iron.

[keyhavenpotterer]

We had one on a Paul Gartside grp Oysterman 16. Saves the axles getting wet and you don't need quite so much depth under the boat.



and another one

[skaraborgcraft]

A LOT of boat in 16ft. I met a bloke in NW Spain (Bayona) who came across in a 22ft Oysterman,had bags more room than my 25ft.....he didnt have self steering either! Good sea boats.

I recall Newbridge boats doing the piggy back trailers for boats like the corribee and navigator etc. That was the first time i had seen it. Still need large tyres if launching on sand or muddy ground,my local slip has a steel grate bottom,so could take very low profile wheels,but it does run off at a very steep angle into deep water,you could easily launch a folkboat if the dolly trolley was low......but i still need a crane to put the mast in.....bigger the boat,bigger hassles.
Cheers

[keyhavenpotterer]

We nearly bought an Oysterman 22. It was in Ireland, but it became a dutch auction so we withdrew.








Brian


I would guess it's close to John Welsford's Sundowner.

[skaraborgcraft]

But probably a lot heavier if i recall,hold their prices well too,but you know what they say..."nothing naffer than a plastic gaffer".....but you couldnt say that to a crowd of Shrimper owners. To each their own.

[Woxbox]

A forumite bought an Eun Mara several years ago. If I remember it right, it was shipped from England to the U.S. on one of those trailers. I couldn't find it with the search, but I seem to recall the owner commenting on the mixed utility of the setup. My rule of thumb is to keep this stuff as simple as is absolutely possibe.

[PeterSibley]

If you want to see one in action check out Dylan Winter's blog...he launched his new boat using just about the exact same thing...I thought it was pretty nifty as I had never seen the like before.

Katie-L hits the water is the one you want.

Thanks Steve, I thought the idea looked good but in practice it seems perfect !http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/category/blogs/page/2/

[skaraborgcraft]

I would normally agree with keeping everything simple,but i believe the original idea was to stop the road trailer and its wheels and bearings from being submerged in salt water,and so giving it a longer life.The lower ride height on the dolly would mean less water needed to float free than if it was on the "road" trailer itself. I have seen low slung road trailers with special axles with just a few inches clearence under the keel which are ideal for launching,those are normally made to suit. For whatever reason, aluminium trailers dont seem to be used here at all in Europe for road transport.

[keyhavenpotterer]

You can achieve a similar effect by making a small cradle then winching it up onto a car flat bed transporter. The flat bed will have car ramps, they kind of thing autotraders and race cars are moved around on with ramps for loading and unloading. You can also hire flatbed trailers for the day (at least around here) if you only put in and take out once a year. Also avoids having a big empty trailer lying outside your house.

SKB's right about the bearings. With this sort of boat, likely it will have a keel, so you'll need to fully immerse the trailer wheels to get it in far enough. At this weight it will also have brakes and linkages and cables, all now covered in salt.

Second problem is to get it far enough in to get it to float with a small keel boat, you have to reverse your car/ van along way into the water to get the trailer deep enough in the water. So now the back of your car is covered in salt water.

The dolly keeps the expensive stuff out the water. Less maintainance. Easiest way is to put the dolly in position at low tide, then bring the boat over and on when the tide floods. Then winch it on, or wait till the tide ebbs and it goes quiet around the quay and back the trailer up to it and winch it on.

Y' know reading A Boat Builders Story by Percy Mitchell, all the original Toshers and big gaffers and yachts were pulled through Portmellon from the boatyard on a dolly on skids or rollers with a block and tackle or horses to the water. He even had to get them over a wall to the beach. Incredible pictures.

[Woxbox]

No bearing or rust issues here:

[Kaa]

A forumite bought an Eun Mara several years ago. If I remember it right, it was shipped from England to the U.S. on one of those trailers. I couldn't find it with the search, but I seem to recall the owner commenting on the mixed utility of the setup. My rule of thumb is to keep this stuff as simple as is absolutely possibe.

