A frame height - will it fit my garage?!

diver 1 · 06 November 2011, 18:51

I'm currently rib less, and have finally bought my first house.

The house has a lean to car port thing which I hope to eventually keep a rib in.

I'm keeping an eye on ribs for sale - 5.5 to 7m size, when I sold my old rib I meant to measure the highest point of the A frame to ground level as I am going to have to modify the car port to accomodate a rib.

Would appreciate it if anyone with a rib of this sort of size knows the height of their A frame from ground level? I know this will vary tremendously but some examples would be usesul

I am going to re-build the car port in the next couple of months well in advance of buying a rib.. basedon what anyone on here tells me I will conservatively guestimate the height of the car port roof and doors to suit.

Ribs I'm keen on are Humber destroyer, ocean pro, tornado, chinook...

SPR · 06 November 2011, 19:07

as a member on here will tell you it's not just the height but the width...

S.

red · 06 November 2011, 19:58

I have just measured mine as just over 10ft - that is from the top of the light mast which is 2.5 ft on top of the self righting frame, to the bottom of the leg in a down position. Hope that is of some use,

Regards

kubcat · 06 November 2011, 20:10

Ours was at too high so we welded on a pair of hinges. Problem solved.

diver 1 · 06 November 2011, 20:39

Ah! Yes width / length aren't quite such major issues (I have 2.7m width and 7+m length) as I am fairly confident on each and there is nothing I can do to make the car port any wide other than demolish part of my house!

The height I'm thinking of is from the highest solid point of the A frame - excluding antenna's etc to the tarmac when the rib is on a standard rollercoaster type trailer..

I want to start thinking about the design of the new roof and dismantling the old, but I want it to be right to cover most eventualities of boat.

In an ideal world obviously I'd have the boat already, but then I'd be wasting money for storage while I put a new roof up...

The hinged A frame is a good bet, which I have seen before. I do prefer simplicity though and for the sake of a few extra inches of timber its an easy choice... :-)

Downhilldai · 06 November 2011, 21:34

The top of the A-frame on my Vipermax 5.8 is around 8'6" off the ground, but the A-frame is a couple of inches taller than you'd expect on a boat of this length.

Mollers · 06 November 2011, 21:44

Is your drive approaching the garage/carport level? Too much angle either way can muck things right up.

wavelength · 06 November 2011, 21:55

the height off the ground whilst on a trailer will depend on the angle of the trailer. The "A" frame on our Humber destroyer goes under the up and over garage door as long as the jockey wheel is fully extended. The bow also clears the door, just, at that angle.

Downhilldai · 06 November 2011, 21:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mollers

Is your drive approaching the garage/carport level? Too much angle either way can muck things right up.

Ok if the shed has an 'adjustable' roof though, Mols?

Mollers · 06 November 2011, 22:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

Ok if the shed has an 'adjustable' roof though, Mols?

And a 2.5t mini digger.

Downhilldai · 06 November 2011, 22:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mollers

And a 2.5t mini digger.

Oh yeah, for the 'adjustable' floor too.

diver 1 · 06 November 2011, 22:24

Cheers Downhilldai - that's helpfull. 8' 6" for a benchmark... any others?

Regarding the slope leading to the car port - the drive does slope quite a bit down to the car port, then levels abruptly as the car port starts, the way I see it is that the boat will be attached to the car reversing in and pulling out (plenty of swing area on driveway and road) As the trailer reverses down the driveway the rib will be at a steep angle meaning the A frame will be low (angled back) as it passes the doorway, then as the trailer wheels meet the flat car port floor the rib will 'level out' and the A frame will return to vertical (or whatever angle it is manufactured to) . The same should be applicable as I tow the rib back out...

Does that make sense to anyone else or is it just my wishful thinking?!

