Limited garage space - can I shorten draw bar / best trailers to use ?

[Cheeky Monkey]

Hello all,

Have been lurking for a week or so, reading and learning, and am looking at a few ribs on ebay at the moment, and anywhere else I can find them for sale, and now registered and this is my first post. Apologies if I am repeating stuff already asked, but I've not come across the answer yet.

I am new to this, and looking at a relatively inexpensive set up to start with and try it out. (I will be doing RYA PB2 if it all comes together). My ideas for use are occasional short handed dive trips (2 or 3 in the boat, inc one non diver - doing my SDI Solo Diver course soon, and I don't want to start the 'solo v buddy system' debate on here too....), taking my 8 year old out to look for marine life, and solo mid life crisis playtime on the choppy stuff

My garage space is a shade over 5m long and 2.1 m wide doorway, so I am thinking that a 4m Searider looks like as good a start point as any

With trailer and outboard fitted though it seems very tight as to whether I can fit one in.

Are there any particular trailers to look out for please ?

Another thought I had was whether I couldn't just cut the draw bar, and sleeve it with a long bolt on collar made from slightly larger box section - say 4 bolts total - so that I can undo 2 bolts and take off the front section, shortening the whole thing so that it fits ?

Is there any advantage while towing or launching / recovering in having a longer draw bar ? Or should I just be hunting out a set up which has a trailer which is compact and will fit inside the garage ? Do I need to be aware of any problems with having the boat too close to the car (reversing much more difficult for example ?)

I will be towing with a Honda CRV 2.2 diesel, so I think this means I can tow up to 750kg unbraked no problem - I guess my 'chop it and bolt it' plan may get trickier / impossible with a braked trailer ?

Any thoughts very gratefully received

Many thanks

[9D280]

Hi,

If you're looking at an SR4, you likely won't need a removable drawbar for a 5m garage.

Most unbraked trailers will go through a "standard" door, My old one was sat on the indespension bunk Jetski trailer. Only down side was you had to go quite deep before it floated off. Most manutfactureres do a variety of lightweight unbraked stuff.

[Cheeky Monkey]

Originally Posted by 9D280

If you're looking at an SR4, you likely won't need a removable drawbar for a 5m garage.

Thanks for your post

I've enquired after 3 on ebay so far - all SR4s - and been told overall length on the trailer is 4.5m, 5.1 m and 5.75m respectively !

I realise I need to start going to look at them and working out why

[Hightower]

DeGraaff trailers have a retractable draw bar but they will custom build you something if you like.

Obviously a long draw bar means you can get the trailer further into the water so has a great advantage over shorter versions.

http://www.degraafftrailers.co.uk/

[matt h]

most good trailors have retractable draw bar if that helps!!

[jyasaki]

If the overall length is too long, another option is a swingaway tongue. Fulton makes one, and a couple of other companies I can't remember do as well (as I recall.)

Easy enough to kludge up your own if they're not sold over there and you don't want to order from the US; somebody who can form some heavy gauge steel should be able to knock one up in reasonably short order.

Here's a link to the Fulton, which is available in 2"x3", 3"x3", and 4" x 3" versions. If you need to make one up, it's pretty easy to copy.

jky

[Cheeky Monkey]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

If the overall length is too long, another option is a swingaway tongue. Fulton makes one, and a couple of other companies I can't remember do as well (as I recall.)

Easy enough to kludge up your own if they're not sold over there and you don't want to order from the US; somebody who can form some heavy gauge steel should be able to knock one up in reasonably short order.

Here's a link to the Fulton, which is available in 2"x3", 3"x3", and 4" x 3" versions. If you need to make one up, it's pretty easy to copy.

jky

thank you

[9D280]

Originally Posted by Cheeky Monkey

I've enquired after 3 on ebay so far - all SR4s - and been told overall length on the trailer is 4.5m, 5.1 m and 5.75m respectively !

I realise I need to start going to look at them and working out why

My guess would be some are sat on inappropriately big trailers, or have quoted it "as towed" with the engine up, or both?


One thing to remember with a rib is that most trailer manufacturers will quote "max boat length" assuming a solid hull. Ribs have approx 0.5m of toob diameter hanging over the bow and a cone length poking out the stern outside the solid bit, so are on average about a metre shorter (as far as the trailer is concerned) than the similar sized plastic boat.

Braked hitch will also add about half a metre over a non braked one.

http://rib.net/forum/attachment.php?...6&d=1284109634
Is mine when I first swapped it off the old trailer - low res phone photo, but does illustrate the bow overhang point quite well.

[Stoo]

At my last house, I build a double garage to hold my 4M Hurricane, which fit beautifully.

Then came the 5.9M Hurricane. I could just fit it in kitty-corner with the A-frame clearing the 9' door by 1/8".

In the winter, in order to make room for a car as well, I turned the trailer around, and pushed the tongue through a purpose-cut hole through the back wall. The tongue stuck into the rear hedge for the winter.

When I sold the house, the new owners called me several weeks after closing, puzzled about the purpose of this little "door"...

[spartacus]

Originally Posted by Cheeky Monkey

My garage space is a shade over 5m long and 2.1 m wide doorway, so I am thinking that a 4m Searider looks like as good a start point as any

With trailer and outboard fitted though it seems very tight as to whether I can fit one in.

Are there any particular trailers to look out for please?

Some useful information here: http://rib.net/forum/showthread.php?t=37811