Home Built Trailer (sort of) for T.I.

I bought a utility trailer off of the Internet from Overstock.com. At the time shipping was free. Te trailer cost about $211. To adapt it to the T.I., I created a bed made up of 5: 2 X 4s on which I would bolt on two cradles. The cradles would be made from 3: 2 X 6s X 48-inch b oards bolted together. I attached the cradles using common L-shaped braces. I used a Jig saw to create the shape of the cradles currently being sold for the T.I. After cutting these out, I spray painted everything black and stapled on indoor/outdoor carpet where the carpet touches the Hull and the Amas. Materials cost me about $110 in addition to the trailer.

I've uploaded for viewing 3 photos that can be seen by following the link below. That is not me in the photos. That is a buddy who helps me with projects like this. The toughest thing was drilling through the 3/16-inch thick metal tubing to extend the trailer's length. I also extended the tongue to get more appropriate tongue weight. The cradles are 67 inches from each other. The last photo is the finished product.

See the photos at:
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=03d47852 ... 11BC%21405

I am very, very pleased with the results. The boat sits very solidly in the cradles and I gained the tongue weight I needed. There were probably 20 person-hours on the project. I'm sure someone with better skills could have done it in half the time. Comments/questions welcomed.

Regards,

John

Looks nice. I like that you got some tongue weight by extending the bar, my design is so tongue light (probably about 20 lb) it rattles too much on rough roads. I bought a hitch clamp that helped a lot.

Tell us how you launch and load it from the trailer. I had to put an extra support on my design to eliminate some stress when loading from the water. I don't have a winch, just wade in about knee deep and pull her onto the bed. Mine doesn't sit low enough to allow a "dry" loading, needs to be lifted slightly unless I back in farther than I want.

_________________
It's a good Life, Let's sail!

iHop

Dune TI - 6/4/2011
Camas, WA