Upgrading to a Craddle

One of the things I've been advised on several times is to remove the rollers from the trailer and replace it with a cradle.   The reasoning is that as the boat is allowed to roll on and off the trailer, the hull flexes and breaks free anything that was connected to it within.  This may have been the source of how the rear platforms originally blew their seals and let water in.  It could have been the origin of all my ills for all I know.

In the first picture, I was thinking about how to build a cradle that was shaped properly to the hull.  I picked the boat up from the trailer and placed a 8'x3/4" board in between the rollers.  The intent was to trace this bow onto another board which I would cut and fasten to the trailer supports somehow.  The more I stared at it and consider the challenges to this plan, the more I realize that any plan involving the rollers themselves was not going to work.  Plan D was hatched this weekend.  You don't want to hear about Plans B-C.  They all surpassed my abilities to fabricate the proper materials and/or visualize how I would accomplish them without getting squished in the process.

Since I am believer in Wood as the ultimate material....and I lack any skills in welding, I decided to stick with treated wood as my medium. 

The first step was to remove the rollers.  The were connect to the up-rights via 3/4" rusty bolts who all wanted to stay where they were at.  Three grudgingly gave up the fight with the use of excessive torque and a blowtorch.  The last simply snapped in two.    At the end of the day the count was Blaine 3, Bolts 1....and I only have four semi-serious gouges in the back of my hands to show for my work.

I figured out how to run a bolt through the old hole left by the roller mechanism and bolted in two pieces of wood.  Those two pieces I screwed the planks to.  Eight deck screws later, whalah!     All I need now is some all-season carpet and I'm set.  That I will do later.

When I dropped the boat back onto the trailers, the 10'x6" board bowed just a bit, but still did just what I wanted by distributing the weight evenly along its length.   I give it 4 years before I may have to replace it.  By then it may be someone else's challenge.   Let them cuss me as they fit.