With a certified welder, anything is possible. In fact that is the necessary and sufficient condition to modify this kind of trailer - IMHO. You need the guy certified (keep your copy of his current papers) because if you are involved in any traffic problems with the trailer you need to show it was "built" legally with due diligence; I think the licensing varies by state but if there are inspections then you may also need those papers at that time. Peace of mind is another reason to get an "official" welder.
I've looked for those trailers and, yeah, they don't grow on trees! A good one was asking $10k last year (but that was SF bay) and old questionables (including power boat trailers) were $3-5K. If you're looking hard and figure on some serious welding anyway, you _might_ look at big old RV's (travel trailers); some have the axel capacity but take a very knowlegeable person and go over the frame, especially the front member and tongue and the welds where the "A" crosses the front member of the frame and at the "bottom" of the "A" where it dies into the side rails. Probably the older the RV the better because in recent years (post 2000) the builders have gone all out to save weight. That's assuming of course you can get rid of the rest of the RV. At 23' you might be looking at 4-6K# IIRC. FWIW Rufus > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Vernon Densler > Sent: 05/21/12 08:28 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] Trailer for a keel boat > > OK so my wife figured out what kind of boat it is. It has to be a Kittiwake > 23. It needs a lot of work but the hull is in good condition. I have my > eye on some potential trailers that could be modified. > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Densler, > Vernon R (AS) > Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 9:31 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Liveaboard] Trailer for a keel boat > > > > I have someone giving me what is supposed to be a 1968 Cape Dory 23. I > can't find any mention of that boat on the internet so I am not sure if the > make is right or not. Anyway, it needs some work, but I thought it might > make a cool family project and might be a way to let my older kids get out > on the water. > > > > Since I am having to deal with the damage to my other boat I don't have a > ton of money to spend on a trailer and keel boat trailers are hard to find. > Any suggestions on modifying a powerboat trailer to hold this boat. > > > > Vernon Densler > > Logistics Engineer > > Northrop Grumman AS > > (321)-951-5426 _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
