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  Lifting a boat off a trailer to paint the bottom

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Author Topic:   Lifting a boat off a trailer to paint the bottom
BillD posted 12-27-2002 09:41 AM ET (US)   Profile for BillD   Send Email to BillD  
It may be a little bit early for this question, but I have to think of something while I wait for the snow to melt.

I will need to put another coat of bottom paint on this spring and will need to raise the boat off the trailer to get access to the whole bottom. As you can imagine it is where the bunks contact the hull that I need to get to the most, all other areas are fairly accessible.

Do you use jack stands?

My boat is a 2000 18' Outrage. I estimate the weight as it sits on the trailer at 3,500 lbs., so you can not just lift it up like a 13'. It sits on a Shoreland'r Bunk trailer with keel rollers.

Thanks in advance for the advice.


I have a 2000 18' Outrage

Cpt Quint posted 12-27-2002 10:29 AM ET (US)     Profile for Cpt Quint  Send Email to Cpt Quint     
West Marine has hull stands that you jack underneath. I used them on a 26 foot sailboat to do what you are talking about. I have a pretty good relationship with them and they let me borrow them for a month. You can probably rent them somewhere. On a boat your size two good oak trees and belly staps may be an alternative.
Nedmack posted 12-27-2002 01:27 PM ET (US)     Profile for Nedmack  Send Email to Nedmack     
You could just lower one bunker at a time and paint underneath it. The weight of the hull should be completely supported by the keel rollers if the trailer is set up correctly. Put a rear tie down strap on one side, then lower the opposite side's bunker to expose the bare area. When the paint is dry raise the bunker back up and repeat for the otherside. As for the rollers you can just slide the boat back and forth to expose the bare areas. Good luck!
JBCornwell posted 12-27-2002 01:46 PM ET (US)     Profile for JBCornwell  Send Email to JBCornwell     
I have bottom painted one boat. I did not take her off the trailer.

I painted (brush) what I could get at, let the paint dry, moved the boat back about a foot and painted the rest.

Not a big project.

Red sky at night. . .
JB

andygere posted 12-27-2002 02:58 PM ET (US)     Profile for andygere  Send Email to andygere     
Lot's of discussion on this topic here in the Forum. Do a search and you'll find lots of detailed info. I took my Montauk off the trailer in my driveway to bottom paint and it was a piece of cake. I'm trying to decide if I'm brave enough to try it with the 22 OR.
where2 posted 01-03-2003 12:52 AM ET (US)     Profile for where2  Send Email to where2     
Jack stands for a car, can either work fine, like they do for alot of people, or they can drop the boat on you like my uncle had happen to him. For years prior to my uncle dropping the bow of a 21' on himself while attempting to raise it slightly while off the trailer using a jack, my dad has had a set of boat stands like the marinas use. After my uncle was recovered enough to leave the hospital, my dad took his stands over and did alot of the fiberglass repair work necessary after the boat fell off the auto jack, punching a hole in the hull.

End result: for what a normal person would pay for a trip to the hospital, you can outfit yourself with a nice set of stands that you, and all your boating buddies can share. By staying out of the hospital, you can enjoy more time boating. Alternatively, you may have good luck with automotive stands, and not need to buy boat stands. Personally, I can't even win coin tosses, where my odds are 50/50.

BillD posted 01-10-2003 03:28 PM ET (US)     Profile for BillD  Send Email to BillD     
Thanks for the advice. It sounds like I need to borrow or buy some stands.

One more dumb question. With the boat on the trailer how do I lift it to et the stands under it?

Maybe it is apparent when I am standing next to the boat with the stands, but I can not visualize it now.

TightPenny posted 01-11-2003 12:09 PM ET (US)     Profile for TightPenny  Send Email to TightPenny     
If your trailer has a crankdown front wheel you can use it just like a jack.

Raise the front of the trailer as far as you can, then pile concrete blocks under the keel, place wood between the blocks and the hull and lower the front of the trailer.

You can use this proceedure to place blocks under the stern as well, but the process is a little different. Here you would lower the front, place the blocking, and then raise the front of the trailer to lower the trailer out from under the boat.

To completely remove the trailer from under the boat, you may have to install and remove the front blocking several times, depending on the configuration of the trailer.

It is time consuming, but it will work with any size boat.

