Beach launch opinion

[Rick Fisher]

Be honest

Removable dingy wheels on a 14 foot or 4.2m aluminum Rib weighing 260kg or about 600 lbs total. (60hp Outboard ) ..

The idea is to pull the boat up with an ATV ..

Would the transom normally be okay with that ?.. Any red flags ?

The demountable wheels would be made by a welding shop, handle the weight no problem, the welding shop said the transom will fail before the wheels..

??

[jeffstevens763@g]

for the cost of making transom wheels why not get a launching trolley and spread the weight on bunks. not to say the wheels won't do if you keep speed down but the trolley can have a coupling on with a ball on the ATV more control and safer for the boat all IMO

[simonl]

A transom clearly takes a downward force from the weight of the engine under normal conditions. Bumps whilst moving increase this significantly. If you put wheels on the bottom of the transom then you're doing the following:-
1. removing the weight of the engine from the boat, in a direction that the transom is strongest
2. Reversing the normal load direction. The wheeled transom is holding the boat in the air vs. a trailer holding the boat, holding the transom, holding the engine
3. Trying to pull the bottom of the transom away from the hull. Similar to striking an object with a locked outboard, but with forces at the bottom of the transom, so better.

So a couple of questions
a) is the transom itself strong enough? Almost certainly.
b) is the transom fixed to the hull well enough? That's the only area of debate in my mind. When stuck together it was 'designed' to take the load the other way round. In reality I think its strength will be easily enough. If you were craning it out, where would you attach? Front & back - the same as you're proposing, except a crane doens't bounce up & down on a beach.
c) are you sure they're not talking about the transom failing where they attach the wheels? That's down to surface areas & approach.
I'm not an expert, but I'd say you're okay

[Poly]

How would you attach the boat to the ATV? How would you raise the bow?

Since you will always have (and need) the ATV, I don't see the advantage it brings, transom wheels are most useful when launching/recovering in lots of different locations.

[Rick Fisher]

I like the idea of the dolly .. I will google that and learn more about it ..

The ATV has a winch that will be moved to the rear and a custom pulley will direct the pulling upwards.. The ATV will bump the back of the quad if I stop too soon, but its only 150 feet with a slight uphill grade..

I am going to investigate the dolly.. The ATV has a hitch on the front and the rear, so it would be a breeze launching it ..

[Fenlander]

I would go for the dolly/trolley idea.

When hand pulling a boat with transom wheels up the beach the force is somewhat limited and you will soon feel any resistance but with an ATV the strain could be huge. It's not so much the weight on the transom or the strength of the wheels/legs you have made but the leverage the wheels will have on the transom attachments if the outfit gets bogged down and a bit of extra throttle is applied to the ATV.

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by Rick Fisher

I like the idea of the dolly .. I will google that and learn more about it ..

The ATV has a winch that will be moved to the rear and a custom pulley will direct the pulling upwards.. The ATV will bump the back of the quad if I stop too soon, but its only 150 feet with a slight uphill grade..

I am going to investigate the dolly.. The ATV has a hitch on the front and the rear, so it would be a breeze launching it ..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/38145546112...D1286503711634

This sort of thing but modifie the bunks to suit

[chipko]

Launch trolley a good idea but might be struggling given weight of your rig.
We successfully launched 3.5 and 3.8m sibs across dunes and a sandy beach with a modified launch trolley and a 4wd mower! Trolley rated to 200kg although both boats weighed less.

For a boat your weight, here in the uk, I'd be looking at a small unbraked 350/500kg road trailer which would be easily managed by an ATV/quad bike down the beach.

[ncp]

Hard to see since it was taken from my phone from across the cove - he's launching his sib with a golf cart!

Santa Clara Point ramp, Mission Bay, San Diego, California, USA