Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
Trailer Drawings
Just wanted to share the trailer drawings I mentioned a while back. Might be useful to someone who is looking to build one from scratch. The drawings are not complete as there is no tongue, lights, or axle/wheels. But, the most difficult part of building a trailer is making decisions on overall size, etc.
We have also made some separate detail drawings of the flip-down trailer stand we are showing attached in the drawings.
The measurements for this drawings came directly from my drift boat trailer, which is a manufactured trailer, but I do not know the maker. Please shoot any questions you might have as it would be fun to work through them with my students.
More to follow as we detail out the drawings.
First is a rendering, should show on your screen. Then, two drawings (one with dimensions in .pdf form)
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mike Thomas on
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I used your basic design and then adapted it for the boat I built. I also used a few changes that Dorf did for his trailer build also. I used all 2x3x1/8" tubing except for the 3x3 tongue. If I were to build another one, I think I would use 2x4" steel tubing across the rear to allow the oval light to be mounted into that tubing cleanly. I had to add some 1/2" strips for the oval light rubber bezels. Honestly the 1/8" wall tubing is way over kill and adds alot of weight.
I also narrowed my trailer for my smaller boat, which worked out great for the boat, but didnt allow enough room for the roller and the lights I wanted, so my roller is a little narrow.
One thing to think about before you build is how you are gonna run your wires. What I did was to cut a hole in the frt tongue tube on one side before I welded it together, this allowed me to run a fish tape from the frt to the rear for light wires. This saved alot of time from having to drill holes to conceal the wiring.
My boat has less rocker than the western boats so my winch stand is different, but I should have made it a inch or so higher. It still works really good and hold the boat solid while towing.
For my first ever trailer build, I`m really happy how it turned out. Tows like a dream with the 13" tires, and it weighed in at 340 lbs finished. Heres a few pics
I do have a short wire exposed in each fender step for marker lights, but thats not so bad.
These little side guide brackets worked out really good, and I might add another set of them further back on the trailer as trying to load the boat in a strong current can be a challenge. I opted to carpet the roller on the rear. They make a sweet bracket for the safety chains that I went with, and the LED lights are awesome
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Permalink Reply by Bennett Yarbrough on
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So are all of you just drilling a pilot into the crossmember then running a self tapping screw through the bunk? I'll be mounting bunks when I pick up my trailer so I'm curious which is the most used method.
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Permalink Reply by Phillip Westendorf on
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Yup, works for me, I think I used four screws equally spaced over the length of the bunk
Dorf
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Sounds good. I'm liking how simple this trailer will be.
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I drilled and tapped and just used 3-1/4-20 stainless screwhead bolts on each bunk
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here's what I ended up with
The guy didnt want to make a shorter axle so had to patch the area between the frame and the fender and he took a shot at a roller... But for the price I love it
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Looks pretty decent. Does that roller turn? One thing you should have had him do was put a couple upright guides on the back, that is huge if your trying to load the boat where theres current in the river wanting to push the boat sideways. Once you get the boat inside the guides it will straighten out and pull on easy.
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the roller is a sleeve of tubing over what looks like two 3/4 inch pegs welded between the lights. It kinda rolls but not freely in any way. I told him not to mess with a roller at all as I was going to have to have the boat on the trailer to determine the placement. I'll probably add vertical posts when I do the roller. I've got a buddy who can weld and its just little stuff. I'll most likely end up grinding the fender skirts off, getting a new axle, and making it per the plans. But this guy definitely lost money for what I paid for the trailer so it doesn't bother me too bad
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The fender areas look good. I wouldnt bother with a new axle, grease the bearings. Looks good. Does the boat fit between the side frames?
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100 bucks for a new axle and some time cutting off the old skirts and she'll fit in my workshop. Well worth it to me
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The way it works out is, the length of the axle is determined by the frame width. It leaves about 1 1/2"-2" between the fenders and the frame, depending on how you cnter the fenders over the tires. I cant tell you why, the guys that built my axle knew what they were doing. They also suggested mounting the fenders so that a 1/2" of the tire sidewall sticks out past the fender. (not the tread) That way if you get too tight to something the sidewall hits it and not the fender. That would be worth it if its a matter of getting it in or not
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Just noticed this last night.
I took these pdfs and a few pictures of drift boats on trailers to a trailer builder in North Alabama, knowing he's got no clue what a drift boat is. Anyway, gave me a great price and built a great trailer. But, since he realized he'd priced it too cheap and was losing money on this(my assumption of what happened) he put his standard axle in which added about a foot of width. Turns out it helped me out way more than I could imagine
I think the boat would have maybe an 1/2 inch clearance on either side if built to spec. This is a 54 inch bottom. I'd bet a 52 would be great. Anyway thought I'd post this up for people in the future.
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