Pages

Thursday, June 04, 2015

‘Pike’s’ Launching Trolley







The first thing I noticed when collecting my Iain Oughtred designed Pike Skiff from her previous owner was that the port side tyre of the launching trolley was flat. A closer inspection revealed that the nylon tyre was perished, and there were splits along the tread. The other tyre wasn’t up to much, but at least there was air in it. Nothing about the state of the trolley was mentioned in the advert, and the trailer was described as in ‘perfect condition’. This turned out not to be true; however, I found that it was in good working order and free of rust, except for one small spot on the nearside hub.

A trawl of the Internet revealed that there weren’t many trolley wheels to the same specification as the old ones available for purchase. The problem was the length of the hub which had to be no more than 2 ½ inches long to fit on the shaft. They were nearly all 3 inches. I eventually found two suitable wheels available at TrailerTek. I paid for them on 3rd June, and they arrived today, within twenty-four hours. Furthermore, they are now fitted to the trolley.

It’ll be a great advantage to be able to launch the new boat on her trolley, rather than her road trailer, as was the case with my previous trailer sailers. Sailing her will be more spontaneous, and I’ll have access to launching sites that are unsuitable for road trailers.

You’ll note from the heading to this post that I’ve chosen the most obvious name for the boat. She will be known as ‘Pike’.

Link

TrailerTrek

2 comments:

  1. Fast work Bill, from both you and TrailerTek! Looks like a great set-up for launching Pike -- good times ahead for you both I hope.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Bill, I hope if you have any further problems, youll be able to solve them as well and as easily. Hopefully, you and Pike will soon be on the water, patios permitting.

    ReplyDelete