Getting a boat off a trailer

Neal Haarberg

Neal Haarberg

Active member
I have to replace the bunks and other maintenance on my boat trailer this spring and would prefer not to do it in the parking lot at the boat ramp. Just have a feeling that I will need a tool or something that I have at home since all the bolts are rusted and potentially it may take more than a day if parts break when disassembling. Does anybody have a good method for getting a boat off of a trailer in your driveway? My boat is 16' very similar to a Devlin Snow goose. I have visions of jacks and blocking but want to know if anybody has done this before.
 
One method is several plastic drums, beach rollers, or large diameter pipe for the boat to rest on. Tie the stern to a tree and drive away, placing drums etc as required. If the motor isn't mounted, forget the drums and just pull it off slowly on the lawn. Keep a block under the bow so you can get the trailer under it to reload. The size of the rollers or block will be dictated by your trailer geometry. Everybody has a favorite method, I'm sure you'll get other advice.
 
I just strap the transom to a tree in my yard and pull forward with the boat trailer. I have large Styrofoam blocks that are like 8"x 8" and 3' long. I just lay them out under the boat as I keep pulling forward. I take my ob off before doing this. I have been able to winch the boat back on the trailer afterwards.
 
Depending on the type of trailer and boat weight, sometimes the best way to reload is to detach the trailer from the vehicle and winch it under the boat. Let the tongue go up in the air while you crank. The risk is busting a light, losing a license plate or the trailer digging in. When the boat comes forward enough to balance, attach the trailer to the car. Its trial and error with each new boat.
 
I’ve had to do it before after my trailer got wrecked by a drunk driver, boat is a 15’ duck wrangler (boat thankfully didn’t take much damage).
It took all the jacks, jack stands, and suitable blocks I could find, probably 5 jacks. But I moved the trailer out from under the boat and would take a jack down, then put it back on the other side when the trailer frame or axle got in the way.
I will say, it was fairly nerve wracking, and I kind of wished I would have told the tow truck driver to drop everything off at the closest boat ramp instead of my house.
That all said, I think the jacks and blocking is fine, but of course be safe and patient with it. The more jacks, the better, but expect to be rearranging them a lot.
 
Neal Haarberg said:
Does anybody have a good method for getting a boat off of a trailer in your driveway?
Click to expand...
I prefer to do it on my lawn. I have removed all gear out of the hull to reduce as much weight as possible. This includes removing the engine if possible. I could physically move my BBIII backward on the trailer bunks without attacking to a solid object. Two guys should be able to move your hull. I just moved it back until I was close to having the stern tip down. I then put blocking under the stern and blocking under the hull right at the back end of the trailer. Now that the boat had something to settle on to, I held the hull in place while another person slowly pulled the trailer forward. Typically blocking at the stern and blocking at the midpoint was all that is needed.
To reload, reverse the process.
 
Neal Haarberg said:
I have to replace the bunks and other maintenance on my boat trailer this spring and would prefer not to do it in the parking lot at the boat ramp. Just have a feeling that I will need a tool or something that I have at home since all the bolts are rusted and potentially it may take more than a day if parts break when disassembling. Does anybody have a good method for getting a boat off of a trailer in your driveway? My boat is 16' very similar to a Devlin Snow goose. I have visions of jacks and blocking but want to know if anybody has done this before.
Click to expand...

Done it several times.

I didn't see this mentioned, but to get the boat off first lower the tongue all the way on to the ground, this has the ass end of the boat as high into the air as possible. Block the rear of the boat with the ass high (use shims to have the blocking tight to the hull) and then when you lift the tongue to normal height the rear of the boat is lifted off the trailer.

I've always done this in a barn where I can put a come-a-long or chain hoist down from the trusses to the bow eye (snow load margin easily covers a small point load like that). I would not hesitate to do it in a garage making a simple arch of dimensional lumber to slightly raise the bow to get the trailer out (6' 2x4 screwed up into the ceiling joists and supported on the ends with a couple 2x4 up from the floor). I get solid blocking under it as soon as the trailer is out of there.
 
tod osier said:
Done it several times.

I didn't see this mentioned, but to get the boat off first lower the tongue all the way on to the ground, this has the ass end of the boat as high into the air as possible. Block the rear of the boat with the ass high (use shims to have the blocking tight to the hull) and then when you lift the tongue to normal height the rear of the boat is lifted off the trailer.

