Trailer for 31ft Voyager Sedan

[Stuart]

New to the forum - "Stuart".
I have acquired a Trojan '69 31ft. Voyager Sedan Wooden Boat and would like to be able to move it around and store somewhere other than (our only) very distant marina. Can anyone provide any info about a suitable trailer please i.e. rating, seller, fabricator?
Any condition since it will only be used two times per season.
The boat weighs 9,200lb and is a 10ft. girth.
Much obliged
Stuart

[jblack1036]

Stuart,

I have an old 31 foot wooden cruiser "1965 Trojan Sea Breeze" that I modified a trailer to fit. It wasn't all too difficult. The trailer I found had adjustable bunks on it. I removed the keel rollers and put a center channel slide down the middle. I fabricated a "V" type cradle for the bow to set in that slides up and down the center channel. Makes for easy launching and easy retrieval. It also makes it easy to take the boat off the trailer when I put it up for the winter. If you are good with welding, you can do anything......Oh, I also moved the axles to better support the weight. If I might say, I think I did a pretty good job on it and I've been using it for two seasons now.

[Paul - SW Ontario]

Hi Stuart,

this trailer was originally designed for a 31' boat.

Complete adjustable pivoting bunks.
They will work with just about any hull, I would imagine.

Had it made for my 26.
Shortened the tongue by 4 feet.

[Stuart]

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. I have had some luck - I found and purchased a second hand "eezzzz-on" Aluminum I-beam, tri-axle, 30ft. trailer in poor but usable condition. It is rated at 10,000lb and the Sedan weighs in at 9,500 dry. I am cleaning up the wooden bunks and replacing all bolts. The diagonal bracing struts (aluminium) were mostly missing but there were enough to use as a template to get more from a local metal shop. The vendor had done some work to get it certified (brakes, lights, tires etc.) but as a private owner we didn't need certification. He had put almost new 15" wheels on it.
It has surge brakes with mechanical "back-up" override.
When I learn how to post pictures I will do so.

FYI, some stuff I learned while researching is as follows:
wheel rating:
5 stud = 3500lb
6 stud = 5200lb
7 stud = 7000lb

Overhang at rear: up to 4ft. OK, any more requires red reflectors, lights etc.
Tie-downs must be rated as strong as boat weight.
Brakes required on at least one axle for a double and two axles on a triple. Must have emergency actuator (chain) in case ball becomes disengaged.
Secondary securing mechanism (chains) must keep trailer nose from falling to the ground if hitch becomes disengaged (this seems to be ignored by most I have seen!).
More when we finish the job.
Cheers

[Big D]

The weight of the boat should not be supported by the hull, it should sit on its keel, and rest on the hull for ballance only or you may buckle planks and crack ribs during transport. Spread the hull supports across as many ribs as you can to distribute the load over a few of them on each side.

[comodave]

Is the 10000 pound rating the gross weight or the net weight capacity? It usually is the gross weight including the weight of the trailer. That would only leave you with 500 pounds for the weight of the trailer, equipment on the boat, fuel and water in the boats tanks... You should look at the capacity closely and see how the 10000 pounds is calculated. Your insurance may be void if you are towing an overloaded trailer and have an accident.

[Stuart]

Thank you for your note "bigD" - it has set us thinking for sure. Our premise was based on two factors 1. the original crib designed for the boat has cut-outs to ensure there is no weight on the keel and 2. there are a pair of support struts for each motor running between the two bulkheads (one under the steering wheel and one under the rear door). The outer strut for each motor would sit on the 12ft. long bunks of the trailer (approx. 5ft. apart) and this appears to be the format for many trailers. My concern is that this is a format for fiber-glass and that your observations for wooden boats means we are mistaken in our planned use of the trailer bunks.
It looks to us that the storage crib was designed to support the boat under the bulk-heads (side-to-side not fwd-aft) plus one partway towards the bow where the hull takes on the more pronounced V shape.
Is it your belief that a trailer for a wooden boat should mimic the design of a crib?
Sincere thanks,
Stuart

[1967 seavoyager]

Don't forget, a Sea Voyager is Carvel Planked. If it's left out of the water for more than a week you're gonna have to soak it up again. If you launch it off a trailer it might go straight to the bottom. If you have any bad ribs or planks you might punch a hole in the bottom. Look on my photobucket page & you can see how your boat is put together. That boat isn't really meant to run up & down the road on a trailer.

[1967 seavoyager]

Also, the width limit on roads is 102" & height is 13' 6". Hate to see you get busted moving the boat.

[Stuart]

To "1967 seavoyager" - I can't tell you how helpful your photobucket and information is to us - I understand what you are saying. We have some extensive work to do (changing both Interceptor motors and complete re-wiring) and want to do this at home to avoid the long drive to our nearest marina. We will hire a tow company to get an old boat being scrapped out to the breakers where we will remove the motors. We will then have the Sedan taken out and home and work through the winter. We will apply for a wide load permit. When re-launching next year we will go to a private slip and let it swell on the trailer as you so wisely point out.
From your photos of the structure it looks like we can distribute the load between keel and bunks - we are going to do a trial run with bunks only and size the supports needed for the keel and bow on shore. We will then re-launch, add the keel supports to the trailer and do a final "extraction" sometime in October.
I have asked my computer guru to show me how to get photos to an external server so I can post.
Thank you all so much.
p.s. "Jim" I received your photos via email - thank you too for taking the time and effort to help.
Stuart

[Big D]

Don't forget, a Sea Voyager is Carvel Planked. If it's left out of the water for more than a week you're gonna have to soak it up again. If you launch it off a trailer it might go straight to the bottom.....

Gee I really haven't found that to be the case unless the hull is in really bad shape. The plywood skin behind the planks below the water line helps keep the water out while the planks swell. If two bilge pumps can't keep up with the amount of water coming in, there may be an issue that needs attention. In the past, mine has been out for more than a season at a time and whenever she'd get splashed the slings would come off right away. Now a Pacemaker, that's a different story. You can see right through them when they're dry

....If you have any bad ribs or planks you might punch a hole in the bottom.....That boat isn't really meant to run up & down the road on a trailer.

++1
If you have to transport her for repairs, it's doable, just do it right so you don't give yourself more headaches later. I've transported one on a similar trailer but it was a short distance, her keel sat on a timber that I lied in the center of the trailer and added sections of timbers to the bunks to gain some hieght for contact with the hull for balance. The trailer capacity was overkill though so I was able to do what I wanted and having all the weight rest on just the center part of the trailer frame.