I thought a kayak trailer would be truly the cats meow.Carry four or more boats of different sizes@lengths,all your gear in a secure manner,and ready to roll in minutes. Ive found a power boat trailer at a fair price.If you have done a project like this, ild like to see some picture-ideas-please beyond some old 2x4 wired together.thanks-Bert
Redmond has…
he’ll be along shortly…
Bertha
If you will email me I will send you pics of three different trailers which I have built.Might give you some good ideas. I do not know how to post pictures on here , sorry .
garyg
Some ideas maybe
Here’s one I built on a utility trailer. The rack unbolts and slides off if I want to use the trailer for something else. I’ve hauled 6 canoes and 4 plastic bins of gear. One time I had 14 whitewater kayaks on it.
http://tinyurl.com/2gvsdh
For a boat trailer, not utility trailer
Get design concepts from this site:
http://www.trailex.com/canoes.cfm
Boat Trailer
the last photo on page 4 and page 5 of mine are pictures of my converted boat trailer.
I have customized a flat bed 5x8 tilting
trailer with removeable sides, loading ramp, and kayak racks. I am about to add a diamond plate cover to completely enclose the box. It will be hinged on the front and lockable in the rear with sealing strips along the top edge. The trailer can hold up to six kayaks, four on the rack, and two more on the box top. With two more in the tow vehicle I can haul eight kayaks and seven passengers and all their gear. The trailer will also handle, one Harley or one Snowmobile or a vacations worth of bikes and gear. The bed is tilting or you can leave it fixed and use the ramp. It is the closest thing I have ever seen to a do everything trailer.As you can see from the pictures, it is currently a good gear dryer and storage spot. The pics are here:
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f4/Wolverinemw/trailer004.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f4/Wolverinemw/trailer003.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f4/Wolverinemw/trailer002.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f4/Wolverinemw/trailer001.jpg
kayak trailers
thank you for the replies,theres alot of creative thinking going on. It just seems (to me anyways) that if you had boats that cost a lot of money and three or more boats on a trailer that it could quickly add up to alarge sum of money. It would also be nice besides running down to the local put in site, that you could haul boats and gear easly many hundreds of miles.so buying,making,building agood roadworthy trailer only makes sense.plus a cool project!Ive seen a couple of manufacters selling about what im interested in, around two thousand dollar price tag- and for that i think i-u- can create a better trailer themself. so keep those ideas@ pictures coming-thanks -Bert
Thanks
Thanks for the ideas. I’m refurbishing an old windsurfer trailer to haul kayaks, and I just got several good Ideas from this thread. Thanks especially to Redmond. I like the idea of mounting the kayaks low on the sides. Any downside to that? What’s the maximum width for the trailer side to side to be practical?
Tec
The legal trailer width is 8 ’ . Practical - you would not want the trailer to be wider than the vehicle you are pulling it with , and preferably a bit more narrow than the vehicle to reduce wind resistance. Email me and I will send you pictures of a couple I have built.
garyg
102" width is legal in 48 states
On any highway that has received federal funding, which is pretty much all of them. The exceptions are Kentucky and Oregon if my memory serves correctly. Just an interesting bit of trivia. The suggestion to stay narrower than your tow vehicle is good advice.
Excuse me ,
I thought it was a flat 8’ .
garyg.
my version
had a friend who was a welder make this for me. Boat trailer intact for when i want to take the jonboat out with the kids, the rack itself is free standing on the ground for a outdoor rack by the house. Weighs about 75 lbs all told. Attaches to the boat trailer with 6 u clamps that are easily removed. pool foam noodles over the arms for protection.
Good luck with yours!
http://picasaweb.google.com/BrazilBrasil1/KayakTrailer
Paul
Excuse me, backatcha
Rather than do an exhaustive state-by-state analysis I copied this web site http://www.woodalls.com/output.cfm?ID=1195129
Hawaii and Kansas 108"
DC, KY, MD, NH, NJ, NY 96" on non-federally subsidized roadways 96", on federally subsized roadways 102"
All other states 102"
It’s interesting to note that Florida may also be 108" and Oregon has recently gone from 96" to 102".
trailers
Im buying a used boat trailer today.Let the project begin!will post pictures as i go -Bert
Shock absorbing rack
Has anyone ever seen a rack that absorbed shock?
Anyone come up with a good shock absorbing system for these DIY trailers?
(I have a couple of composite boats, and one in particular is a little delicate. )
Thanks,
shock absorbing on trailer
A standard boat trailer is sprung for boats and motors that weight thousands of pounds. They jump all over the road and transmit considerable shock when used with a light load such as a couple of canoes or kayaks.
I have read about people improving them by taking out some of the layers in the leaf spring stack. never tried it or have seen it done. There is one conversion that I had done on a Cox trailer to carry a 150lb wood sailing skiff. A guy in MA removed the leaf springs fully and substituted motorcycle coil springs and added shocks. Now it tows like a dream, doesn’t bounce or transfer shock to the boat.
Dave
Not always the case
Give the trailer a pull emtpy before possibly doing a lot of work for nothing removing the spring leafs . I have a jull size one I converted that did not need it .
Gary G.
Trailer
Make that a full size one !
garyg