Brownell hydraulic trailers

[David]

Looks like I am going to move my boat to my yard using a company that uses a hydraulic trailer. Can anyone tell me how the boat's keel is blocked? Typically down here in a boatyard I have used 6"X6" blocks to rest the keel on. The driver mentioned that the boat needs to be blocked higher and that I am responsibile for supplying the blocks...

Any info would be appreciated.

[Tim]

The keel needs to be blocked high enough so that the trailer's own sliding metal keel supports can pass beneath the keel of the boat. The entire trailer raises and lowers through a series of air bags, so the idea is that the trailer is lowered enough to slide these metal supports beneath the keel, and then raised with the air bags, which lifts the boat off its own blocking.

Typically, the blocking should be 8" - 12" in dimension, and pieces are often stacked to allow for proper heights in a given situation.

I took these photos of the Daysailor this morning to illustrate:

1. The aft blocking is about 10-11" in total height and is made up of an 8x8 piece and a smaller piece on top.


2. Another view showing the after blocking.


3. The forward blocking is somewhat higher, since the curvature of the keel requires it. But it is made up of a few pieces of stacked blocking in order to get the proper height. The most stable way to stack smaller pieces of blocking, of course, would be to create a cribwork; you could do this with 6x6 pieces as well if you wanted a 12" total height, for example.


Hope this helps. High is nice, to a point...but avoid blocking too high for height's sake. About 10-12" of open space beneath the lowest part of the keel is usually enought, though this can depend a bit on the trailer.

[David]

Tim,

Thanks so much for the photos and advice. They are and will be a great help to me. I had never heard of this kind of trailer prior to visiting your site for the first time. With a few web searches I found a New England comapny that has a branch in Florida and can move my boat at any time. I've often wished I could bring her home for work instead of using the travellift/boat yard route--and now I can!

David

[Tim]

I guess these trailers are commonplace here because of the seasonal nature of our boating season, so transport is more common.

The trailers are so ubiquitous here that I'm always interested to remember that they are a new and unique thing to people in other parts of the country!

[David]

The first thought I had when visiting your website was, "Wow, this guy has either a crane or his own travellift." Which just goes to show how regional this issue is. Then when I saw pics of the transport company leaving your boat at your home, it's like a windowshade lifting! LOL

[Jeremy]

I know this is an old thread, but to demonstrate how ubiquitous these are in the Northeast (or at least in Mattapoisett where Brownell is located), take a look at my friend's son's Halloween costume. He's always wanted to drive one of those rigs.

http://sea-fever.org/2010/11/01/brownel ... t-kind-of/

[Tim]

That's the most awesome Halloween costume I've ever seen!

[jlroberts280]

Awesome!

[Rachel]

Sweet! That is such a fantastic costume :)

[Figment]

And just think of the candy payload potential on that rig!

[hebert01]

Hey Jeremy, your friend is my friend too. Peter (and his son Luke, the Brownell truck) crewed in one of our Ensign races this year. Hopefully Luke will be towing his own Alberg boat with his truck some day!