Any reviews on the Rollaboat dolly?

Have been thinking about trying one of these for our sailing club as they should work with a Laser, too. With a concrete, asphalt or hard packed gravel launching ramp it should do just fine! Would be less well-suited for soft sand or rocky surface, though.
 
I built a dolly out of 2x4, a threaded rod, and some Harbor Freight wheels. I was concerned about potential damage to the daggerboard trunk when rolling over rough terrain. I skipped the insert to te daggerboard trunk and put some screw eyes on ether side ofthe dolly so that I can secure it with a ratchet strap. I don't have any dimensions or plans, but you can see the dolly here:

http://sailingforums.com/threads/some-pictures-of-artemis-ii.31734/

I basically built it around the threaded rod and the wheels.
 
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I owned a Roll-a-Boat dolly for a time (came with a project boat) and I as impressed with it. The big advantage is the long, well padded foam bunks that spreads the weight of the hull out nicely compared to the other designs that just have rubber cane tips over the end of aluminum tubes. To be honest. I am not a big fan of daggerboard trunk dollies, but a they go. th Roll-a-bost is the best one I have seen. Google it, and you will find a video that shows how it works.

Alan Glos
Caxenovia, NY
 
I used the Roll-a-Boat Tote dolly for about a week pretty extensively last summer on the 2 Sunfishes we have on Cape Cod. In comparison to the PVC dolly I made for my Laser, it has advantages and disadvantages. First, here's a photo of the two side by side (I ordered another Roll-a-Boat Tote dolly for a Sunfish I recently bought out here in California). By the way, the tires on both dollies are identical in diameter.

totes.jpg


First, there's two main design features that give the Roll-a-Boat Tote dolly (RBT) major advantages. If you look at the distance between the axle and the top of the green padding on the RBT, it's only 8 inches high. In contrast, the black one on the right I made, that distance is 15". With the RBT, this short distance means that the amount you have to tilt the Sunfish over on it's side is minimal when positioning the dolly. With my black dolly, if it had a piece that slid into the daggerboard case, you'd have to have the boat tilted much further over.

The second advantage to the RBT is the white wood piece that slides into the daggerboard case. Once you put it in there and start to set the boat back down, the dolly stays in position... even when you load up just the single wheel with the full weight of the boat when you return the boat to horizontal. This makes using the RBT an easy, one man job.

In contrast, we used my black Laser dolly to get the Sunfish to a boat ramp and in the water a few days ago. Had to car top the Sunfish because we also had to trailer my Laser. Getting the black dolly into position required one of us having to lift the bow (or stern) of the Sunfish up while the other guy positioned the black dolly. Plus, when we got the Sunfish in the water, even in deep water, the height of the black dolly, plus the fact that it was filled with air inside the PVC tubing, made it a real pain to get the dolly out from under the Sunfish.

The main disadvantage of the RBT that I found after using it for a week on Cape Cod was that the horizontal supports under the green padding are so short (11 inches vs 44 inches on my black dolly) the weight of the Sunfish pressing down on those pads quickly split that green foam and now you were basically rolling the Sunfish around on 11 inch long metal rods.

However, extending the length of those metal rods on the RBT and then putting more robust padding on them would solve those problems. Conclusions? The RBT is way quicker and easier to use pretty much across the board. As far as potential damage to the daggerboard case when rolling it around over rough ground, I think there's more force involved when you run aground on something hard with the centerboard or hit an object with the centerboard when sailing.

Cheers,

- Andy
 
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Thanks for the great input! I think I'm going to give it a go. I've got too many projects going on right now to try to build anything. I just want to get my new (to me) sunfish in the water. :)
 
For me, the greatest disadvantage of the RBT is getting it into the dagger board slot. Sailing solo, there just doesn't seem to be an easy way to get it in. Likewise, if you are pulling the boat on or worse, off a trailer, it is difficult for 1 person to get it set up. Once on it rolls the boat fine. The set up is just too much of a pain for me. I used it maybe 3 times before buying the discounted Jotag from Intensity. Much, Much easier to use a dolly.
 
jimcameron said:
For me, the greatest disadvantage of the RBT is getting it into the dagger board slot. Sailing solo, there just doesn't seem to be an easy way to get it in. Likewise, if you are pulling the boat on or worse, off a trailer, it is difficult for 1 person to get it set up. Once on it rolls the boat fine. The set up is just too much of a pain for me. I used it maybe 3 times before buying the discounted Jotag from Intensity. Much, Much easier to use a dolly.
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I ultimately decided to go with the Jotag too. I'm very happy with it. Good quality for the money but the shipping was a little expensive due to the size. The only downside is it bolts together, so you can't easily collapse it for transport like some of the other brands.
 
gd_nc : You can replace the center self lock nuts for wing nuts, and you can do it fast and easy.
 
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