Hey,
This is my first post to the forum and I’m in need of some help. I’m looking into a new trailer. I’m looking into 18 Old River Saranac canoes (14’ 6" long, 36" wide) and I’m looking for a trailer to transport them. I’ve seen on direct boats (http://directboats.com/20plca.html) there are a couple and I’m not sure if they’d fit. I haven’t been able to find a number to call, so does anyone know if those boats would fit on that trailer. On a side note, I’d get a couple kayaks as well! My question is, do you think that they’d fit or do you know of any companies that manufacture canoe trailers that would fit 14 and a half foot canoes?
It should work
– Last Updated: Mar-20-15 5:21 PM EST –
It looks like the ends of forward and rearward canoes may overlap by about two feet if all boats are centered on their racks from front to back. Move the front boats forward of center a little and the rear boats back of center, the overlap will be less, and very easy to deal with. Since canoes are narrow at the pointy ends, shifting the boats a little sideways or slightly diagonal on the racks will allow the ends to overlap with no problem.
I've seen trailers similar to that on the road, because the major canoe manufacturers do their own shipping. I know I've seen Wenonah boats being shipped that way, but I can't recall which other brands I've seen in transport. I also can't recall whether or not the canoes were arranged so that the ends overlapped a bit. I bet you could call the maker of that trailer and ask them about how the boats fit, as far as end clearance or overlap, but I'm sure you can make them fit.
By the way, I assume if you are thinking about buying the trailer that you intend to keep using it. Is that so? I don't know your needs, but if starting a rental business or something, that might be too much trailer for daily runs for the clients. For a large Boy Scout troop or something, where most or all of the boats will get transported at the same time, it would make more sense.
Scout troop
Ya hit the nail on the head, Large Boy Scput troop (40+ boys on a campout, 100+ on roster)