April 2002 - montgomery_boats - mailman.xmission.com

Re: M_Boats: Trailer tongue extensions
by Conbert H Benneck 03 Apr '02

03 Apr '02

Hi Deena & Harvey I launched my Bolger MICRO and the ComPac16 using an old anchor rode as a trailer tongue extension: 10 feet; 15 feet; whatever was needed. The problems are: Lack of directional guidance when launching. My Admiarable would push and pull the trailer tongue to get things lined up properly. It takes longer: You back down. Put blocks under the trailer wheels. Undo the hitch. Pull forward. Get rope out of car trunk. Tie rope to trailer tongue and to car hitch. Take up slack. Remove blocks in back of trailer wheels. Start launching. Retrieving were the same set of problems only in reverse. It works; the rope trailer tongue extension is highly variable; but you soon discover that about 8 feet is all you need to keep the back of the car out of the water. So, I had a trailer tongue extension built by my welding shop for the M15. It consists of a 2" x 2" tube x 8' long. The front end has a normal receiver welded to it. On the bottom side of the trailer, under the tongue, the welder added one "U" strap The aft end of the trailer tongue extension slides into this "U", and is then locked in place by a trailer ball that is welded to the top side of the extension. Now you just hook up the end of the extension to the ball hitch on the car, and you are ready to manoeuvre your boat down the ramp under perfect control. It's a worthwhile addition to your trailer. Makes launching and retrieving much simpler; and keeps the car dry! When not in use, the extension sits on the trailer frame. The front end is held in place with a "U" bolt and the aft end with a bungee cord. It rides nicely that way. Connie Connie ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.

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Re: M_Boats: Not Another Trailer Question
by Conbert H Benneck 03 Apr '02

03 Apr '02

Steve, My M15's weight is carried by the bunk boards, not the keel rollers. With the M15 on the Trailrite trailer, I can see daylight between the keel and the keel rollers. With the weight of the M15 on the bunk boards, they will be bent to assume the shape of the hull (goodness) since that distributes the load over a greater area. Connie M15 #400 ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.

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Re: M_Boats: Not Another Trailer Question
by Conbert H Benneck 03 Apr '02

03 Apr '02

Steve, Yes the rollers do do a job on launching and retrieving the boat. Then the boat is starting to float while the trailer is at an angle underwater. At that point the keel does roll on the rollers. I have noticed that the keel is on both the rollers, when retrieving, but that is before winching the bow up to the bow-stop. At that point, the full weight of the boat is on the bunk boards. Having the weight of the boat on the keel itself should not be a problem. My 29' keel sailboat was hauled hundreds of miles in Europe, up and down Autobahns, and over two lane blacktop alpine mountain pass roads, with all the weight sitting on the keel. The other hull supports just kept the boat in the upright position, and prevented nose-diving of the boat if the truck driver had to brake suddenly. Never had any problems or saw any damage from this form of transportation. Connie ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.

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Re: M_Boats: Not Another Trailer Question
by Conbert H Benneck 03 Apr '02

03 Apr '02

Hey Mike, A very good point! Thanks for the excellent thought. Connie ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.

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Re: M_Boats: Not Another Trailer Question
by stevemc35＠attbi.com 03 Apr '02

03 Apr '02

Connie -- It does make sense to me that the bunkboards should be taking the weight -- it seems like it would be a strain on the hull around the keel if all the weight was taken by the keel while bouncing on the trailer. One thing is puzzling me a bit. I don't HAVE keel rollers on my trailer -- maybe I should. BUT, if there is daylight between the keel rollers and the keel... then are they giving you anything? Does the keel ever touch them? -- Steve McClellan 1981 M15 #152 stevemc35(a)attbi.com > Steve, > > My M15's weight is carried by the bunk boards, not the keel rollers. > > With the M15 on the Trailrite trailer, I can see daylight between the > keel and the keel rollers. > > With the weight of the M15 on the bunk boards, they will be bent to > assume the shape of the hull (goodness) since that distributes the load > over a greater area. > > Connie > M15 #400 > > ________________________________________________________________ > GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! > Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! > Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: > http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. > > _______________________________________________ > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats

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Re: M_Boats: keel guides
by Conbert H Benneck 03 Apr '02

03 Apr '02

Hi Bob, It sound to me as if you don't have enough clearance between the bottom of the boat and the top of the PVC pipe guides, .....or at the sides of the keel. When I built my keel guide I have it fastened to the axle, but allowed enough clearance at the top of the guide so that even going over bumps and deflecting the springs, the top of the guides won't hit the hull. Check yours, that may be your problem. Connie ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.

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Re: M_Boats: Not Another Trailer Question
by daideo＠webtv.net 03 Apr '02

03 Apr '02

Steve, the keel should be resting on the [bottom] board. The boats weight is to be on that. The boards, or what ever, along side keep it balanced, if you will. No weight should be held by those side boards. Kinda just snug i guess. `T` " Do infants enjoy infancy, as much as adults enjoy adultery"? `Carlin`

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Not Another Trailer Question
by stevemc35＠attbi.com 03 Apr '02

03 Apr '02

OK, as long as we are all thinking about trailers, and if you are not sick of thinking about them yet, I have one more question for you more experienced M15ers. QUESTION: When the boat (M15) is on the trailer (I have never yet had mine OFF the trailer) is the keel supposed to be actually RESTING on (or touching) the bottom bed of the trailer, or should it be slightly suspended "in the air," the boat being held up strictly by the bunk boards? (My keel is resting directly on (or at least touching) a kind of lengthwise board, but it seems like that might make it harder to get the boat on and off the trailer. My bunk boards are definitely old and bent -- perhaps they need to be replaced?) -- Steve McClellan 1981 M15 #152 stevemc35(a)attbi.com

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Re: M_Boats: keel guides
by Randy Watkins 03 Apr '02

03 Apr '02

Bob, I've used a good quality outdoor carpet, glued it around the pvc , pipe or other areas I don't want to risk a scratch and it works well. I use clear all weather epoxy glue which seems to hold up. The small electric cable tyes also help hold carpet on to round objects while the glue sets. >>> BobandJudy(a)attbi.com 04/02/02 09:28PM >>> I have the W/M PVC tube boat guides on my trailer and they do a great job while getting my M15 out of the water. The problem is that they rubbed against the boat while trailering and wore off all the gel coat. I suspect even the keel guides will rub while trailering and take some gel coat. I 'solved' the problem by applying epoxy to the worn areas but the best solution would seem to be easily removable guides. Has anyone found a better solution? Bob M15 #208 _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats

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There was a time when there were no keel guides...
by Doug King 02 Apr '02

02 Apr '02

...like yesterday. Today, by popular demand, there are plans for THREE different do-it-yourself keel guide schemes, thanks to Don Haas, Hank Kwant, and Ken Abrahams. Pictures and descriptions accompany them (the plans--not Don, Hank, and Ken, although I'm just guessing.) Oddly, these are all for 15's, but I don't see why they wouldn't work on any size M-trailer. Good, practical projects. Look under "How-To" on the MSOG. Doug ------------------------------------------ Doug King M-17 #404 "Vixen" Montgomery Sailboats Owners Group Web site: http://msog.org Email: mailto:msog@msog.org

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