Dolly

[Jan Williamson]

While I am waiting for the plans Arnie is sending me, I am going to make a dolly, any good ideas out there? I have the wheeled base.

[Dave R1]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Weekenders.

What sort of "wheeled base" do you have?

I built a dolly for my weekender from 2x6s. For the ends, I doubled up the 2x6s and lag screwed them together. the ends were four feet long. The sides were 8' long and joined to the ends with joist hangers, nails and a couple of lag screws into the ends. The corners were stiffened with scraps of plywood screwed onto the top. These made great places to set tools sometimes, too.

I started using this dolly once the keel was made and modified it as needed to support the hull. When it was time to roll the boat for glassing the bottom, I made some supports to hold the boat upside down. One of the supports fell on the foredeck right over the mast box. The other went up into the cockpit.

I strapped the dolly on top of the boat and then rolled it over onto the dolly. Worked a treat.

Here are some pictures that show the dolly.

[Jan Williamson]

Your dolly pics are great. The base I have is an aluminum heavy duty expandable base with 4 inch locking wheels. 3x5 feet. Thanks your looks like it would work well.

[Dave R1]

Jan, I'm glad it helped. You'll want a fairly large base for your dolly because as the boat comes together, you'll need to be able to climb on it without having it tip over. Broken bones have a way of delaying boat launches. :wink:

Also, use large casters if you can. Make sure they can handle the load you'll subject them to. The finished weight of the boat is about 550 lbs according to the plans (IIRC) so if you get casters rated to 200 lbs each you'll have plenty of capacity. Large casters will roll over sawdust and small bits of wood better than little casters. Don't use soft casters or they'll develop flat spots which make it hard to move the boat.

When I first started building, I only had casters on the front. What a pain! When I took the dolly out from under the boat to ready it for rolling, I put casters in place of the fixed wheels. Much nicer.

Good luck with your new project. It sounds like you're going to get started right away. Feel free to ask any questions you might have, here. I'm sure at least one of the good folks here will be able to help you out.

[Jan Williamson]

Good info!!! Your right, in needs to be bigger than what I have.

Thanks.

I'll post when I have it done. Might be next week though I still have to finish making a spot in the garage

[normoose]

Jan' date=' I'm glad it helped. You'll want a fairly large base for your dolly because as the boat comes together, you'll need to be able to climb on it without having it tip over. Broken bones have a way of delaying boat launches. :wink:

Also, use large casters if you can. Make sure they can handle the load you'll subject them to. The finished weight of the boat is about 550 lbs according to the plans (IIRC) so if you get casters rated to 200 lbs each you'll have plenty of capacity. Large casters will roll over sawdust and small bits of wood better than little casters. Don't use soft casters or they'll develop flat spots which make it hard to move the boat.

When I first started building, I only had casters on the front. What a pain! When I took the dolly out from under the boat to ready it for rolling, I put casters in place of the fixed wheels. Much nicer.

Good luck with your new project. It sounds like you're going to get started right away. Feel free to ask any questions you might have, here. I'm sure at least one of the good folks here will be able to help you out.[/quote']

Where in the plans did you find this info Dave?

[Dave R1]

Where in the plans did you find this info Dave?

Ray is correct. The plans don't cover building a dolly. Mine was pretty simple. Two 8' 2x6s cut in half and screwed together for the ends. Another pair of 8' 2x6s for the length attached to the end pieces with joist hangers. Scraps of plywood screwed down on the corners kept the dolly from racking and provided nice places to set down a drill or a pot of expoxy. Vertical scraps of 2x4s on either side of the keel and under the sides of the bottom panel kept the boat upright.

[normoose]

Thanx fellas!

[Barry Pyeatt]

May I suggest that you get at least two locking swivel casters for this dolly. Place them at opposite corners of the dolly and you will be able to lock the dolly so it won't roll. :wink:

Don't ask me how we found out the hard way that this is very important to be able to work on your project. :roll:

[Barry Pyeatt]

It has been undercover since last fall. and is in great condition. Uncooperative Weather, just too darned much work and deadlines have prevented me from doing much of anything this year so far. Still plan on sailing this summer in it. Got to get it on the water an beat Joel now that he is plugging away full time on his.

Most all the prep work for the rigging is done, need to get things mounted and installed and the trim work done and then she will be ready to go.

Have had a few opportunities to get on the water so far this year though on trips realted to work. So, I"m not out of touch with sailing by any means. Doing lots of that on a whole variety of interesting boats and interesting places.

I feel like I've been pretty well out of touch with everything else for the last few months. But it keeps me busy and young. :wink: The good news, the running and traveling have taken some lbs off, now to get in better shape too. The eyes are doing great. Everyday I am thankful for all the encouragement and the blessings that have come my way.

[motscg]

My Caravelle 14 project has languished for a year in a portable 10'x20' enclosed car-port in my backyard. Now that I have my garage renovated, I have the room to put it in there were I have a prayer of working on it. The Weekender dolly looks like a great idea for the boat being on a cement floor where it can be moved as needed. I'm inspired!