Boat Dolly Plans Wanted

Frankenotter wrote: I'm starting to gather plans in my head for the construction of a set of boat dollies. My trailer continues to be a piece of $&@?€££|>>|£¥ so I'd like to have something I can use for storage (has to roll on castors) and also gel work on the hull. I have seen many pictures here of boats on dollies and I think a lot of people could benefit by sharing ideas. When I build a set, I promise to do a tutorial (mostly of my mistakes) to post here. In the meantime, whatcha got? Mars, I know I've seen some nice sets under your (my) promo. Chris

Better check with Chris!!!

storm34 wrote:    This big girl broke my go-to dolly which doesn't surprise me after seeing how much wet foam came out!

   

I had to make this from some scrap lumber to get my Waverunner in the basement for the winter. It won the Fred and Wilma award for design excellence. You are free to copy the design.

We've built two for different purposes. The first was built by my dad to store his Chris Craft project. We had a local shop weld some brackets, bolted them to a few 2x12x12's with a 2x6 top and cheap home depot carpet. He used three sets of casters so you can imagine how much of PITA it was to move around the shop. Takes two guys and lots of caster kicking to get it to move.

It did a great job of holding the boat in place for a few years and has since been put back into commission with the Riviera restoration after removing the center casters which helped but it's still a two person job to move. Overall, it's very stout and does a really nice job for storing a boat you don't need to move often.



The second was built to keep a boat at our boat club. This design was robbed from other club members and worked really well for anything up to a TSC hull. Larger casters really help with rough concrete and allow me to move the boat by myself.   I copied the bunk dimensions from a #3 trailer, used big casters, some old lumber and stage carpet from the shop.



Tried to use this one for the Riviera but the bottom/cross support split in half. I'll rebuild these someday with two 2x8's glued together and try to mount the casters directly under the vertical supports. Overall, much better design for moving the boat on a frequent basis. Only draw back is as mentioned above, limited access to the hull and running gear. Not a problem in my application as we have the lift outside the club.

Made from old machinery bits and scrap. Not very pretty and is treated badly :)

Pete it is somewhat over engineered but would need electric brakes to meet Australian ADR trailer requirements

Is anyone in Maine that could pick those CL dollies up for me?

Even better question, is anyone in Maine heading to the Midwest with room for boat dollies.

Chris I like your design. Everything looks good except the gel repair is right in the middle (underside) of the hull. Having the bunks run the length of the boat won't work. I might have to modify them into a dual set.

Are these the ones your thinking of ? Even a wood butcher like me could make them. I'd build them up real high so I could stand up and work on it you never know who will take pictures----