I posted one of these DIY boat trailers a couple of weeks ago (a Facebook group for paddlers over 50 frequently has posts like this from tinkerers who want to show off their handiwork.) That previous one was sketchy and just needed some tweaks, but this one below is just a fatal disaster waiting to happen – what a tree house! Rube Goldberg is rolling in his grave…
The post got 11 “likes” before I saw it and slammed him and told him not to absolutely not take that on the road… That Disco weighs 91 pounds. Look carefully at the structure it is resting on. The Pelican below it is strapped to eye-hooks screwed into wood, by the way. I suspect I could collapse this with one karate kick. Imagine it at 60 mph ahead of you on the interstate. I would not tow this monstrosity down a driveway.
Suspect the weak link is the PVC / 2x wood joint. The base of the 2x appears to be carriage bolted to the frame. Of course there is no information on the frame of the trailer or whether the eyes are thru bolted or screwed .
@Overstreet said:
Suspect the weak link is the PVC / 2x wood joint. The base of the 2x appears to be carriage bolted to the frame. Of course there is no information on the frame of the trailer or whether the eyes are thru bolted or screwed .
Yes I concur. The base could be fine… Perhaps the builder should get some credit for not jamming the Peli inside a car… We saw one inside a Forester a couple of days ago.
I’d give the guy the benefit of the doubt just like the last trailer where key design details (like the screw eyes mentioned by overstreet) aren’t visible. I agree that the anchoring of the upright pieces is critical but it looks like it may be solid. I wouldn’t worry too much about using pvc pipe for support since pvc pipe makes great boat racks (even if it deflects more than steel). I’d like to see another line or two on those boats to make sure they stay on the trailer even if the trailer is only used for short trips.
I think it could be worse, but it can be a little better. Nothing’s going to move sideways, at least. Worst thing I see is the lack of fore/aft retention, and that’s an easy fix. That PVC pipe is probably fine, but I’d replace it with metal tubing or a hardwood dowel. I’d worry more about those uprights developing a lengthwise split.
Bad welds … yeah, but if he inspects them for cracks–like, seeing a little line of rust showing through the paint–probably not a big issue.
Oh, and the canoe needs a flag.
Do trailers have to pass an inspection before they’re licensed?
@greyheron said:
Nothing’s going to move sideways, at least.
Huh? The sideways stability is the worst part of this construction. There is none.
The canoe, the wood boards and the bottom plate form a parallelogram. A parallelogram can move freely, unless you have some kind of stability at the corners. I see nothing, which adds that stability. It is more or less hinged.
@Allan Olesen said:
Huh? The sideways stability is the worst part of this construction. There is none.
The canoe, the wood boards and the bottom plate form a parallelogram. A parallelogram can move freely, unless you have some kind of stability at the corners. I see nothing, which adds that stability. It is more or less hinged.
Agreed. This thing needs some triangles. Add two cross braces (forming an “X”) between each of the uprights (4 "X"es in total) and it would be a huge improvement.
looks good to me - 15 MPH from the cabin to the lake a couple hundred yards down the road
I carry our little Keowees and our Yak board on a little John Deer dump trailer pulled by my ATV from our boat barn across the road to our creek in the front yard. they are held on with a couple of old bungee cords
Those 1" x 6" upright pine boards with no bracing are not a sound structure. I am guessing scrap fence pickets. For scale, a standard license plate is 12" x 6". The PVC (I 1/2" at best) is just shoved through the holes with slack between the board and the capped end. Nothing to keep that canoe from torquing the boards off that frame in a jack-knife maneuver. The inertial force of the canoe at 65 mph is nearly 3 tons, if I recall my high school physics correctly.
Here in PA home-built trailers must be inspected and passed by the State before being licensed for highway use. Unfortunately they don’t inspect for what you carry and how you fasten it on.
The proud builder mentioned in his post that he was ready to “hit the road” so I doubt this rig is just to take it down a dirt road from his driveway to the stream in the back yard.
