None of the above?I recently purchased a 1977 sunfish and 1982 ez loader trailer from a nice guy
Option D - ???? what would you do ????
None of the above?
Will this boat be used in salt water?
The trailer is oversprung for one Sunfish. I'd cut the lowest leaf spring off. Both sides.Then I'd buy two 5/4-inch boards about 14-feet long. (5/4-inch boards are typically used for sun decks).
Align the boards longitudinally with the Sunfish chines, and secure both ends—one end secured, but allowed some slack. The boards will conform to the trailer's ride, and won't present anything to damage the hull. Cover with indoor-outdoor carpeting. The above is a common design among larger sailboat trailers.
In salt water, (Great Bay?) use bronze or stainless-steel for screws and bolts. Use "finishing-washers" for grip on carpeting.
Or go to these guidelines:
Guidelines for Building a Cradle for a Sunfish Sailboat on a Trailer (archive.org)
Hi,None of the above?
Will this boat be used in salt water?
The trailer is oversprung for one Sunfish. I'd cut the lowest leaf spring off. Both sides.Then I'd buy two 5/4-inch boards about 14-feet long. (5/4-inch boards are typically used for sun decks).
Align the boards longitudinally with the Sunfish chines, and secure both ends—one end secured, but allowed some slack. The boards will conform to the trailer's ride, and won't present anything to damage the hull. Cover with indoor-outdoor carpeting. The above is a common design among larger sailboat trailers.
In salt water, (Great Bay?) use bronze or stainless-steel for screws and bolts. Use "finishing-washers" for grip on carpeting.
Or go to these guidelines:
Guidelines for Building a Cradle for a Sunfish Sailboat on a Trailer (archive.org)
Correct.L&VW is suggesting that you use planks that bend to conform to the shape of the hull and that they are placed along the chine or outside edge of the hull and are only attached to supports at either end of the plank.
Correct--thanks...5/4 refers to lumber dimensions which is about 1 inch thick. L&VW is suggesting that you use planks that bend to conform to the shape of the hull and that they are placed along the chine or outside edge of the hull and are only attached to supports at either end of the plank.
Do you have any pictures that show examples of this?Correct--thanks...
My Mariner-class discussion group published this on 5/4" planks, rollers, and moving the axle above the springs ("overslinging") for LESS ground clearance:
"I like the 5/4 idea for a number of reasons (including that the amount of clearance between the bunks and fenders will be tight), and will try that tomorrow.
The wobble roller trailer I had the boat on had (at least) 4 issues:
The boat sat up super high and made it difficult to launch and retrieve.
The boat sits VERY low on the new bunk trailer (the springs are underslung in addition to the natural height difference in the two trailer styles). Case in point: one of the keel roller brackets has ~6" of ground clearance. I may end up overslinging the springs to buy 3-4" of more clearance, but there isn't a top hole on the axle for the spring center bolt to go into. If I oversling, I will probably drill a hole for it."
- The (black) rollers constantly scuffed the hull.
- Sometimes the rollers would get in awkward positions, and the boat would slam down as I retrieved it (especially with steep ramps where I couldn't see the position of the aft rollers.
- The trailer I bought the boat on last year was majorly rusted, I'm lucky the tires didn't explode on me last year, the rollers were in deteriorating shape, and in general would have taken a significant amount of my time/money to get into a good enough condition that it wouldn't bug the living daylights out of me.
Don't remember if there were pix. I left that discussion group after I sold off my surplus Mariner hardware.Do you have any pictures that show examples of this?