I have a vacationer hull to transport. I was thinking of U-haul trailer or Vehicle trailer. The largest trailer is 6 X 12 and the vehicle trailer is just less than 7â wide and longer. Would I be ok with using the Car trailer? If I lay the hull down on its side shouldnât it be narrow enough to fit on? What would be the width if I lay it down on its side?
Thanks
Brian
Brian you are about 23' overall on that hull. ~ 19' at the chine. Lots of overhang. The hull is 6' wide at the chine so figure from there. You should be OK with her sitting on the keel and laying to one side. How far do you have to go with this? For a very short distance the overhang could be ignored possibly. Just strap her down well fwd and drive slow.
I'd be very careful about transporting a Vacationer on her side. She'd flop over on her chine, while resting on the keel. This will put a heavy sheering load on the keel fasteners (which typically are just screws through the bottom planks) and the keel may twist off to one side. Each bump will test the pullout strength of these fasteners as the weight of the boat bears down, at an angle on the joint.
What ever trailer you use, drag her up there and prop her up square on the trailer. She'll rest happily on her keel with some blocking under her aft bottom planks (at the chine), so she rides sitting up right. This will permit the keel to absorb shock loads through the axis of the fasteners, and redistribute the strain throughout the hull. This is how loads are transmitted from the rig, just in reverse and what the assembly is best designed to tolerate. The road bumps will also not being trying to yank out fasteners, because of the way the boat is loaded.
Strap her down, bolt upright and you'll do her the best good.