BogMonster · 07 November 2011, 07:02

I measured up mine for the new garage I am building so that I can fit it in when I need to and settled on a 2.8m high x 3.0m wide door, IIRC the top of the wee AIS aerial was about 2.65m sitting coupled to the Ranger on flat tarmac, and I worked on the basis of replacing the VHF aerial with a folding one as it was cheaper to change the aerial than build the garage a metre higher!! The beam is about 2.6m.

As above though it depends on the angle of approach of the driveway relative to the floor, the angle of the trailer (jack it up on the jockey wheel and the A frame will drop) and also whether there is a step/ramp up as you go in the doorway - if there is then it might help as the A frame will be inside the door aperture before the wheels hit the ramp, but in any garage designed for a car I guess this will be minimal.

If you are really stuck the other thing you can do is get a little set of dolly wheels for the trailer (smallest you can find with the same stud pattern) and fit these which will bring down both the overall height and make the boat sit down more at the stern. It's a fiddle to change them so not suitable for every time but may be suitable for off season storage and it is a common way to get a big 4x4 into a little garage for a major project!

diver 1 · 07 November 2011, 10:07

OK all sounds good.. Humber emailled me back saying that a 6m Humber on a trailer would be typically 2.4m from ground to top of A frame when sat on a trailer. They suggested that 2.5m headroom without any further accesssories mounted on the A frame should be a safe bet, at 2.7m already I should be fine.. :-)

Second question - the roof is currently clear corrugated polycarbonate sheeting - great because it lets in light, but there are broken panels I will have to replace. Is the sunlight coming through the roof panels going to degrade the hypalon tubes? Would I be better felting the roof instead?

BogMonster · 07 November 2011, 11:22

Yes it will. Anything that lets light through is going to allow that so you'd either need a solid roof, or a cover to go over the boat.

diver 1 · 09 November 2011, 22:59

Thanks everyone. In summary it would seem that a 2.7m high garage door is fine so no need to increase that and that polycarbonate roof panels aren't going to filter out harmful UV rays or whatever ti is in sunlight that destroys hypalon so a felt roof or similar is the way forward.

Thanks for everyone's advice

captnjack · 09 November 2011, 23:30

Correction: polycarbonate blocks nearly 100% of the UV portion of the spectrum. That's why its used in sunglasses and such. It will often yellow with age and UV exposure so its not the best material for roofs in general. Although its nice that it lets in visible light.

Hypalon is fairly resistant to UV compared to PVC, and polycarbonate blocks the vast majority of UV anyway. So if the naturally lighted garage is otherwise working for you, I would just replace the cracked panels.

Pikey Dave · 10 November 2011, 09:27

Is your carport going to have a flat or pitched roof? Assuming it's going to have a fall on it, either side to side or front to back, the highest part of the carport might not correspond to the highest bit of your "A" frame. To allow a fall on the roof, might mean making the roof around a foot higher than the boat. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but I know what I mean

I went through the same exercise meself about 3 years ago & the roof ended up nearly as high as the house. Wife wasn't over the moon

but she's got used to it

9D280 · 10 November 2011, 09:57

I also have a steep attack angle to my garage, and have marked both the jockey wheel outer against the clamp and counted the number of turns of the handle - too high & the back of the trailer clips the ground, to low & the ARW gets "met" by the door.At the worst point I have literally 0.5" clearance. Both antenna are on swivel clamps. I can't reverse all the way in - my hitch is 2" too high off the ground!

I;s low on the prority list but replaceent with a folding frame will make that first 10yds of the trip soooooo uch easier!

BogMonster · 11 November 2011, 09:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by captnjack

Correction: polycarbonate blocks nearly 100% of the UV portion of the spectrum. That's why its used in sunglasses and such. It will often yellow with age and UV exposure so its not the best material for roofs in general. Although its nice that it lets in visible light.

Hypalon is fairly resistant to UV compared to PVC, and polycarbonate blocks the vast majority of UV anyway. So if the naturally lighted garage is otherwise working for you, I would just replace the cracked panels.

Are you sure? My father's conservatory roof is twinwall polycarbonate and he certainly manages to top up his tan ok which must involve UV