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Jack stands

4K views 19 replies 9 participants last post by  sailingdog 
#1 ·
I need to support my soon to be new boat on a flatbed trailer for a short move to my house (1/2 mile) The boat will stay on the flatbed until ready to go in the water using a travellift type crane.

I have no experience with this.

Can someone make a recommendation on how to support the boat with jack stands and also, where would I get these stands from?
The boat has a full keel and weighs 20 000 lbs
 
#2 ·
GBURTON,

For jackstands, check places like Defender Marine, Hamilton Marine, or Jamestown Distributors.

You indicate you have no experience with moving large boats by trailer. It would be a good idea to either seek professional help or at a minimum get someone involved who does have some experience. I am frankly a bit leery of your idea to set the boat on jackstands on a flatbed. Take a look at the typical hydraulic trailer used for moving boats of this size and you will understand what I mean.

Also, check with your insurance company. Your method of moving the boat may not be covered by the policy....
 
#4 ·
Agreed..

A proper solid cradle on a good flatbed might be acceptable, but a flat bed has too much flex (esp under a 20,000 lb load) for jack stands to be reliable for the transport phase for sure.
 
#5 ·
You really need a solid cradle for a 10 ton boat being moved on a flatbed. I can't think of a flatbed that is made rigidly enough to keep the boat stands in place properly.
 
#7 ·
Cradle. Get one. Then guy the cradle with tensioned cable and/or industrial strength webbing to the trailer. This is a pro job and they earn their money by avoiding the 101 ways this can go wrong (like your boat breaking into two pieces that land on two SUVs, one filled with nuns, the other with orphans.

Want to see how idiots can pooch a trailer job? Ask me. The legal crap surrounding this clusterscrew started in May and is only now concluding to my satisfaction.

 
#8 ·
Cradle. Get one. Then guy the cradle with tensioned cable and/or industrial strength webbing to the trailer. This is a pro job and they earn their money by avoiding the 101 ways this can go wrong (like your boat breaking into two pieces that land on two SUVs, one filled with nuns, the other with orphans.

Want to see how idiots can pooch a trailer job? Ask me. The legal crap surrounding this clusterscrew started in May and is only now concluding to my satisfaction.
Impressive!! :eek: How did they get out of that one? A crane job I suppose??

What are the fenders for? To fend off passing trees?? ;) :D

Now I know where the saying "may the road never rise to meet you" came from.. From the camera angle it looks like it just bloody well might! :D

--Cameron
 
#10 ·
Valiente actually posted the series of photos from that particular event a while back. It was very impressive... and shows a lot about the stability of his fat steel beastie...It was probably a very good thing that the cradle and boat were both steel-I don't think a wooden cradle or fiberglass boat would have done very well in that situation.
 
#11 ·
GBurton,

Although a cradle would be preferable, you don't necessarily need one. My best advice would be to hire a boat hauler with a hydraulic trailer. They will slide the trailer in under the boat, pick it up, then pull it over to your place and set it on your jackstands.

You probably want MINIMUM three jackstands on each side of the boat, plus one each at the bow and stern. The stands on each side should be connected under the boat via chain to the stand opposite. The keel should be resting on heavy blocks. If you plan to put the boat in your yard or on asphalt, rather than on a concrete pad, you should put a large square of thick plywood under the base of each jackstand and the keel blocks to spread the weight and prevent them from settling. Make sure the site you choose is not soggy and/or prone to squishiness.

Assuming it's ballasted, the Westsail 32 is one serious chunk of boat. Be careful and get some help with this move.
 
#12 ·
John-

You might want to re-read the OP. He's planning on storing the boat on the trailer for the winter. Renting a hydraulic trailer for that span of time would be far more expensive than getting a decent cradle. :D I believe, from his original post, that he already has the flatbed trailer and owns it or otherwise has extended access to it.

GBurton,

Although a cradle would be preferable, you don't necessarily need one. My best advice would be to hire a boat hauler with a hydraulic trailer. They will slide the trailer in under the boat, pick it up, then pull it over to your place and set it on your jackstands.

You probably want MINIMUM three jackstands on each side of the boat, plus one each at the bow and stern. The stands on each side should be connected under the boat via chain to the stand opposite. The keel should be resting on heavy blocks. If you plan to put the boat in your yard or on asphalt, rather than on a concrete pad, you should put a large square of thick plywood under the base of each jackstand and the keel blocks to spread the weight and prevent them from settling. Make sure the site you choose is not soggy and/or prone to squishiness.

