The trailer is ready – May 26, 2013 – The trailer is ready so we can flip the boat over as soon as I we return from our little trip.  (We are going to look at the route my great great grandparents used to reach Washington Territory in 1881.)

·         What we did. 

·         Unbolted every part down to the springs using nut splitters but mostly grinders.

·         Scraped brushed or sanded every surface.

·         Fabricated a few pieces that were too rusted to reuse.

·         Painted everything with a coat of Hammerite paint.

·         Replaced every nut, bolt ( and U bolt), and washer with hot dipped galvanized, and put new nylon bushings in the springs.

·         Replaced the winch that was so rusted, the back plate was less than 1/8 inch thick.

·         Replaced the wheels with galvanized and replaced the tires so the size matched on both sides.

What’s left on the trailer?  Make up a wiring harness that clamps to the boat when on the road and fasten the license plate.  We will need some clamp on mirrors. The final cost will be tallied later, but it had to be more than the cost of a new cheap trailer and less than the cost of a new galvanized trailer.

What’s left on the boat?  Rub out and wax the topsides, flip it over and put it on the trailer, add registration numbers, re-rig the standing rigging, go sailing and see if I still like it—hope so!

 

 

It does look rather nice for an old beater trailer.