as i'am about to start the main boat build i was wondering if anyone has information on how to build a building/dolly frame to hold the boat in place during the construction. i will be using my garage and i will have to move the boat in and out during the build. any help on this matter would be great.
I nailed mine together out of scrap lumber and it fell apart twice >
- Keep in mind that it will suffer some abuse and if you're like me, it will need to last quite a while. I think my boat was on mine for about 3 years.
One thing that I "do" suggest is to get the largest dolly wheels you can find. Having at least 2 of them swivel will help a lot in moving the boat around and the large size will help you move the boat around on an un-even surface.
A building cradle has to tolerate people walking and working inside the boat. This typically places huge loads on the bottom planks and the bottom to topside joint (chine).
Flat bottom boats are the easiest to make a cradle from, think saw horses with a place for the keel to live (a notch). The bottom can be screwed to these saw horses, insuring it can't move.
Another way is to make a box. The side piece would mimic the rocker on the bottom, while the front and back pieces just straight across.
Lastly, the traditional method is to build a ladder like structure and erect molds up from it. On a flat bottom boat this is fairly simple, just rectangles with a keel notch.
Select wheels that have 400 pound or better working loads and you will not have issues with them freezing or breaking.
david...
here is the link to my boat building blog on lumberjocks.com....this is the link to the first entry...but from there you can click ahead to where there is a drawing and picture of my simple cart...
Here is the link:
http://lumberjocks.com/matt1970/blog/14831
The picture of my boat cart are in the SEVENTH (7th) edition of the block which you can click to...HOWEVER...those picts I just realized are not correct...since I built it I changed two major parts:]
1. Wheels are pushed WAAAY out to the ends of the 2x6 so the boat/cart wont tip/flip...
2. the flimsy 1x2's you see as the "cradle" are completely inadequate the way those picts show...I immediately beefed them up to 2x 6 and not as high...and it is much better...also added some padding where the keel bottom hits the cart.
Hope this helps...
Matt
Hi David;
  We 're building our Weekender in an outside Shelterlogic Shed on a dirt floor, our boat cradel is on 4" dolley wheels, two that swivel on the Bow. Did I read somewhere that we now have "Spell Check'? Anyway. When we have to be on the boat I place 4 inexpencive automotive "Jack Stands" at all four corners for stability and haven't had a Knock Down yet. Best to keep the cradel within the floor dementions or your ankles are going to catch hell.
   Alan
Paul;
  With your method of building a cradel David will have more time & money invested in the cradel then he will the sailboat, his only hope to get any use from that would be if their next born is 20' long and weights 550 lbs at birth and that would mean a set of Sails for every diaper change and I know you can't buy them at Walmart. :
 Just have'n a little fun here David & Paul.
   Franny & I have found this to be the best place for information and help with building our dream, ask anything someone has experienced it and will help you, the "Old Farts" in here like to have a little fun with us at first but "It Will Pass".
       Alan
Greetings David,
Dolly details ...
http://home.comcast.net/~TomsWeekender/Dolly.html
Large wheels are important, especially if you have a lip between a concrete garage floor and an asphalt driveway. Plan on a wheel with a diameter 5 or 6 times the height of the largest bump your dolly will encounter. My 4 inch wheels were a little too small and would catch on the concrete. I eventually made a 45 degree corner molding wedge to help get the boat back into the garage.Â
Cheers,
Tom
I think these are about the best shots of my dolly.
Even with the large wheels I found that it got bogged down on gravel. The main reason that mine fell apart I would think is the fact that there was a lot of pushing and shoving going on moving the boat around and that I used nails, not screws.
Tom - with your dolly do you find that you have good support against fore-aft motion? I would have thought you would have added some bracing for that.
Greetings Andrew,
When I first built the cradle I had planned on attaching some 1 foot long 2"x4"cleats on the uprights right below the keel slots, and another set on the base right below the keel, and then connecting the cleats with a triangular gusset to absorb fore and aft wracking loads. But the cradle proved to be so stiff that I never bothered. The skins for the uprights were glued and screwed to the internal cleats so they are stiff in their own right. I used some pretty beefy lag bolts and washers to clamp the base to the uprights - and one of those lag screws passes upwards through the bottom 4"x4" beam, the plywood base, and about six inches into the central cleat inside the upright.
It also helps that I do not push the boat but rather pull the cradle using a bridle clipped to an eyebolt anchored into the end of backbone beam, and the boat just comes along for the ride.
The eight foot spacing between uprights is about right for supporting the boat either at the bulkheads, or the centers of the cockpit and cabin.
Cheers,
Tom
My dolly was patterned after Tom's. Racking forces did unstabilize things a bit. I would suggest beefing things up to prevent the problem. Fortunately, I had no untoward consequences.
Dave