We did this to move my late brothers 250 Wellcraft Eclipse from one spot in the yard to another with a borrowed trailer.

where2 posted 01-11-2003 03:21 PM ET (US)     Profile for where2  Send Email to where2     
Tightpenny has the idea. You lower the front of the trailer as much as possible, put stands under the rear, run the jack up to lift the nose of the trailer, put stands under the nose. Then work to remove trailer using extra stands to help support while you work around the cross members of the trailer. Extra stands are nice because while you're painting the bottom, you'll want to move the stands under the boat to paint those spots. Or, you can wait until it's back on the trailer to paint where the stands were.
wilkie posted 04-26-2006 05:45 PM ET (US)     Profile for wilkie  Send Email to wilkie     
to the one who is looking for a way to bottom paint his boat-call fritz's welding in Venice fl We have a boat lift for that purpose.It will take the trailer out from under the boat in less than ten minutes. call 941 497 7179 If you email me I will send picture of same.
The Judge posted 04-27-2006 12:07 PM ET (US)     Profile for The Judge  Send Email to The Judge     
Floor jack and a piece of wood and lift 1 side, paint quickly and lower....repeat for other side.
st posted 04-27-2006 02:29 PM ET (US)     Profile for st  Send Email to st     
Like this?

The V-cut made of 4x4 scrap wood block:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c301/st2216/82-THE%20TRAILER/IMG_1995. jpg

And the lift; placed rag in between:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c301/st2216/82-THE%20TRAILER/IMG_1996. jpg

That was my home made device on 17 Montauk; it worked just fine-just like the THE JUDGE said, I did this when replacing all my rollers last year...
Sam.

towboater posted 04-30-2006 12:56 PM ET (US)     Profile for towboater  Send Email to towboater     
Ive taken 30 footers off trailers with one bottle jack.

The key is to support the transom in the middle & both sides equally. If you have to, put the boat in the water and reload it with the transom hanging beyond the end of the bunks or rollers a good foot. Tie it down, obviously, drive home slow.

Ive used 16" wood rounds (firewood), wood blocks and cedar wedges (home depot has wedges). Start by positioning the bottle jack under the transom. Ive you have a deep V, put a small steel plate between a 2x6 and the jack. Then build up both sides of the 2x6 using small blocks and wedges till you have a snug fit. Now jack up the transom till you have clearance. Brace both sides of the transom with wood or jack stands. Use plenty of wedges and dont be afraid to toss in a nail or two to hold em if needed.

Now you can either build another block in front of the jack, or drop it down, move the jack ahead just enough to give you room to brace/block up the end.
Now you have the transom off the boat supported in 3 places. Ive even nailed 2x4s to each support to firm things up for longer periods. You should be able to grab ahold of the engine, wiggle it pretty good without the boat moving much at all. If it does, drive wedges where needed.

Now move the bottle jack forward, build a base, use the same technique to lift the fwd part of the boat as high as you want. Make sure your tires are blocked both ways.
Paint.
Dry.
Move the bottle jack enough to relift, finish painting that small spot.

When you drop the transom, remove the blocks, you should have access to paint that area.
You will have had 4 points to support while the trailer is still beneath it. If you wanna move the trailer completely out, you need to block fwd, move the trailer til a cross member is close to the block, lift, block, lift block til the trailer is clear. Doing this, BE CAREFULL. I custom cut 4x4s and wedge/brace each side fwd then use 2x4s to X frame those braces to the transom braces to prevent the boat from moving fwd or back. I also frame the fwd braces together. Now you will have 6 braces. Again, this is a process to get a pretty big boat off a trailer.

IF your boat is small enough, light enough to use a garage beam & come-along to connect to the engine mount, things get a lot simpler and safer. Instead of using 2x4 or 6s to brace up the blocks, use them to brace up your garage beam. You probably need 2 12 ft 2x6. 4 10s. Lam 2 12s to the beam (one on each side, use lots of nails), use 2 10s custom cut for studs on each side of the boat. Cut em about a inch over, toenail to the beam, wedge em under. Use 1.5 ton comealong, hey...if you dont like the way it feels, go ahead and use a bottle jack under the transom to help it up. Thing is, you wont need to build big strong braces for both sides, you can cut bracing or tie ropes from the beam to the stern cavels or both...it aint goin anywhere.


