OK... Here goes... I need to say this...
Yep, great boat once in the water for sure... OK, Bob... you are giving me flash backs on the trailer... Brent... you and I and other TC owners have been down this road before...
Yep, with the electric stuff... you are going to have to move it "up the pole"
Yep, more work to be done on the trailer... I know Jeff at C-Dory and Tim Egan at EZ-Loader have heard most of these issues before, and have been given some of the solutions before by Brent, some others and myself.
EZ-Loader & Factory, Current and Future owners... some thoughts, ideas, and experiences from me.... Feel free to go to another link if you don't have a minute or two....but we need to have this talk with what is now taking place for one of the newer, what appears to be one of the great future boats of C-Dory.... Go get a cup of coffee, pop a top, or pour ya another one.... and take this in. If you do not have time to read it now... print it off and take it with you the next time you go to the head for a little quality time... :embarrased
Put the goal post up front like Brent had set up on his previous trailers. It worked.... what is there now did not work on the 24s, and will not work on the TC255s...
Now just how much would be needed to move the tires out on the trailer and allow the boat to "settle" between the tires... WIDE LOAD signs would be needed, as they are with the larger Sea Ray boats that are "trailerable" as this HEAVY boat is. And.... we could lower the overall vertical clearance about 18" leaving the trailer high enough off the ground for those weird angles we always hit pulling into and out of parking areas of stores, hotels, and other places during a journey.
Yes, two axles may work, but is not a 9,000 # rig really getting close to the 3 axles "needs" if not a requirement? Would it not allow for better distribution of weight, and allow for better tongue weight numbers once each of these boats are rigged the way each new owner wants them?
After on the trailer, the forward 4 to 6 ' of sponsons are not really supporting any of the "real weight" of this boat. When launching and the vessel is departing the trailer, and, when the first few feet of contact when loading the trailer is happening.... rollers may work better forward rather than bunks. So....with it looking like wind, water current, depth of water are effecting our launches and recoveries of the TomCats on most of the times we go thru this drill as we truly travel and take advantage of these "Trailerable Trawlers..." .... I think we need this. A stowable 6' tongue extension that we can mount between our tow vehicles and the vessels trailer tongue as to allow the rig and trailer far enough into the water as to better allow the boat to float off or on the trailer. This part could be mounted and dismounted quickly from off the top surface of the trailer, mounted between the area between the sponsons, once the vessel is on or off the trailer...not during launch and retrieval. When launching our TomCats, we have the need to roll that last 4 to 6 feet of boat off the trailer as the stern and aft section of the boat floats off in the deeper water...but not enough water yet to totally float the boat off the trailer. The reverse of this is true when retrieving the boat. Unless no wind, no current, and you have a nice deep ramp with a dock running beside it to allow a person in the truck to pull forward, and a person on the dock to walk forward with the boat as it falls down onto the trailer (did happen one time to me...but I can not get that dock and ramp to travel with me)... you really need to "roll" the first 4 to 6 feet of this vessel onto the trailer, hook the nose up, then pull forward and allow the boat to fall down onto the trailer..with a second person on the bank with a long rope attached to the rear cleat on the up wind or up current side of the boat....to keep it straight as it falls onto the trailer as the truck pulls out. This would also greatly help the longevity of bottom paint rather than the real heavy drag when using the wench to get the boat back up and snuggled forward. Why would about 4 rollers on each forward side of the trailer, spaced about 12 to 14" apart, that are about 16" wide as to allow the forward edge and footage of the sponsons to roll over, rather than push thru the current split forward boards ? These set of 4 rollers could also be mounted on a "swivel" as to allow for even more flexibility during the process....just like the aft sections of roller trailers. Then, have a flat board with "V" shape, shaped sides (a custom cradle if you will for the sponsons) like the bottom of the sponsons....carpeted, with holes drilled into it as to let the water drain out once the boat does land on the trailer....
Just my thoughts as having loaded a TomCat on several different ramps, different wind and current conditions... and... looking at all the different trailer set ups as I travel....and watch bigger heavier boats being put onto and off of trailers.....not using tow motors....or lifts.... but, the trailers and tow vehicles that travel America with the boats..... When paying what is needed for a new TC255, the buyers realize we will be spending some real coin on a real "custom trailer..." The price of the trailer is up there already...and.... I still think with just a bit more work... we will have a truly custom trailer. We are not talking about throwing away what we have learned (but we do need to recall some of it...), but just some adjustments to the advances we have made.
We have a great boat here.... now we need a bit more work and time to have the great trailer to go with it...as to allow us to own great rigs. :beer :thup