And I’m sorry, but the faith some of my fellow paddlers (and my own brother) have in the structural soundness of PVC pipe is not well-founded. Though the tensile strength of new 1 1/4" PVC 40 is over 800 pounds, load deflection is at far lower weight especially if it is heated (about 95% less, in fact). And pipe weakened by constant UV exposure will break under a much smaller load. Here is the load deflection chart for PVC pipe. I worked with and around PVC pipe on construction sites for over 30 years and have seen even larger sizes (3" and 4") that had been stored outdoors for a long time break just from being tossed off a truck.:
I can’t tell if the wood uprights go through the trailer or sit on top. If they don’t go through, then the canoe will rip off the trailer. As Sparky961 states, the welds suck. I’d be worried that the tires will fall off.
One correction – on zooming in I see it’s a Disco 119 not a 169 so it “only” weighs about 62 pounds. So the inertial weight at highway speed is “only” 2 tons rather than 3. That should be a relief to know as it is careening towards your windshield…
Then again, some people don’t even care if their canoe falls off their trailer:
I suspect the weak link is the human that hatched this crazy plan. As my computer friends would say it’s a classic PEBKAC (problem exists between keyboard and chair).
@Overstreet said:
Suspect the weak link is the PVC / 2x wood joint. The base of the 2x appears to be carriage bolted to the frame. Of course there is no information on the frame of the trailer or whether the eyes are thru bolted or screwed .
Without any securement against fore-aft movement and a dangerous missile launch, they should at least use bow and stern lines for both boats.
Colorado requires inspection of all trailers that are not bought within the state from an authorized dealer, not just homemade trailers. This made registering my Trailex difficult back in 2011, since it is considered homebuilt.
The hurdles had NOTHING to do with safety, as I found out when I watched the so-called safety inspection, He barely glanced at the trailer but thoroughly scrutizinized my purchase papers. The inspection law was passed to reduce the number of STOLEN trailers from circulating in this state.
@willowleaf said:
Those 1" x 6" upright pine boards with no bracing are not a sound structure. I am guessing scrap fence pickets. For scale, a standard license plate is 12" x 6". The PVC (I 1/2" at best) is just shoved through the holes with slack between the board and the capped end. Nothing to keep that canoe from torquing the boards off that frame in a jack-knife maneuver. The inertial force of the canoe at 65 mph is nearly 3 tons, if I recall my high school physics correctly.
Here in PA home-built trailers must be inspected and passed by the State before being licensed for highway use. Unfortunately they don’t inspect for what you carry and how you fasten it on.
The proud builder mentioned in his post that he was ready to “hit the road” so I doubt this rig is just to take it down a dirt road from his driveway to the stream in the back yard.
And I’m sorry, but the faith some of my fellow paddlers (and my own brother) have in the structural soundness of PVC pipe is not well-founded. Though the tensile strength of new 1 1/4" PVC 40 is over 800 pounds, load deflection is at far lower weight especially if it is heated (about 95% less, in fact). And pipe weakened by constant UV exposure will break under a much smaller load. Here is the load deflection chart for PVC pipe. I worked with and around PVC pipe on construction sites for over 30 years and have seen even larger sizes (3" and 4") that had been stored outdoors for a long time break just from being tossed off a truck.:
https://formufit.com/pages/formufit-pipe-deflection-guide
I think you’re confusing inertial forces with potential/kinetic energy. At 65 mph with no acceleration/deceleration the canoe doesn’t put any inertial forces into the trailer. The trailer will most likely never experience more than 0.5g but even if you assume a 1g panic stop the canoe would only generate a force equal to it’s weight…so 60-90 pounds distributed across four uprights, not 3 tons. I can’t tell if the uprights are 1 by 6 or 2 by 6. If they are 1 by 6 I’d worry about warpage which could lead to buckling (although it’s possible that the uprights are also supported by angle brackets which can’t be seen in the pic in addition to being through bolted to the lower frame). The pvc pipe looks like 2 inch to me; the load deflection chart suggests minimal to zero deflection.
My eye was also drawn to the wimpy looking leaf spring attachments.
