Ideas for building a dolly?

R

Roy Graves

New Member
I would like to build a dolly to take our boat out of the lake, up onto the beach at night. I was thinking of building a wood frame and mounting 4 small wheels that would be wide enough so they wouldn't sink into the sandy beach (not a railroad track type of system).

The dolly would make life a lot simpler at the cottage. Does anyone have any experience or ideas regarding the design of a dolly?
 
I welded up one from steel square tubing. It has a vertical piece at each corner with a garden tractor type tire, and a crossbar in front. The crossbar at the aft end is barely above the wheel axle so the keel can go over it. (I have a 14.2k version) The tops of the aft verticals have a piece of 2x4 covered in carpet to support the hull about 2 feet forward of the stern.

The front crossbar has a piece of 2x12 shaped to fit the hull immediately forward of the keel. I covered this with fire hose. On each side of that 2x12 I added a couple of vertical guides to center the boat.

The final support is for the lead keel. I used a piece of conveyer belt which is thru bolted on each side of the frame. It hangs down at about a 45 degree angle from each side and supports the keel nicely.

I can sail the boat right onto the submerged dolly. A line attached to the center of the forward crossbar pulls it out of the water.

Overall size of the frame is approximately 48" x 60"

Steve B.
 
Poor Man’s Shoreline Boat Lift on Bogue Sound

Equipment needed to move small sailboats onto the shore:

Two five feet sections of 4 inch PVC Pipe

Optional items:
1. Wench on post to assist in pulling the boat up on shore.
2. If tides are an issue, ropes and stakes are needed to keep the PVC Pipes in place. Leave enough rope through the pipe to allow the pipe to roll four to five feet. The boat should also be secured (stern and bow).


Step 1: Place a section of the PVC Pipe (A) as close to the shoreline as possible;

Step 2: Pull the bow of the boat out of the water onto the PVC Pipe (A).

Step 3: Continue pulling the Capri out of the water until the bow of the boat begins to drop.

Step 4: Place the second section of PVC Pipe (B) under the bow and allow the boat to drop. The boat is now resting on two sections of PVC Pipe.

Step 5: The boat will move approximately 5 feet as you continue to pull the boat forward.

Reverse the procedure to launch the boat.

This system has worked well for me. On a few occasions, the Capri 14.2 has floated off the pipes when we had a North wind combined with a high tide; however, the boat is light and it was not difficult to place it back on the PVC Pipes.

My neighbor has used the same method with his sailboat (18 ft). With the extra weight, he has not experienced the problem I listed above.
 
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