towboater posted 04-30-2006 01:20 PM ET (US)     Profile for towboater  Send Email to towboater     
come to think of it, I never have lifted a outboard using the garage beams, always engines, jet drives or I/Os.
any connection to a outboard mount would probably ding something.

well, just tryin to help.
be carefull, good luck.

danhelminiak posted 04-30-2006 07:23 PM ET (US)     Profile for danhelminiak  Send Email to danhelminiak     
I took my 22 down to the local boat yard and had the boat put upside down on the trailer. They used blocks between the frame and the gunwhale. This way you can access the trailer for repairs and it makes it alot easier to do bottom repairs. Don't forget to drain the fuel!
Welder posted 11-21-2007 04:11 PM ET (US)     Profile for Welder  Send Email to Welder     
Guys, please look at the website www.portableboatlift.com
for at least one safe way to remove your boat from your trailer. Lifting a boat from a trailer to paint the bottom, detail or wax, or to do any repairs, maintenance, adding of accessories to either your boat hull or trailer, or for whatever reason you would need to have unimpeded access to your hull or trailer the G & G Portable Boat Lift has come up with a portable 3 piece assembly that is easily transported to any location. Only one person is needed to safely remove a boat from a trailer in minutes. We've all tried any number of ways with bottle and floor jacks and unstable dunnage and/or jerking the boat off a trailer with a rope and a strong tree onto a soft bed of some material but you will find that the G & G Portable Boat Lift is not only going to save your boat and trailer from damage but it will also keep you safe as well. I think the small investment is worth saving you from a hand, foot, back, or worse injury.
macfam posted 11-21-2007 06:41 PM ET (US)     Profile for macfam  Send Email to macfam     
BillD,
I used to have a 20' Revenge, and moved to a 25 Revenge, both on trailers.
When I had the 20', I used to place two scissors jacks on the trailer and support with a blocks of wood, as not to mar the hull, and gently lift one side, paint under the bunk(s) and let sit overnight. Then I would repeat with the ohter side.
It was a pain. Then with the 25', and the way it sat on the trailer, I could only get one jack under the boat, so I gave up.
Edward's Boat Yard in Falmouth would lift the boat, sand and paint, and drop it back on the trailer for $10 a ft, and I supplied the paint. Water-based Pettit Hydrocoat.
For $250 it was the best darn investment ever. Drop it off Monday and pick it up on Friday, and they did a very nice job.
Now my 28' is on stands. So, I'm back to doing it myself. But on stands it's a piece of cake compared to a trailer.
jamesmylesmcp posted 11-21-2007 07:27 PM ET (US)     Profile for jamesmylesmcp  Send Email to jamesmylesmcp     
Last spring I faced the same delema as I needed to get my boat way off the ground so the sodablaster could manuver underneath.I constucted two ramps 10 feet long that rose to a height of 4 feet.The ramps were placed in front of the trailer wheels and crossmembers secured them ,then with the use of a come-along to a tree the entire boat and trailer rose to the height of 4 feet.The boat was secured with stands and alot of blocks,the trailer was then backed off.It took a couple of hours to put it up and stayed there for three weeks as the weather didn"t co-operate.Taking it down was no problem at all just backed off on the come-along.
where2 posted 11-21-2007 09:09 PM ET (US)     Profile for where2  Send Email to where2     
I like the concept welder has come up with. I'm not sure where I would store such a thing the other 360 days of the year. When we had our 25' Whaler Frontier reloaded onto it's trailer to go to the rehab shop, they came with a fork lift and did the same thing with the bow while we manually inserted the trailer. The price for Welder's apparatus is still cheaper than an ER visit. Ironically, my uncle lives 40 miles from Welder's shop...
jeffs22outrage posted 11-22-2007 12:02 AM ET (US)     Profile for jeffs22outrage  Send Email to jeffs22outrage     
I took my 22 Outrage off it's trailer this spring to strip the bottom and repaint it. Using a floor jack, some concrete blocks with wood, and a gallowsframe it can off with ease. If you did not want to build a gallows you could just use boat jacks instead. The gallows worked great because I did not have to move jacks around to paint the entire hull. Here is my "how to" with pictures.

http://tinyurl.com/3atqlc

Being the ever resourceful man I am I turned my gallows into a hammock stand. My wife loves it. Tim Hendle made a similar set up to paint his bottom and them later used it to pull his fuel tank.
http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa75/thendel79/

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