Loading And unloading TI on trailer

I have the Trailex single TI with cradles ( do not have dolly hanger). I am a strong guy but loading and unloading TI on trailer is very hard. When I unload the stern drives into the ground and roughs up the boat. Plus I can’t put on a motor or that will drive into the ground. Loading is even more difficult. Getting the boat on the cradles is very heavy and hard. I must be doing something wrong. At this point cost doesn’t matter, I need to solve this. Any suggestions?

Are you referring to loading/unloading the TI at a boat loading dock or in a dry situation?

I don't know what you could be doing wrong, but you shouldn't have that much difficulty.

I'm not a particularly strong or tall person (180cm), but I can fairly easily lift the front of the TI up to the roof rack on my Defender (which is above head height), then lift the rear up and slide it up. This is with the TI akas/amas removed, and on the standard Hobie plug-in cart in the centre position.

Unloading is even easier, but I put an old life jacket on the ground where the rear gets lowered to, to provide protection for the tail/rudder.

It is a dry situation.

Ah, Ok, now it makes sense. Yea, the TI is not that light, and maneuvering it dry onto the trailer from the ground would be a hassle. So I have to ask, why don't you just keep it on the trailer and load/unload only at the boat ramp? I'm sure you have a good reason, I was just curious.

I have rolled my TI over pool noodles on the ground. You just keep moving them to the front as it rolls along. Just an idea if you don't have a cart and cant lift it off the ground.

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The boat ramp near me is terrible. Very narrow. Rock wall sides. Rough coastal waters can quickly lash me against rocks. I might look for another ramp. Where I really like to put in does not allow trailer boat launching. However, I tried a few things that work.

Unloading
Put beach dolly 6 feet behind trailer
Pull stern off trailer and rest stern (at back seat) on dolly
Push the bow off
Front handle is still carrying most of the weight so I’m going to use a smaller set of beach wheels for the bow

Loading should work well using the same method in reverse.


Thoughts?

1. The key is to have a rear roller on the trailer. Pending where your rear cradle is set (probably not all the way back), you can call Trailex and purchase an additional crossbar with all hardware for around $100. Additionally, purchase a preassembled $45 (12-16") boat roller and mount it on the rear with (2) T-bolts.

This helped me tremendously! As long as I have the Bow on the roller, I walk to the rear and push/ rolls right up.

2nd thing would be to consider your tire rim size. Unless your traveling far on highways/cross state, think about downsizing to the 8" tires. They are more than capable to handle the load. The extra few inches lower to the ground make it a lot easier to load back.

3rd, similar to the above, you can flip the main middle section of the trailer under the axel frame and lower a few inches. Many have done this.

Extremely helpful feedback. Thank you!!!

Wet the carpet on the cradle

Trailex should make a tilting trailer for the TI. I had a "Little Dude" trailer for my small sailboat in the 70's that was hinged in the middle of the tongue allowing the rear of the trailer to be lowered to the water. A roller on the back end and a winch on the front of the trailer made it easy to slide the boat up to the front of the trailer. Somebody needs to make a tilting trailer similar to the "Little Dude" tilting trailer in the 70's!