BajaNomad - Using spare tire to help launch?

Using spare tire to help launch?

Santiago - 8-10-2013 at 10:41 AM

I've seen set-ups where the spare tire is on a hub and can be flipped over to act as the front wheel and the entire trailier is pushed in to float the boat, then pulled out by rope. This was with a 22-23' foot aluminum boat.
Allowed the vehicle never to get in the water.
I can't seem to find one ready made - probably just need to have it custom made for the boat/trailer combo?
Anyone have one of these?

SFandH - 8-10-2013 at 11:07 AM

I have something like that and it works great with my 14 foot aluminum boat on Baja beaches. It doesn't use the trailer spare tire, it has its own. Custom fabricated, it came with the boat when I bought it. Connects to the trailer with a hitch ball. Launching is easy, it's usually downhill a bit. A rope can be tied to the handle for recovering using the tow vehicle. It also makes it real easy to move the boat around when it's on the trailer and disconnected from the tow vehicle. A real back saver. My truck never gets backed into the water.

[Edited on 8-10-2013 by SFandH]

MMc - 8-10-2013 at 11:31 AM

This is one style.
http://www.pacifictrailers.com/pivoting-hub-spare-carrier

woody with a view - 8-10-2013 at 11:39 AM

might have to invest in one for my second spare. i hate it bouncing around in the boat whilst on the road.

larryC - 8-10-2013 at 12:21 PM

I made one for my trailer. I used the front trailer jack so I can raise the the wheel and tire while towing the trailer short distances. works great. The one in the link also looks like a really good setup.

Santiago - 8-10-2013 at 12:33 PM

The one from Pacific Trailers is the one I've seen.

bill erhardt - 8-10-2013 at 02:21 PM

I had a spare tire mounted on such a device on the trailer under a 17' McKee Craft FG boat I brought to Baja when I retired in 2002. I think I got it at Aros Trailer in El Cajon. It worked well. Until I bought a place in Loreto, I probably launched over the sand more than at a ramp. It took seconds to pull the pin and flip the tire down to launch or retrieve. I used 100' of 1" rope to pull the three wheeled trailer up on the beach and keep the truck out of the salt water.

Skipjack Joe - 8-12-2013 at 07:08 AM

Hmmmmm ..... Very interesting. It could be very useful for a large boat (>15').

Barry A. - 8-12-2013 at 08:30 AM

What a truly GREAT idea!!!

Barry

Santiago - 8-12-2013 at 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
Hmmmmm ..... Very interesting. It could be very useful for a large boat (>15').

The one in camp is on a trailer carrying a 23' Westcoaster Bayrunner with a 135 hp motor. The guy can easily launch and retrieve it himself; although he is pretty studly. :cool:

Our ramp, and I use that term loosely, is very shallow except at the high end of the tide. I've seen trucks with all 4 tires up to the hubs - done it myself once or twice.

Doug/Vamonos - 8-19-2013 at 08:26 AM

Hey bud. The one I use is from Pacific. Very heavy duty. Very heavy!! But it definitely works. I'm heading down the week of Labor Day. U gonna be there?

Skipjack Joe - 8-20-2013 at 09:37 AM

One of the issues it seems to me is that you need to launch and retrieve the boat stern first. This can cause waves to break over the stern and into the boat. You get around the need for a launch ramp but perhaps not, because ramps are built in protected areas. Most days start out flat as glass but there is a chop by noon and retrieving the boat at such times could be challenging with this setup me thinks.

4baja - 8-24-2013 at 06:50 AM

we built all ours back in the mid 90s and there still being used today. heres a tip, use the same spindle and bearings as the trailer uses and youll always have extra bearings and a spindle not to mention allso a spare tire. also it doesnt hurt to have a trailer extension because pushing the boat and trailer over rocks(camp gecko) even with the drop down wheel isnt very much fun. one last tip if your going to build one, make sure that the trailer jack that you have will raise it high enough to drop the tire down, a jack that cranks higher is very usefull. keep a long rope handy to pull out the boat trailer when time comes and especialy if theres waves.

Doug/Vamonos - 8-26-2013 at 08:29 AM

Exactly. Like Steve says, the hub assembly on the pacific unit can be removed and used on the main axle if necessary. Also the tongue extension is the same material used on the tongue of the trailer so it can also be used in an emergency. But it is heavy. Nowadays I rarely use the extension because it only gives me 8 more feet. I find that if I need the spare to be flipped down in order to launch I need to go much further than 8 feet out, especially at Gecko. So I push and shove and send it out to sea! On a side note, you probably wouldn't want to do this if your trailer has brakes because the master cylinder would be swimming in salt water at that point. That cannot be good. Three days to go...

