Jump to content

Lifting Off Trailer


AntonRx

Recommended Posts

Hey all. 

Went to the keys and had the boat in the water for 6 days. Was awesome! While it was there, i took the time to swim underneath and check out the "cheese grater" (sea chest cover) and found that 1 screw head was broken off and the other 2 were simply out, leaving only 3 screws holding it in! 

I've seen some threads talking about how to replace it. I don't need it replaced, I just need to know how the heck to lift the boat off the trailer bunk, so I have enough room to work on it. 

My regular 3ton floor jack just isn't tall enough to lift it high enough to get in with a screwdriver (the cheese grater sits exactly ontop of the bunk) and remove/replace the broken screw. 

Any ideas other than teatering with stacked 2x4s on the jack? 

Though about going to the ramp and letting the boat float back enough to clear the bunker and pulling it back out to work on at the ramp. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, AntonRx said:

Another thing, should my bunks be widened? Some on here say they can access the sea chest while its on the trailer. I have a feeling, the screws broke/came out due to the bunk being right on the sea chest. Thoughts? 

Every Pathfinder I’ve owned (3) the bunks were under the grate but never had a problem. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your trailer bunks should be directly under the stringers or as close as you can get them. To lift your boat off the bunk; first you have to secure the trailer by chalking the tires or attach the trailer to your truck or both. Get yourself a good 2x6 or 2x8 and lay it flat against the hull. Place your bottle jack about 1/3 from either end, and lift with your jack about 1/4", then secure with a jack stand. Then move to the other end of the temporary bunk and do the same. Only lift the hull about 1/4" at a time, then adjust the jack stand to support the temporary bunk. Once the hull clears the permanent bunk, you can remove the bunk and do the repair.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are just looking to raise the boat off the trailer more so than pull the trailer out from under here is an easier way to make it happen...

Secure the trailer

Crank the jack all the way down, place jack stands under the rear of the boat

crank the jack up all the way, put a stand/block under the bow of the boat, crank the jack down

Your boat should now be suspended above the trailer

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If your trailer has 4 bunks (2 on each side) you might be able to lower the bunk blocking access to your cheese grater long enough to replace the screws. I did this on my 23 Pathfinder recently and it worked fine. In my case the single bunk supported the weight of the boat just fine. The keel rollers also chipped in. Assess your particular situation before trying this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, AntonRx said:

Hey all. 

Went to the keys and had the boat in the water for 6 days. Was awesome! While it was there, i took the time to swim underneath and check out the "cheese grater" (sea chest cover) and found that 1 screw head was broken off and the other 2 were simply out, leaving only 3 screws holding it in! 

I've seen some threads talking about how to replace it. I don't need it replaced, I just need to know how the heck to lift the boat off the trailer bunk, so I have enough room to work on it. 

My regular 3ton floor jack just isn't tall enough to lift it high enough to get in with a screwdriver (the cheese grater sits exactly ontop of the bunk) and remove/replace the broken screw. 

Any ideas other than teatering with stacked 2x4s on the jack? 

Though about going to the ramp and letting the boat float back enough to clear the bunker and pulling it back out to work on at the ramp. 

To check my sea chest grate I measure how far up it is on the bunk. Mine is about two feet. I release two feet of which strap and make sure the the winch is locked. I have a large tree that I strap the back of the boat to. I pull forward slowly and pull the boat off the trailer just enough to revel the Grate. There should be plenty of boat left on the trailer to support it. There is on mine. When done I winch the boat back on the trailer. Silicone  Spray on the bunks make winching easier. Even Lifting the boat up you likely will not have enough room to fix the sea chest.

"Though about going to the ramp and letting the boat float back enough to clear the bunker and pulling it back out to work on at the ramp" 

This works also. If you feel like the boat is sea sawing when far enough back to give you access then use a strap to hold the bow DOWN onto the trailer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Miss Jazzy said:

Every Pathfinder I’ve owned (3) the bunks were under the grate but never had a problem. 

I’ve also owned 3 Pathfinders and on all 3, the cheese grater was directly over the bunk.  I had to go to a marina during the week and paid them $20 to lift boat off trailer to give me enough room to replace grater with a stainless one and fix the screws correctly....it was worth the 20 rather than suspending it from a tree....which was plan B if plan A didn’t work out. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, fishmanjj said:

I’ve also owned 3 Pathfinders and on all 3, the cheese grater was directly over the bunk.  I had to go to a marina during the week and paid them $20 to lift boat off trailer to give me enough room to replace grater with a stainless one and fix the screws correctly....it was worth the 20 rather than suspending it from a tree....which was plan B if plan A didn’t work out. 

To be clear.....not suspending from a tree. Pulling the boat off the trailer just enough to get access to the sea chest. Very easy if using common sense and the winch strap to stop the boat from coming to far off the trailer. Every boat I done this to easily winches back up on the trailer after the work is done.   

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
On 9/26/2020 at 4:59 PM, Miss Jazzy said:

There use to be thread on here how to take your boat off the trailer. You tied the rear of the boat to a tree and pulled the boat off and blocked it up. I’m sure somebody will remember and chime in on exactly how it’s done. 

that was me :)

I recently did the same exercise with my MA 17 from Ameritrail as the skiff was slightly short on the boards.

 

It works easier with two people...one to look at how it's coming off and the other driving.

 

Just pull forward very very slowly and as mentioned above, un-wrap about 2 feet at a time of the winch strap.

dc

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...