best way to put boat on stands and take off???

[clouder0126]

What is the best way to put my 23 scepter on boat stands? I am planning on running a chain from the stern eyes to the Reece hitch on my suv, pull the trailer forward about 2 feet add two jack stands then pull the trailer forward till I can put the other two jack stands underneath. Then I’m replacing the springs and redoing the bunks and brackets. Then how do I put the boat back on? I feel like if I just back the trailer under as soon as the boat hits the bunks it just going to push the boat back and knock it off the stands.

[BigLew]

Anchor/tie down the stern so it cannot move forward and have someone "winch" the trailer back under it while you gently back the trailer back under the boat.

Or, you could have a hydraulic trailer come in and lift it off the stands and go the the nearest ramp and launch it. Then retrieve it onto its regular trailer.

Just please tell us you didn't put it at the back of your fenced in yard, behind the garage and back against a stockade fence!!!

[fdheld34]

Check out Denny's (Bushwacker) post...
http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...ht=boat+stands
click on transfer- trailer to boat stands..... has pictures etc.
-Fred

[Bushwacker]

I put my boat up on jackstands a couple of years ago to redo the bottom and I documented how I did it with a slide show in this post: http://www.classicseacraft.com/commu...+paint+project It's pretty easy with a roller trailer; you'll have a lot more drag with a bunk trailer but if you can somehow lubricate the bunks, you should be able to use trailer winch like I did to get it on and off the trailer. If you have the plastic skids on the bunks, that would make it a lot easier. Just make sure that the transom towing eyes on the boat are tied to something solid. And make sure you use jackstands under the hull, not cinder blocks, which are a lot weaker than most folks think they are!

Loading the boat back on trailer is easy - just use the trailer winch you normally use when retrieving boat at ramp - I'd say that's a lot safer than trying to back the trailer under it. Again this is much easier with a roller trailer; this might be a good time to add those plastic skids to your trailer bunks!

[NoBones]

Harbor Freight A frame........

[Fr. Frank]

Originally Posted by Bushwacker

... And make sure you use jackstands under the hull, not cinder blocks, which are a lot weaker than most folks think they are!
... this might be a good time to add those plastic skids to your trailer bunks!

Good advice, Denny. Brownell stands and wood keel blocks are even better!!

I use a 2-ton shop crane to lift my boat at each corner for blocking purposes, and then wood-block the keel at the transom and at the point of forward rocker, and then use wood-topped concrete blocks for transom corner support. But for lifting, Ken's A-frame is absolutely the best way (apart from having your own marine forklift).

Concrete blocks CAN be used safely, but most people use them wrongly! Most marinas use concrete blocks for static display of boats under 40'. For maximum safety, the blocks MUST BE turned thin-edge open-side upward, and then covered with a 2"x8"x16" piece of pine, or other soft wood!!
The problem is that many people use the blocks turned flat side up. This is the blocks weakest position, and blocking a boat (or anything else) this way can result in injury or death. Miner Marina in Barefoot bay had an employee severely injured back in the 80's when he blocked a 28' Wellcraft Coastal this way, and one of the stacks of blocks under the transom crumbled while he was sanding the bottom, resulting in a broken collar bone and ankle, and compound fracture of his thigh. The falling boat knocked him from his crouched position mostly outward from under the boat which then came to rest on his thigh with his left leg under the 10,000 lb boat. I was there when it happened, and it was horrific.

This is one of the great advantages of this website: before doing something stupid like that, we can ask questions and get good advice from people who've already made the stupid mistakes and learned from them!

BE SAFE! You guys are too important to become the victim of ignorance or stupidity.

[bilgerat]

Yard arms are the best and safest way.

[Handful in NC]

If you live in a coastal area that is flood prone, requiring new homes to be elevated, you may be able to obtain from a builder the cut-offs for the square treated wood pilings typically used to elevate the homes. I was able to cheaply obtain from the local building supply company a 12X12 piling that was not straight enough for construction purposes, and cut it to managable lengths with a chain saw. You can't go wrong with large wood blocks, and they will never collapse. The local boat yard was glad to take them when I was done, and has since returned the favor generously.