I've always done this in a barn where I can put a come-a-long or chain hoist down from the trusses to the bow eye (snow load margin easily covers a small point load like that). I would not hesitate to do it in a garage making a simple arch of dimensional lumber to slightly raise the bow to get the trailer out (6' 2x4 screwed up into the ceiling joists and supported on the ends with a couple 2x4 up from the floor). I get solid blocking under it as soon as the trailer is out of there.
Click to expand...
This method works well. I've found that I must tie the stern of the boat to a tree or something to keep it from moving forward off your supports when you start to pull the trailer out.
 
Matt Mahoney said:
This method works well. I've found that I must tie the stern of the boat to a tree or something to keep it from moving forward off your supports when you start to pull the trailer out.
Click to expand...

I've never tied it to a tree, but can see the benefit.

When I'm doing it as described the boat is basically off the trailer hovering above the trailer by a tiny bit. I'm just walking the trailer out and maybe adjusting here and there to get clearance. Definitely on the gentle end rather than the fast end.

Going back on is easy since you can use the winch to pull it back under the boat.
 
Saw my neighbor use a tree as an anchor and large chunks of pressure treated beams as stands when doing this to a 18’ skiff. He had help when doing it. One incrementally drove the truck forward while the other gave directions and moved the stands as the trailer came forward.

Edit: I left out the part about the bottle jack. Since the trailer stays hooked to the truck, a bottle jack forward of the axle is used to get the bow up. Prior to jacking, the blocking is placed under the stern corners and results in the trailer being able to be pulled clear.

For working alone, I like to go to use one of our lesser used landings and leave the boat in the water while I’m working. This does require having all of material ready to go. I always wind up shearing a bolt off, so extras or new hardware on hand helps.
 
Last edited:
Neal~

I have used all the approaches mentioned by others - especially the beach rollers and dock foam. Not to rub salt in the wound, but I mostly use my chain hoists in my shop:

FT 12 Hover craft UFO.JPG

The control and precision are amazing - the best way to adjust rollers, bunks, etc. BUT - I designed the shop structure (doubled 2x12 ceiling joists) to handle the loads. Unless your vessel is especially heavy, you may be able to secure one hoist to the header over your garage door for lifting and lowering.

I could see backing your rig in, lowering the tongue, then putting a sawhorse beneath it. Then, lift the bow (with chain hoist or come-along, et cetera), then pull the trailer out. I would never try to do trailer work away from my shop - too much to go wrong, especially thanks to rusted hardware. (While the boats off - maybe drop your trailer at the local garage to have the wheel bearings repacked.)

One other thought: I am dealing mostly with duckboats - somewhere around 200 pounds (w/o motor) - so I do not use my vehicle - other than as an anchor when I pull the boat off the trailer by its transom/motor board. I usually like the trailer free so I can raise or lower the tongue (as per Mr. Osier) to put everything where I want it.

All the best,

SJS
 
At first glance Steves picture looks like a hovering land speeder from Star Wars. Then I saw the chain..

You all have given me some good ideas to think about. I will probably move the boat into the garage so it will be on flat ground since my driveway is at an incline. I really like the idea blocking the stern via Todd's method and hanging the bow from the rafters like Steve suggested. I will probably weight the bow once the stern is blocked to see if I feel the rafters can handle it and make it a game day decision.

I can work on the trailer in the driveway. The bunk mounting hardware is rusted solid, so I anticipate things breaking and replacement of some hardware. I have some time to finalize the plan... I have oil filled hubs and one is low. Leaking from somewhere slowly so that is something else i have to look at, but the boat does not have to be off the trailer for that. It has taken 19 years on the hubs to finally have a problem.
 
4 old tires to cushion bottom. If you can find the big off rd. tires they have a wider foot print keeping boat closer to level of bunks. Slide boat off on to tires if possible. If to heavy secure stern to something and gently pull trailer out from under hull to rest on tires. When it comes time to reload I like to wench the trailer back under hull with trailer unhooked from vehicle moving tires as needed. Weight of your hull will determine if that is possible.
 
I used a large tree branch that hangs over my driveway. Ropes and pulleys and a progress capture device did the trick.
 
At first glance Steves picture looks like a hovering land speeder from Star Wars. Then I saw the chain..

The force is strong with this one...

I thought the same at first, did double take to see if Yoda was in the background!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top