Getting Boat off trailer w/o water?
 

I need to do some trailerwork, and am trying to find out how some of you have gotten your boat off your trailers without putting it in water. Actually saw a post of a guys boat on a auto lift, but only showed the back end. I want to swap out my axle since I have a bad spindle and possibly repaint the the whole trailer and re do bunks while I am at it. I figure I can probly do almost everything in a week or less, but to get a wet slip around here is going to cost around $250 just for a week. If anyone can give me some tips I would appreciate it and pics would deffinately help. I have an i/o btw so the rear end is not quite as flat as a true v drive boat.

Are there any lift rings on your boat?

Unfortunately no.

Level ground, good jack, a few short 4x4's, a second person, and about an hour

this worked well!

that right there is awesome

Go to your local inboard boat dealer, or marina, and have them lift the boat and hold it for you until you fix the trailer. Very likely to cost you a few dollars, but better to have it done correctly.

Alan, want to elaborate?

Basically,

1. jack up the stern, block up the two corners

2. Jack up the bow, block up the keel.

3. move the trailer a foot or so, until a cross member gets close to the blocks.

4. jack up the bow again, move the blocks to the other side of the cross members.

5. Repeat until the trailer is out.

That is how we did it at boat shows when we didn't have fork lifts of tractors.

What did u use for the wedge on the front supports? I am hoping I may be able to do this at my schools auto shop.

I'm guessing that Jason had a single axle trailer. You cant lift the boat off a tandem like that because the fenders are in the way. Steve, mine was the one you saw the back half of. If you have a tandem too, this is how I did it. What I did was first gather up a bunch of blocks, 2x4 and 4x4, some pieces of carpet, six jackstands and two heavy duty tow straps. The ones that are like 4 inches wide and have a 10,000lb load holding rating, overkill I know but you dont want to skimp here. Pull it inside the post lift and get it centered. Now lower the nose with a floor jack under the lowest part of the tounge. Dont use the trailer jack for this as it doesent go low enough. Once lowered, go to the back and use two stands and wood and carpet and raise the stands as far as you can underneath somewhere on the transom where they will be stable. Now go back and raise the floor jack until the rear of the boat comes off the bunks. Place a 2x4 covered with a rag in between the boat and bunk on each side. Go back to the front and raise until you can get the trailer jack to take over. What you should have now is a space between the bunks and the back of the hull. All you do now is cut a small "v" out of one piece of 4x4 that is like a foot long. Be carefull not to cut the "v" too deep, just enough to where it will stay where you want it to on the keel. Use the floor jack and the cut 4x4 to raise the boat from under the keel. You now should have a space between the bunks most of the way. Slide your tow straps through and wrap around the lift arms. Make sure the arms are locked and wrap several times and go back under if they are long enough making sure they are locked in place. Place towels/rags in between where the starps will touch edges or where ever you feel the need for padding. Now slowly raise the lift watching as you go. Once the boat is high enough, pull the trailer out and set up the other stands, two on one side and two on the other with wood and carpet and the two in the very back as well. Last, let the lift down just enough to where you have equal weight on the stands and the straps. When placing your straps and stands take into consideration weight distribution in the boat and support it correctly. Hope this helps.

Steve, i just locked the 2 front arms on the lift in place so that the arms lifted the boat on the 1" lip that goes up to front...The arms were not resting on any of the angled part of the hull at all... I am not sure If that the question that you were asking..

Yeah thats what I was wondering. It looked like that front arm had a wedge on it. Since mine is a run-about, i dont have the flat front so I may have to try something else on the front arm. Also need to find the right balance point.

Yes I do have a single axle trailer, so the left idea may work. I have to look at the lift again.