That probably was me :-)

I actually do like the utility of this setup. My problems were (and still are) related to the fact that the trailer (not the dolly) turned out to have been slightly underspecced and so it bends to the degree that I now need to do something about it -- either reinforce the trailer with a couple of beams, or just scrap it and get a new trailer altogether. The dual trailer/dolly system makes the process relatively painless because I can do work on the trailer while the boat sits on the ground on the dolly.

Otherwise I think I prefer this system to a standard boat trailer -- it's a bit more complicated on recovery (and you typically do get wet in the process), but that's more than compensated by the flexibility of this approach and it's capability to deal with things going pear-shaped ;-)

If anyone is particularly interested, I can dig out the old thread and/or the photos...

Kaa

[Thierry]

That probably was me :-)

I actually do like the utility of this setup. My problems were (and still are) related to the fact that the trailer (not the dolly) turned out to have been slightly underspecced and so it bends to the degree that I now need to do something about it -- either reinforce the trailer with a couple of beams, or just scrap it and get a new trailer altogether. The dual trailer/dolly system makes the process relatively painless because I can do work on the trailer while the boat sits on the ground on the dolly.

Otherwise I think I prefer this system to a standard boat trailer -- it's a bit more complicated on recovery (and you typically do get wet in the process), but that's more than compensated by the flexibility of this approach and it's capability to deal with things going pear-shaped ;-)

If anyone is particularly interested, I can dig out the old thread and/or the photos...

Kaa

I would be interested if any one could provide me with links or other information regarding a boat dolly carried piggy-back on a road trailer.

My 900lbs, 18" draft, 14.5'x6' Nordica 16, uses a road trailer that is getting rusty and difficult to maintain beside having wheels too small (8") and taking space at home.
On the other hand I have a good aluminium 5'x10' utility trailer with proper 12" wheels that would easily carry the boat. I got from Peter Sibley the copy of the article in Watercraft #15 describing the dolly for Eun Mara but I could use a bit more information and drawings to design and build my own.

Thanks

[Hwyl]

This system has been popular in the UK for decades, Oughtred may be an innovator but he did not innovate this.

[Kaa]

I would be interested if any one could provide me with links or other information regarding a boat dolly carried piggy-back on a road trailer.

My 900lbs, 18" draft, 14.5'x6' Nordica 16, uses a road trailer that is getting rusty and difficult to maintain beside having wheels too small (8") and taking space at home.
On the other hand I have a good aluminium 5'x10' utility trailer with proper 12" wheels that would easily carry the boat. I got from Peter Sibley the copy of the article in Watercraft #15 describing the dolly for Eun Mara but I could use a bit more information and drawings to design and build my own.

Thanks

You can see some details of the dolly in the photos in http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthre...ailer-problems

The dolly is extremely simple. It is, basically, a steel channel into which the keel of the boat fits and two square-tube axles with wheelbarrow-type wheels at the ends. Four roller-type supports keep the boat from falling off. There are also reinforcing angles to keep the whole thing rigid and a welded loop up front to attach a line to.

The only trick to it that I'm aware of is that the weight of the dolly has to be adjusted so that it is slightly positively buoyant (the wheels provide the flotation). When you launch you just pull it out from underneath the floating boat, but when you recover you need to push it underneath the boat -- if the dolly sinks it wouldn't work all that well :-)

The dimensions are obviously going to be specific to your particular boat.

Kaa

[outofthenorm]

No bearing or rust issues here:

Pretty high drag co-efficient on this rig. And I think there might be an emissions problem as well.

[Chip Chester]

I call bullsh... er ox? Anyway, them ain't "piggy" backs at all. And I would think the extra emissions would actually improve the sliding coefficient of friction. ...now regretting my screen name of "Chip"...

[outofthenorm]

And I would think the extra emissions would actually improve the sliding coefficient of friction.

Good point. Now that I think about it, one emissions port per sled rail is perfect. Very efficient after all.

[Kaa]

Good point. Now that I think about it, one emissions port per sled rail is perfect. Very efficient after all.

That's what they call a balanced design :-)

I am a bit unsure about reversing to back down a ramp, though...

Kaa