Assuming it's ballasted, the Westsail 32 is one serious chunk of boat. Be careful and get some help with this move.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I'm with John on this one - did the same thing for 9 years each winter with my last boat. Buy the stands and then hire a pro with a hydraulic rig to assume the high risk responsibilities of hauling. It cost me (at the most) about 200. ea. way to haul a 31 foot boat less than 5 miles.
 
#14 ·
SailingDog,

The hydraulic trailer is only for moving the boat. After the move is completed, the boat would then be lowered on jackstands at his house. The trailer would leave for its next job after setting the boat on the stands. This is pretty standard off-season boat transport: Hydraulic trailer grabs boat at marina, hauls it to customer's home, sets it on jackstands for the winter, moves on to next job; Hydraulic trailer returns in the spring, grabs customer's boat, transports it back to the marina for launch. It's really no big deal and saves the time and expense of having a cradle built.
 
#16 · (Edited)
John-

From the OP.
I need to support my soon to be new boat on a flatbed trailer for a short move to my house (1/2 mile) The boat will stay on the flatbed until ready to go in the water using a travellift type crane.
While I agree using a hydraulic lift trailer and then blocking the keel and using jackstands is the typical way to go, he might need the boat on a flatbed trailer for a reason... might need to move it during the winter or some other reason. If he already has the flatbed trailer, the expense of a cradle probably makes more sense than hiring a hydraulic trailer and renting/buying boat stands. The cost of buying the seven or so boat stands he'd need is probably more than building a custom cradle in my experience.
 
#18 ·
SailingDog,

My previous post was in response to your question about the cost of storing the boat on the hydraulic trailer.

But, no, I did not miss the reference to the flatbed in the OP. Rather, in all the posts I've made to this thread I've been actively discouraging him from employing it, hence my advice. Unless he has other storage and transport requirements not described in the OP, I'll stand by my suggestion to have the boat moved professionally and stored on jackstands. But if he MUST for some reason use the flatbed then clearly this advice won't be of much help to him. If that is the case, then he should take the following into consideration:

1) Storing the boat on the flatbed, if in fact it is designed for that kind of load, is only going to make accessing the boat much more difficult because the boat will be still higher off the ground.

2) With or without a cradle, he would have to jack the trailer on blocks because it would be unwise to trust that much weight to the tires for a number of months.

3) Storing the cradle when not in use will need to be considered. They are heavy and bulky. If left at a marina normally storage fees will be charged. (Jackstands, on the other hand, nest somewhat and can be stored relatively compactly.)
 
#20 ·
JRP-

You're obviously confused. I never said anything about storing the boat on the hydraulic trailer. I did mention that hiring the trailer and buying/renting the boat stands might be more expensive than buying the cradle and trailer. :rolleyes:

However, I do agree with the three points you made about getting access to the boat, blocking the trailer and storing the cradle.

However, given the OP's last post, I don't think storing the trailer and cradle is going to be a problem.
SailingDog,

My previous post was in response to your question about the cost of storing the boat on the hydraulic trailer.

But, no, I did not miss the reference to the flatbed in the OP. Rather, in all the posts I've made to this thread I've been actively discouraging him from employing it, hence my advice. Unless he has other storage and transport requirements not described in the OP, I'll stand by my suggestion to have the boat moved professionally and stored on jackstands. But if he MUST for some reason use the flatbed then clearly this advice won't be of much help to him. If that is the case, then he should take the following into consideration:

1) Storing the boat on the flatbed, if in fact it is designed for that kind of load, is only going to make accessing the boat much more difficult because the boat will be still higher off the ground.

2) With or without a cradle, he would have to jack the trailer on blocks because it would be unwise to trust that much weight to the tires for a number of months.

3) Storing the cradle when not in use will need to be considered. They are heavy and bulky. If left at a marina normally storage fees will be charged. (Jackstands, on the other hand, nest somewhat and can be stored relatively compactly.)
 
#19 ·
Guys - where we live it would be very expensive to hire a hydraulic trailer to make the move. Small town 400 miles from the nearest city.

I can buy a flatbed for $1000 and simply build a cradle and leave the boat on the flatbed, tractors are plentifull in the area (logging)
 
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