Pacifico - 8-26-2013 at 08:41 AM

I have a question about the Pacific model.....it says it "flips down". Since it is square tubing, it appears that it would not simply flip down after removing the pin. It looks like you would have to slide the whole thing out, flip it to where the tire is down, and re-insert it and put pin back. It this the case or am I missing something here? Thanks!

Barry A. - 8-26-2013 at 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
One of the issues it seems to me is that you need to launch and retrieve the boat stern first. This can cause waves to break over the stern and into the boat. You get around the need for a launch ramp but perhaps not, because ramps are built in protected areas. Most days start out flat as glass but there is a chop by noon and retrieving the boat at such times could be challenging with this setup me thinks.

This perhaps would be a big problem on the Ocean side, but not so much on the gulf side. Seldom are the waves so big that it is a serious problem in my experience. Yes, water gets into the boat, but if you hurry you can get the boat and trailer out of the water before too much gets into the boat, and then it just drains out after you pull the plug-------done it lots of times with small boats-------perhaps big boats would be lots harder!?!?!?!? It ain't perfect, but usually works.

It is very helpful if you have verticle 'boat-guides' on the trailer, tho.

Barry

Santiago - 8-26-2013 at 10:19 AM

Thanks for the tips Steve and Doug/ I've ordered the one from Pacific Trailer and will take it down in October.

wessongroup - 8-26-2013 at 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by woody with a view
might have to invest in one for my second spare. i hate it bouncing around in the boat whilst on the road.

Skipjack Joe - 8-26-2013 at 11:36 AM

Keep us posted on how it works out Santiago. I'm really curious because I'm fairly familiar with the launch situation a camp gecko.

One thing that I've noticed about the waves slapping the stern is that usually the trailer will raise the boat while it's in the water and in some cases (when I use the balance wheels) the wave will roll right under the boat while in the water.

It really doesn't take very large waves to slap over the side. It's not the water inside that I don't like as much as the weight it adds to everything. I like to pull it out of the water entirely before looking for ropes.

Have fun.

Skipjack Joe - 8-26-2013 at 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by woody with a view
might have to invest in one for my second spare. i hate it bouncing around in the boat whilst on the road.

And don't forget your 3rd spare. Sometimes referred to as "love handles".

Santiago - 8-27-2013 at 06:32 AM

On a side note; we have no problem launching as we have slicks on the trailer bunks. Punch it in reverse, slam on the brakes and the boat is in the water. This means that at the worst, the rear tires up to the bottom of the rims will get wet and I have no problem with this (I know others do).
The retrive can be tough in a stiff northern breeze:
1. White caps on the bay meaning at least a 2 or 3 foot 'beach break'.
2. The wind hitting the back of the boat at a 45 degree.
3. The ramp so shallow that even backing out where all 4 tires are in the water and the tail pipe is gurgling you still can not drive the boat on the trailer; just the bow will rest on the back of the bunks.
By yourself impossible; with one buddy on the leeward side at the back to hold it while you jump into the water and 'run' to the front to get the strap to winch it up while the same mildly drunk buddy is slipping and falling down as the wind and waves push the boat over him onto the rocky beach. When this happened to SWMBO last trip she came up spitting sand and seaweed and told me in no uncertain terms that she was never coming to Baja again until I fixed this. And before anyone says anything, yes, I thought long and hard about that offer.........

The above photo shows the result about an hour after we lost it a few years ago; the wind and waves were maybe about twice what this photo shows.

beachbum1A - 8-27-2013 at 07:01 AM

Quote:

I've seen a lot of boats beach launched with the stern perpendicular to the incoming swells, causing the waves to break directly over the transom.
If the boat/trailer are positioned at a 45 degree angle to the incoming swells, the waves break on the corner of the transom and the incoming swells are dissipated a bit. This seems to help too.

Skipjack Joe - 8-27-2013 at 08:25 AM

If you have a smaller craft and if you have a balanced wheel system (that's a lot of ifs) then you can retrieve if stern first, with nose facing into the waves. With this method you push the boat until the wheels are out of the water and then rotate the boat to nose landward. If it's a mild incline you then pull boat to wherever, otherwise you get the rope. This is usually all easily done by one person (Asuncion) but not always (San Francisquito resort).

PS It might be hard to roll out a boat trailer over those rocks by hand.

[Edited on 8-27-2013 by Skipjack Joe]

Skipjack Joe - 8-28-2013 at 11:09 PM

Thought it could be a one man operation with new system.

1. Add Barry's boat guides to trailer (sold at Cabelas)
2. Anchor boat in shallow water when you come in.
3. Roll trailer front first into water.
4. Crank boat onto trailer facing into seas
5. Get rope and clip to one of the holes on cross bar at back of trailer.
6. Truck pulls boat out backwards.

One smaller issue remains with that spare wheel. It only goes forward and backward. You will have to lift the trailer every time you need to adjust the direction. That could get old fast.