quick trailer question about goal posts

[The Mutt]

I would have thought that the PVC pipe floating up would have been a good thing, when the ramp is a bit on the deep side, the pipe would still be seen on the surface indicating where the goal posts are. If you are worried about them floating off the goal posts add a string line to the inside of the PVC, the slack line would go into the Goal posts or on top of the goal posts if capped.

Glenn

[Doug W]

I did this!

Q1

I have to admit, I REALLY like Mr. Sumner's solution but that level of mod is probably a few years out for me. I also like what you've done and already have 14mm braided line and nearly 75' of 1" Pex tubing from when I built our home.

This evening, I started laying out the line from goal posts to winch post and noticed that the line rubs the boat. In your pics, your pvc seems rigid and kept away from the hull. Did you line the pvc with a metal pipe or just used long enough pvc pipe to bow it away from the boat?

Did you simply tie the line around the winch post or did you rig up angled brackets to force the pipe/line away from the hull? I was thinking about making homemade brackets because grandpa just got himself a wire welder which he may never use and I'm just itching to give it a whirl!

When trailering down the freeway, does your pipe flap much? I think that my biggest concern is something rubbing Galactica's hull and marring her pretty blue gelcoat.

Thanks!!!
Doug

[Sumner]

.........When trailering down the freeway, does your pipe flap much? I think that my biggest concern is something rubbing Galactica's hull and marring her pretty blue gelcoat..

I realize your question wasn't about my solution, but I thought I would throw this out as it might help. On our first trip the side pieces of PVC with square tubing in them didn't flex or move around going down the highway with the boat on the trailer 80-90 miles to the lake at all different speeds. At the ...........................



http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... cPhee.html

(story in link)..... lake we couldn't get the outboard started and I had the wrong plug wrench so had to go to town 12 miles away and left the trailer attached. On that trip at almost any speed from 20 mph on up the side pieces started to oscillate and wouldn't stop. Nothing broke, but it worried me as there were some trips coming up where we would get dropped with the boat one place.....



http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... index.html

....and get picked up at another and I didn't want the flexing to finally cause a fracture in something.



http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner ... ods-6.html

I added these side supports and now there is no problems with the boat on or off the trailer. They don't hold the tubing out. They just keep them from oscillating up and down when the boat isn't on the trailer and it is going down the road.

So whatever you do you might want to check it with and without the boat on the trailer. I made the side supports from aluminum, but you could weld them up quick with thin wall steel square tubing with that mig. They will eventually rust from inside out, but what the heck a couple more dollars for tubing and look at it as more welding experience .

c ya and good luck,

Sum

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[Doug W]

Well I did it...sort of. I made a way-cool-one-of-a-kind bracket for the winch post. Proud of that. I used 3/4" pex water pipe and 1/2" braided line. The port side guide line worked well, but the starboard side didn't. Not proud of that. I'm re-engineering, going with a heavier piping like that used on Quebec 1's. Maybe, steel cable inside.

Here is a link to a bit more description. http://starsloop.blogspot.com/2010/03/w ... ather.html

I learned lots while doing this mod, even if it's currently a failure.

Doug