Trailering laser on dolly on trailer

centex

New Member
I’m pondering modifying my trailer so that I can keep the laser on dolly when trailering. I’ve seen (photos of) right on, and at least one other off the shelf trailer that does this.

sould I bear the load on the wheels of the dolly (like right on) or support the dolly by irear cross member?

any thoughts on the safety and integrity of this type of set up?

I’m new to owning a boat, and trailering, and feel this type of rig might make it easier to launch, and encourage me to get out more.

thanks for any thoughts.
 
I don't think it will make a difference where on the trolly hold the load. The breaking point are the plastic fittings. Just ensure the boat is supported on the rails by the trolly, not the strap.
 
Thanks for the advice! I believe my Seitech dolly only caries boat weight on strap? Should the side of the boat be directly touching the raised part of the dolly that the strap is connected to?
 
If you have a seitech dolly it should have these little tab things that flip up and go under the rails. If it doesn’t have them you can buy them.
 
DON'T SUPPORT IT ON THE SEITECH DOLLY FLIP UP SUPPORTS ON A TRAILER!

Right-On specifically advise against this, and I made the mistake of trailering that way. A few unpleasant bumps and it punched a crack high in the side of my laser.

Those gunnel supports are much smaller than the nice long ones on the kitty hawk/trailex trailers and don't spread the load as much.

Didn't find out until going out on a breezy warm up day for frostbiting season and finding myself getting slower and slower. Got back to the dock and it took 4 of us to pull my boat out, and when pivoting on the side of the dock the weight of the water in the hull helped put another hole in the bottom (fortunately right below my inspection port so the fix was relatively easy).

Dynamic are now selling a 'dolly trailer combo system' that looks like a better way to secure the dolly to the trailer - supporting the center tube and the rear cross piece off the dolly. If/when I can I plan to upgrade my right-on to that system.
 
Thanks for sharing your experience, sorry it happened.
I’m second guessing my homemade modification, I’ll look at the dynamic set up. Thanks!
 
Thanks for the thoughts. I’m just trying to find an easy way to trailer and sail.

any other suggestions (other than launching from trailer)?

Thanks!
 
I agree on the points above. The "flip up" supports on the dolly are designed for the boat being stored on the dolly to take pressure off the hull. They are NOT designed to take the weight of a boat being STRAPPED to a trailer. Some dollies don't have the flip up supports because over time they wear and brake. People just don't replace them. Leave your boat on the strap for short periods of time like regatta days or strapped to a trailer. However, I'm not a fan of the trailer/dolly set up for reasons expressed above. However, however, I've never heard of anyone experiencing any kind of failure with this system. It's been around a few years now and a lot of people use it so I'd say do what works best for you. IF you can find a laser specific used Trailex or Kitty Hawk trailer for $500.00 buy it! It's easy to move the boat from dolly to trailer and back solo. Dolly and mast parts secure to the top of the boat on fht etrailer for transport.
 
Thanks for the thoughts. I talked to Dynamic yesterday. They recommend transporting on straps, and not loading on the wheels (I.e loading the rear cross member / axle).

Rob, your comment about it being easy from trailer to dolly solo is interesting. Sorry, I’m new to this. How?
 
Thanks for the thoughts. I talked to Dynamic yesterday. They recommend transporting on straps, and not loading on the wheels (I.e loading the rear cross member / axle).

Rob, your comment about it being easy from trailer to dolly solo is interesting. Sorry, I’m new to this. How?

The bow fitting on the trailers rotate/pivot. So, you lift the boat from the stern, move it to the dolly, (set beside the trailer) and put it down on the dolly.
 
Ah, that sounds interesting. I looked at picture of trailex, the problem with that is I won’t be able to see boat or trailer behind my truck.
Maybe I can rig a flag or something
 
I originally had a trailex, but without the bow pivot. Switched to a Right-On as at the time I had nowhere to store the boat/trailer at home (NYC apartment living...), and wanted to be able to easily keep trailer+dolly in one spot (to keep costs down) without a big production getting it on/off all the time.

The Trailex or Kittyhawk are definitely the way to go if you get the pivot and don't mind tying the dolly down on top every time.

The Dynamic system is definitely an upgrade from the Right-On. Another big issue with the Right-On is that until the dolly wheels are supported, it can pivot left/right on the center bar of the dolly. You have to be very careful when loading as if you miss the front roller with the dolly you could easily have the boat rolling off to one side. The Dynamic system looks like it'd be much easier to load safely, as well as securing the dolly to the trailer better.
 
Ah, that sounds interesting. I looked at picture of trailex, the problem with that is I won’t be able to see boat or trailer behind my truck.
Maybe I can rig a flag or something

You probably won't be able to see the empty trailer, but you can see it when the boat is on it. You can see the back 25% of the boat.
 
Thanks everyone for all the info, much appreciated. I’m not sure what I’ll do yet, but I’m better informed by a long shot.
 
I traveled thousand of miles with my boat on the gunwale supports of Jotag dolly without any problem. They are made of aluminium, non plastic and rubber.
 

Attachments

  • Laser.34.jpg
    Laser.34.jpg
    153.3 KB · Views: 81
Trolleys in our region aregenerally A framed, gunnel supported with no straps under the hull. All are designed to sit on top of the road trailers.

20170114_132946_resized-b44ad39f-large.jpg
 
That rig looks great! I really want something like that. What is your process for loading / unloading? Do you load from back, or swing it from side?
 
Slide off the back. The tandem+ set up usually involve removing the trolley wheels, but the singles the wheels normally stay on.
 
I towed my boat off of the dolly on a small trailer. In my stock Toyota Tundra I cant see the boat at all while going straight. The trailex or righton options scare me a bit for this reason. I kept hoping to catch a red light so I could engage reverse to see rear camera.
The dynamic set up looks to be the Cadillac, and the riser section would put it high enough to see the trailer didn’t bounce off at last railroad crossing.... $1700 for the dynamic rig, plus cost of a new trailer seems steep (plus I’ll probably buy a new dolly since mine is old).
Any other ideas?
 
I traveled thousand of miles with my boat on the gunwale supports of Jotag dolly without any problem. They are made of aluminium, non plastic and rubber.

What's the deal with those Jotag gunnel supports being $75 for a pair? Anyone have DIY replacement?
 
What's the deal with those Jotag gunnel supports being $75 for a pair? Anyone have DIY replacement?
Ask for a quote in our site. Have in mind they fit only in our dollies. For another ones you should have to adapt them.
 

Back
Top