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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Wheel for rope launch

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jking
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110 Posts

Initially Posted - 11/27/2006 : 21:49:52

Does anyone know how I can link to a thread that shows how to make the 5th wheel on the trailer tongue, to facilitate rope launching and retreival? I can't get to it by doing a search.

Thanks

John
250 WB #887
'Flying Wasp' , formerly 'MAD MOM'

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 11/27/2006 : 22:07:05

Are you talking about this item from the Tech Tips?

[url="http://www.catalina-capri-25s.org/tech/tech250/fortu.asp"]Fortuity Rope Launch[/url]

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zeil
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
1318 Posts

Response Posted - 11/27/2006 : 22:53:23

This may be of some help...

The parts are:

Spare wheel and rim to match the trailer
wheel hub with 5 stuts (cost about $55.00)
Standard tow hitch tube about 3 1/2 x 3 1/2" by about 6 to 8" long (you can buy this standard with a hole drilled in it already at a trailer hitch shop for about $12.00) with flat 1/4" x 3"x 8" flat steel to be welded to it for U clamping this to the exisitng tow hitch beam. (We did not want to weld to the existing trailer hitch beam and make rust spots).
2 U clamps with flat tie steel, eashers and lock nuts (cost $25.00)
3"x3" square tubing (standerd use for tow hitch beams) you need about 2ft or less. This needs to slide inside the 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 steel tube (scrap piece - no cost)
One can of liquid zink coating $10.00
one standard tow pin (cost $3.00) or lockable pin $15:00
Cost of fabricating/cutting and welding $65.00

The measurement from centre axle to centre of the mounting tube was on our hitch 6.5 inch. This allows for some (about 4" over 9 ft) of a bend on the extended tow hitch beam length to put some weigth on the back of the truck for ramp towing purposes.

Have fun and when done please publish your result

Edited by - on

Tom Potter
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1913 Posts

Response Posted - 11/28/2006 : 19:58:19

Hi John, I made up a launch wheel a couple years ago, here's a [url="http://www.bellsouthpwp2.net/t/o/tompotter/my%20web/page10.html"]link to my launch wheel[/url]. If I had it to do over again, I would make it a little different. As of now, I have to pull the small pin, then slide the wheel out of the square receiver mounted on the trailer, hold the (heavy) wheel up and turn square part 180 degrees and then slide it back into the receiver and then re-pin it. ("<s>Britusa</s>" oops, sorry Paul) "Britinusa" suggested that I should have made the square parts round, so you just pull the pin and let the whole wheel spin around 180 degrees and then re-pin. That would make it easier to operate, requiring no lifting at all. I do plan to make that change soon.

Edited by - Tom Potter on 11/28/2006 21:14:33

britinusa
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USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 11/28/2006 : 20:56:17

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Britusa<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

The handle came by mistake! I had meant to type Britnusa (Brit & USA) when I registered with the Association forum, but it works well, I'm a Brit and In the USA (Citizen since 2002)

Paul.

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jking
Navigator

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110 Posts

Response Posted - 11/28/2006 : 21:02:43

Thanks alot. This will probably be a winter project for me, and I appreciate all of the good tips

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stampeder
Master Marine Consultant

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1608 Posts

Response Posted - 11/28/2006 : 23:24:27

John - why do you need to rope launch your WK?

I don't claim to be an expert, just curious. Is it common to need to rope launch a Wing Keel?
When I bought my Swinger, I thought at first that I should prioritize the trailer launch wheel because it looks like such a practical idea.

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jking
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110 Posts

Response Posted - 11/29/2006 : 12:17:29

Late in the season here in middle TN, as the lake levels drop to 'winter pool', the ramps can be too shallow to allow launch and retreival of my boat (a water ballast) even when using the trailer tongue extender.

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Ben
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1234 Posts

Response Posted - 11/29/2006 : 14:20:38

It is a dream of mine to have one of these. However, I am not very handy with welding and what not. Is there a store-bought version of this?

Thanks!

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Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 11/29/2006 : 14:39:03

Trail-rite makes one for about $700!! Print off the photo and have one made.

Wings and fins use these wheels to launch because we put our trailers out so far. When I pulled my fin-keel C22 (for sale now) in the fall I used 60' of nylon strap between the truck and trailer. The truck was in to the rear axle. The trailer was completely under water. The wheel helps deal with a bumpy ramp and potholes/mud and keeps the trailer going in straight. Sounds complex but once you get the hang of it it is easy. We have no lift at our club so everyone, including 30' sailboats do it.

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jking
Navigator

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110 Posts

Response Posted - 11/29/2006 : 22:20:06

7 boat units...YIKES! You could get at least a couple of life jackets and a tube of 5200 at WM for that kind of money (ha ha!)

I spoke to a local weld shop today--they want to see pictures of the finished product, but they think they can do the job. The boat is in for some warranty work, so as soon as I can get the trailer and said pictures to them, they will give me a price.

I will keep you posted.

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kevinmac
Admiral

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USA
732 Posts

Response Posted - 11/30/2006 : 10:08:46

It's not so much the fabrication and such that makes it cost more than you think, it is buying the wheel, tire, bearings, and spindle that adds up if you don't have these things already in your garage somewhere...

But $700 is way too much, especially for something that might not fit right. Trail-Rite does not recommend their $700 piece for C250 trailers, I don't know about C25's....

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Ben
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1234 Posts

Response Posted - 11/30/2006 : 12:33:58

Wow! $700.00 is way more than I could pay for such a convenience. I'll do what others have done/suggested, and print out the picture and see if someone locally can do the job for me.

Thanks ya'll!

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Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 11/30/2006 : 14:07:13

When I spoke to the person at Trail-rite he even said it was too much $ and they don't sell many. I already have the wheel and tire so that expense is done. It seems to me that if someone could fabricate a unit (without the wheel and tire) for $200 or so they could sell a lot of them.

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Chris Z
Captain

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452 Posts

Response Posted - 11/30/2006 : 21:30:53

I could check with our local weld shop/trailer shop to see if they could fabricate something. I would also think it could be done with a small four lug size 8 trailer tire. This would save a lot of weight when manuevering it. Although having the same size tire might be a good spare.

I do have one concern with this idea or any trailer extension. I have heard of stories where a person put the trailer in so far that they went beyond the concrete pad and got the trailer stuck because of errosion of the bottom past the concrete. I guess someone would need to get wet to get out and make sure this wouldn't be a problem.

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Chris Z
Captain

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452 Posts

Response Posted - 11/30/2006 : 21:47:48

Here is a interesting setup that is almost complete and would only require a little work to make it functional. Look at the second page of this PDF file at the bottom right. I almost think you could mount a reciever above and below the frame and just move the unit to the needed one.
http://www.championtrailers.com/cat2006%20screen%20pdf%20groups%20secure/12,13.pdf

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Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 12/01/2006 : 13:54:25

Chris, nice find! It does look like that might be about all that is needed. If nothing else you have all the materials to have a fabricator cut the 2x2 tubing into three pieces to make an arrangement like Henk's in the first post. Just need a receiver to slide it into.

Edited by - Nautiduck on 12/01/2006 13:56:37

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