I plan on seperating the StarFish's hull from its deck and attaching its hull to the trailer, thus giving me an almost perfect support for my sunfish while trailering..
..I'm trying to follow you on this....are you going to install the hull of the Starfish on to the trailer permanently, and then slip the Sunfish into the Starfish hull? How is the inside of the Starfish going to be shaped to fit the outside of the Sunfish? Am I visualizing this correctly?
Or, maybe I will just wait for the pics.
Okay, I just measured the carpeted bunks and they are only 5 feet in length. Do the bunks need to be at least 7 feet for a 14 feet boat? I think we may be looking at having to invest in a new trailer. Not sure.
67stang’s reply covered this well. Sorry, 50% was a ball-park figure. Maybe it would have been better put as 30% - 50%. Checkout all the pictures at the beginning of this thread. You don’t need to buy a new trailer when the bunks aren’t proper for a boat, just redesign the bunks.… The trailer does have carpeted bunks as well, but I'm not sure if 50% of the hull is being supported. I'll have to measure it… Okay, I just measured the carpeted bunks and they are only 5 feet in length. Do the bunks need to be at least 7 feet for a 14 feet boat? I think we may be looking at having to invest in a new trailer. Not sure.
Been there. . . your post isn’t likely to ever appear. Something about the link code you used for your pictures.I put together a message yesterday with photos, but after I spent 43 minutes completing it, I got a message stating that the moderator needed to approve my post. I'm still waiting and we really need to know if we are doing damage to our new Sunfish by using this trailer.
The other good support system is "cradles". These run perpendicular to the boat and are formed to fit its contour, again padded and carpeted.
Would two cradles be sufficient, or would you suggest three? I'm thinking about making a frame with cradles that I can secure in the back of my truck. That way I won't have to find a trailer, as long as it works properly.
Is this the proper placement for the perpendicular supports? I did a search and couldn't find any other trailer photos. Are there other instructions besides the one at this site: http://www.shortypen.com/boats/holder12/bunk.htmHaving recently repaired some damage done to my boat by my first, less-than-adequate, bunks, I can speak with some experience. I would try the boat further forward on the trailer, with the bow almost to the winch. That should leave less hanging off the back and decrease the weight on the rear bunks. Anything you can do to increase the area of the bunks will mean less force on the hull. I also think that the keel and the chine (where bottom meets side) are probably the strongest parts, though a lot of boats seem to have keel damage.
Attached is a picture of my 2nd (hopefully last) trailer set-up, which just hauled my boat 5 hours without damage.
The cross pieces are treated 2x cut to fit the shape of the hull and padded with plush carpet over 1/2" thick closed-cell foam.
Rock & Roll, that worked...I'm going to attempt attaching photos of our new 1986 Sunfish we just purchased
It's an eight foot bed, but I would build a frame and put the last cradle on the tailgate (as long as I could fasten the frame to the bed of the truck well). There would probably be four and a half feet over hanging, but I don't know if that's much more than the average overhang on trailers. And yeah, someone could hit it, but someone could hit your boat just as easily when it's on a trailer.
LindaP -
Thats a good looking fish! My trailer was exactly like yours before I remade it. Click on my name and look at the pics in my albums. Might give you some direction.
Rock & Roll, that worked...
Here's my idea:
Yes, the seller had the boat resting on the bow stop like that. You can guess what happened when we were towing. That's right, the boat shifted forward and scraped up against the winch. It hit the metal side of the bow, so not much damage occurred, but it was scary. I am looking at reworking that bow stop anyway. It's brittle and bolted onto a six inch extension that doesn't seem necessary. I'd like to remove it from that extension in order to move the boat forward more. We'll see. I have to meet with my neighbor now that he's had a chance to read all the ideas I printed from this site and figure out our course of action for this trailer....And if I might add, the bow stop should not be holding the bow up, use it to center the boat and to keep it from moving forward. And with Wayne's drawing you will have it made-in-the-shade. You will be able to launch it and recover it at any boat ramp by yourself, (with ease). Also if I might add, I believe leaving on the rear roller, will help in loading and unloading of the boat. Just make sure that you leave the roller low enough so that when the Sunfish is loaded on, it ( the rear roller), does not touch the keel, ( give a 1/2 to an inch gap). I did it to mine and it works nicely, and it doesn't touch when traveling.
BTW, your boat looks super nice and with a loading friendly trailer, you will minimize, (if not eliminate), the bumps, chips and scratches by having to man handle it.
So when you are talking dimensions, how many inches from the end and the bow would the cradles be placed? Would you add a cradle to the mid section? I'm new, so what's the chine, where is it? Sorry for the dumb question.
When setting up a trailer to carry any lightweight boat, observe where the largest unsupported surface is ... that's the area to avoid loading. Right angles and curved stringers provide resistance against flexing. Flat regions, even with styrofoam backing, are the most vulnerable to constant pounding. Set up your bunks or cradles to carry the weight at the boat's most rigid point, the area as close to the chine as possible. NEVER carry weight on a roller, a roller's curve concentrates all the force along a very narrow line. Rollers can be ok as guides, but once the boat is loaded a roller should have daylight between it and the hull.
The chine is the point where the bottom turns to form the side of the hull. On a sunfish it a fairly abrupt turn so it called a "hard chine".I'm new, so what's the chine, where is it?
I think you did your homework well.I feel a little nervous giving you advice on things like this because I'm new to the SunFish as well. But, I feel like I did most of my homework
Yes, the seller had the boat resting on the bow stop like that. You can guess what happened when we were towing. That's right, the boat shifted forward and scraped up against the winch. It hit the metal side of the bow, so not much damage occurred, but it was scary. I am looking at reworking that bow stop anyway. It's brittle and bolted onto a six inch extension that doesn't seem necessary. I'd like to remove it from that extension in order to move the boat forward more. We'll see. I have to meet with my neighbor now that he's had a chance to read all the ideas I printed from this site and figure out our course of action for this trailer.
Sgt Ervin,
I like what you've done! Using the gypsum as a template was a great idea. Your chainfall gantry to raise and lower the boat was pretty sweet as well.
Can you post more detail and/or pics of your contraption you're using to transport your hardware? That looked really nice as well.
tag
Wow, you've been busy! I love your ideas. The hardware holder is sweet. Everything in one place. Well, I now have more projects for my neighbor! We were thinking of doing the pvc sailbox, but I think I like this hardware holder better. I'm not sure our trailer is long enough for the sailbox. I'll show him your ideas and see what he thinks.I posted some more pics of my " Hardware holder". Take a look and tell me what you all think?!