Trailer for Pocketship

Welcome to PocketShip.net! This bulletin board is for builders of the Chesapeake Light Craft-John C. Harris "PocketShip" design, a 15-foot micro cruiser sailboat built from a kit or plans.

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Trailer for Pocketship

Postby Michael Bragg on Fri Mar 20, 2009 11:05 pm

It's early to be looking for a trailer since I am just getting ready to start building, but any suggestions for getting an appropriate trailer? I am not up for building my own and not much available here in Arizona for sailboat trailers so I expect to have to travel to get one. Any sources would be appreciated.
Michael
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Re: Trailer for Pocketship

Postby decurtis on Sat Mar 21, 2009 1:22 pm

I am also looking for a suitable trailer and got the following quote from Trailex who made the trailer for the first Pocketship.
The break down on the trailer is as follows:

Trailer TX-916 $1881.00
12” tires with larger fenders 5-136A2 $92.00
12” longer tongue TX-201 $21.00
25’ wiring harness 4-307 $4.00
Rack jack 750# lift capacity 4-517 $77.00
Spare tire carrier 5-215 $48.00 Optional
480x12 spare 5-136SGC $82.00 Optional

Total for trailer and parts $2205.00

Common carrier to my address without lift gate $527.00
Common carrier to my address with lift gate $644.00

The list above is everything that is on the Chesapeake Light Craft trailer.

The shipping is to Canada (yours should be quite a bit less) and with the exchange rate would cost me more than $3600 Canadian. This is considerably more than I was planning to spend so I am looking for something local that is more reasonable. The quoted trailer is aluminum to keep the weight down but my towing vehicle pulls 3500 pounds so I am going to look for something cheaper in a galvanized trailer. I have found some standard bunk trailers online at http://www.sailcda.com/Boat_Trailers/sa ... ailers.htm that are much more reasonable. The TFY 16 1200 MONOHULL TRAILER for $825.00 looks suitable but you would have to attach a keel trough as shown in the Pocketship manual. I am hoping I can find something more in this price range locally.

Good luck in your trailer search,

Dave,
http://pocketshipadventure.blogspot.com/
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Re: Trailer for Pocketship

Postby Donm1753 on Sun Mar 22, 2009 6:22 pm

Speaking of trailers, I saw somewhere that the trailer as originally designed was a drop axle trailer, but the final version had a straight axle. John, can you comment on why the design was changed?
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Re: Trailer for Pocketship

Postby John C. Harris on Sun Mar 22, 2009 8:15 pm

>>>>>Speaking of trailers, I saw somewhere that the trailer as originally designed was a drop axle trailer, but the final version had a straight axle. John, can you comment on why the design was changed?>>>>>

I couldn't find one. The Trailex trailer was the lowest to the ground that I could turn up. On the other hand, I've gotten in and out of some truly horrible launch ramps so far, including some hatefully shallow beaches. Even then I only had to immerse the Honda's wheels as far as the rims.

The Trailex trailer was costly, but I didn't have any choice given the Honda Element's 1500-pound towing capacity. Galvanized trailers are much less expensive if your vehicle can manage it.

Image
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Re: Trailer for Pocketship

Postby Michael Bragg on Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:12 pm

Thanks for the reply. Like you I am looking for a less expensive trailer. My truck is a Toyota Tundra so weight is not a real issue for an 850 pound boat. Price is an issue. I have not seen much locally as I live in a desert but I'll keep looking and appreciate any help you can give.
Thanks again,
Michael
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Re: Trailer for Pocketship

Postby gaffrignut on Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:48 pm

Since we're talking about a boat around 850 pounds plus, consider a customized motorcycle trailer type if you have any such businesses nearby. My motorcycle trailer rated for 1000 pounds was custom made using a special low slung axle which could also possibly be a solution to the Pocketship garage storage height problem (with mast tabernacle) mentioned in another topic, as well as making it easier to float the boat on and off at launch ramps. Should I decide to build a Pocketship this is the type of trailer I'll have made by my knowledgeable trailer guys up the road who incidentally also make custom boat trailers!
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Re: Trailer for Pocketship

Postby carbonsink on Sun May 24, 2009 11:22 pm

Why not a regular, used, and cheap motorboat trailer modified to fit the Pocketship? I can envision a used trailer with some home made plywood parts bolted on to ensure that the boat is supported mostly at the keel and to raise up the side bunks to keep the boat level on the trailer.
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Re: Trailer for Pocketship

Postby chaertl on Thu Jun 24, 2010 10:20 pm

I'm still in the dreaming stage waiting to come into some money this winter but I'm planning on scrapping my 14' alumacraft and using it's shorelander trailer. The trailer is rated for 1200 lbs and appears to be the same width and height as the trailex.

Chris
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Re: Trailer for Pocketship

Postby decurtis on Sat Jun 26, 2010 10:18 am

Here are some photos of the EZ Loader trailer that I modified. It had a slight drop axle but still not enough for Pocketship to fit in a standard garage. I bought a portable garage with a tall door to store my Pocketship at the cottage. When it is assembled I will post pictures on my blog. The third photo shows the keel trough I made from pressure treated lumber. You can also see that I added taller brackets to raise the height of the bunks. There is also a roller attached at the rear of the keel trough. The cost of the trailer was approximately $1500. All my boat information is at the cottage so I will post the model number of the trailer at a later date.

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decurtis
 
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Re: Trailer for Pocketship

Postby decurtis on Thu Jul 22, 2010 2:03 pm

The trailer model I used is the EZLoader EZL80 15-16' rated for 2000 lbs. This is a bit of overkill for the 800 lb Pocketship but this was the model that best accommodated the length and width of Pocketship. As I mentioned previously this model also came with a bit of a drop axle.
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