Thinking about buying a yard trailer for my 500da

Steve500dancer

Steve500dancer

Member
Jul 13, 2009
868
Franklin Tennessee (Nashville area)
Boat Info
1996 500 sundancer
2001 340 sundancer sold
2001 270 Rinker sold
1996 240 sundancer sold
Engines
Twin 6v92 Detroit deisels
After getting pricing to pull my boat out of the lake and the $1,000.00 a day fee everyone wants to charge me, I think I may be better off buying a yard trailer to pull it out of the water myself. Our lake does not have a travel lift or any other way to put in or pull out a boat.

I do have access to a semi and somewhere to store the trailer for free all year. I would think that I would be way ahead of the game finding a yard trailer. It doesn't have to have lights or brakes or anything that makes it over the road worthy. We have a large parking lot as well as a boat storage area that I can use to do any work on the boat that will need to be done. If I buy a trailer for under $5,000.00 it will pay for itself in less the 2 pulls.

I do have to make sure that the underwater exhaust will fit between or on the other side of the bunks and that the v-drive shafts and props will work with the trailer. Now I just have to figure out how to get all the measurements.

If anyone has any advice or measurements that I will need in order to locate the right trailer, I would be very appreciative.

Steve
 
Hey Steve, how in Gods name do you launch and retrieve from your marina, via ramp only? If that is indeed the case, I think you are money well ahead by purchasing a trailer! I would want to be able to get that vessel out of the water in a hurry if necessary, and it sounds like you don't have access to a timely operator.

I will mention this as a cheap alternative based on your limited needs. I know a fellow who buys used single wide mobile homes (think 1960's-70's) and scraps them for the tin and wiring. What is left over is a bare frame with four or five axles. There is your 50 foot long trailer. All you need to do is fabricate bunks and make alterations to some of the rear crossmembers to facilitate the clearance of underwater gear. I know this would be a laborious endeavor to do from scratch, but I know it's possible because I have seen them at various marinas used exactly as you described. You might even find someone selling a mobile home trailer frame that has already been converted. Might be worth a look! FYI, those bare mobile home frames sell around here for about $500, which is about the equivalent to their scrap iron price.
 
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Give CSR member markrinker a pm. He had a boat transport bis. I don't think he handled the big ones but he might have some suggestions, maybe a line on equipment suppliers w/used stuff/parts.
 
WOW!!! I can't stop picturing pulling up to the ramp with your trailer and boat with all the other weekend warriors. I think it is a great idea for your situation. I just can't help chuckling at that vision and the expressions on peoples faces.
 
I think it sounds like a good idea. Are you looking for a fifth wheel trailer or a pintle. If you went with a Fifth wheel, then any available Semi could be used - with a pintle - your tow vehicle would be limited.

Would be quite a bit of fabrication and steel required to convert a mobile home over, I think I would look around for an older trailer that is regularly used for moving boats. I would think the issue would be the spread of the axles on the rear, to let the keel slide through. Some amount of engineering to fit the stern of the boat with running gear on - I would tend towards one that already had that worked out.

That said, a friend of mine did something simliar for the 35' Sale Boat. Built his own that he could pull from the lake and park. His boat was light enough he could get it out of the water. For your size boat ( no idea what it weighs) I think I would want a semi tractor to back down the ramp with a boat on the trailer to launch.

You would want to be sure about the length of the ramp into the water at given lake levels, would hate to drop the rear axles of the trailer off the end of the ramp. It there was any settlement, would be tough to get out. Just my random thoughts.
 
are the ramps rated to handle the weight of your big boat, heavy trailer, and weight of a semi truck?....as mentioned before also check the ramp length against current water level....i doubt even a semi could pull out a trailer with the wheels dropped of the end of the ramp and carrying a boat the size of yours.....

we don't want to see you on 'youtube' for the wrong reasons....

cliff
 
Thanks guys. I have a ramp right near my slip that is not to steep and is very long. I recently pulled a 320 fully loaded using a buddies 50' house boat trailer. I managed to get it p the ramp with my hummer. I think the trailer weighed about 5-6 thousand pounds and the boat fully loaded with fuel and water was about 16-17 thousand pounds.

I can go either goose neck, pintle or 2"5/16 ball. He is set up on his tractor to pull anything.m

We wet launch there all the time with house boats and even my 500 was wet launched when I dropped it in last year.

I also have to have my diesel trucked in. 6 marinas on our lake and not one sells diesel anymore. We are filling her up in the next couple of weeks for the first time in a year. My buddy has a 550 gallon tank on the back of a trailer. I am going to pull the boat up to the holding dock and the trailer on the ramp and run 100' of 3/4" hose from his tank to my boat and fill her up at $3.29 a gallon.

I like to keep things exciting. It was either this or a house boat. I just can't bring myself to buy a house boat. We even have a few 20' x 100' house boats at our marina. It is just not for me.

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Steve
 
The picture of a 50' Sundancer going up a ramp on a trailer should definitely make the CSR calendar. Good luck!
 
I am not sure a standard mobile home trailer would work. You might be over that weight by 10K lbs. Average mobile home according to the internet is 25K your boat weighs 33.5K dry according to searay.
 
trailer on the link has hydraulic lifts - thats probably 1/3 to 1/2 of the cost right off the top. Would think you would need the lifts for your application.
 
Yes we sure did back it straight down the ramp and pulled it straight out. We had to put props on it. I didn't even have it locked in 4 wheel low. She didn't even spin a tire on the wet ramp. I did however back down the ramp far enough to get a few inches of water in the interior. I had to float the boat straight up so the props didn't hit the cross rails on the trailer. I will say a pretty good crowd gathered to watch the event unfold. Many were extremely surprised that the ole Hummer didn't even struggle with all the weight behind it.


Steve
 
Question for you. The 320 has an eye hook that allows you to pull the boat up onto the trailer and secure it. I doubt there is an eye hook your little monster. :grin: How are you planning on getting the boat up on the trailer? Will you be able to get the trailer far enough into the water to allow you float your boat all the way up? I think a yard trailer would work if you have a travel lift dropping the boat on to it, but to come up with a design that allows you to pull your boat up onto it is going to be a challenge.
 
Steve,

I actually did the same thing with my 340.* Found a great quad I beam house trailer frame with three axels and reworked it to fit a boat.* I understand that your 50 is a different animal.* I was very lucky that I actually had full hull dimensions right in the owner’s manual.* Maybe you can get lucky too. (For once lol)* If it were me I would look for a used “Low Boy” semi trailer.* I would think you could find one and have it modified in your price range. *You wouldn’t need it to be fully road worthy so you could cut out the air suspension and brakes and make it all solid axels.* Just a thought and good luck with the project, video is definitely going to be a must when you get it finished.
 
I received these drawings from Sea Ray today. I think this should help. These are the bunk drawings they used in the factory for building the boats. They also sent these to the haulers for setting the bunks for delivery to the dealers.
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Steve
 
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