GreenHorn Posted January 30, 2004 Posted January 30, 2004 As soon as the weather warms up a bit, I will be getting my Pocket Cruiser ready to put on a trailer. All I need is a trailer. I have found a couple of older fiberglass boats with trailers at different junkyards. The boats are obviously beyond repair. Neither junkyard owner will sell me a trailer without the boat, but the price for the boat/trailer combo is very tempting. My question is, since I do not have 100 acres to hide the old boat under the weeds, what does one do with an old unrepairable boat? Also, how many people will I need to put the pocket cruiser on the trailer? (I was able to flip it with four people) Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks. Quote
Mike Pennington Posted January 30, 2004 Posted January 30, 2004 Buy the trailer then dump the boat on the way out? Or one could advertise a free boat, bring your own trailer. :roll: Are there any cleats or electrical parts you can salvage? I suppose it all depends what they want for a trailer. New trailers are spendy. I can take my Vacationer off the trailer by myself and put it back on. I have done it a few times. I do still have the dolly I built my boat on which helps. I use a few folding moaning chairs to eather side to keep the boat from tipping over. Of coarse a strong winch is needed but once the boat is up on the first roller the job gets easier. I suppose a lot depends on the type of trailer, for instance if the trailer has bunks to ballance the boat on its keel. Good luck, Mike Quote
Guest Posted January 30, 2004 Posted January 30, 2004 Very few landfills will take it, unless you cut it up in very small pieces. If you have 100 acres, get yourself a backhoe and dig you a big hole and place it below ground. Quote
ken connors Posted January 30, 2004 Posted January 30, 2004 i had the same situation with a neighbor who said i could have the trailer for free if i took the boat too. another neighbor was doing renovations and had a dumpster delivered to his site. i duked him a few bucks toward his dumpster fee, took a chainsaw to the plastic boat (not without some satisfaction) and walked the trailer home. Quote
Simon Posted January 30, 2004 Posted January 30, 2004 Are there no options for recycling/reusing of old fibrglass? It strikes me that a thing like that would stay burried for a very long time before it decomposed. Not aimed at you personally Greenhorn, just a general question for enviromentally conscious forumites Quote
ken connors Posted January 30, 2004 Posted January 30, 2004 as an enviromentally conscious forumite, i can tell you that nobody around here wants anything to do with the stuff. unfortunately, there is no pressure on the industry to produce a product that can be recycled. remember when all dishwasher tanks were made of porcelain-covered metal? the industry was pressured to change this cuz porcelain wouldnt break down in the landfill. now they are either plastic or stainless steel, both recyclable. regrettably, the industry probably only aggred to the change is it gave them a reason to to produce the tanks cheaper and still look like a good corporate citizen. try convincing BAYLINER into making recyclable boats. good luck. :cry: Quote
Dave Ruedel Posted January 30, 2004 Posted January 30, 2004 Old boat could be used as a flower planter, however I would recommend getting a pack of construction waste bags from Lowes (extra heavy duty trash bags - not the leaf and grass cuttings variety), cutting the thing up, and putting it out with the trash. Keep looking, one might turn up. I'm not too far away, and will keep my eyes peeled. As far as loading goes. get the forward quarter or so up on the bunks, and use the trailer winch to do most of the work. 3 or 4 people should be more than enough. Quote
MikeStevenson Posted January 30, 2004 Posted January 30, 2004 As much as I like fiberglass in some ways, I don't think that it's very ecologically sound. I just tend to look over that part when thinkng about projects, because they're going to be your pals for life...or until the next project enters the picture. As to the bonfire idea, you can certainly do that with fiberglass, as it burns well, but it's probably one of the nastier looking smoke clouds I imagine. Way down on the list of ecologically PC things to do of an afternoon. Mike Quote
Frank Hagan Posted January 30, 2004 Posted January 30, 2004 I had much the same problem. I bought a boat and trailer for $150, then sold the boat for $50, but had to deliver it 90 miles away. Then I found out that I had bought the boat from a dead man, and I had to convince the state that he really did sell it to me (long story). Then I put $400 into the old trailer for new tires and hubs, electrical, etc. to get it ready for the boat. And I still have an old trailer. An old rusted out trailer is only a temporary solution. If you'll be happy fixing it up and using it for 2 years or so, used can be a good way to go. If you think you want to use it for 8 to 10 years, buy a new one. I'm afraid to take mine very far ... it has cancer! I need to put another $100 or so into repairs into the frame, patching where it is now looking like swiss cheese. I know there are some boat recycling centers; I found this quote: Yes, there is fiberglass boat recycling going on all over the US. My trouble in answering your question is geographic: I don't know who is doing this in NY. Call the national recycling hotline therefore, at 1-800-CLEANUP. - Research Library for RCRA A fiberglass industry page at http://www.pprc.org/pprc/sbap/fiber/recyc.cfm mentions that there are recycling companies in Washington and Florida, who have found a use for the material. Don't know if they are still doing it; the article is from 1997. I'm pretty conservative in most ways, but also green when it is practical and makes sense. In the case of product use, you have to balance the total ecological impact ... does building a wood boat use more resources on a per-year basis than building a fiberglass boat does? The total picture is not just the materials, but also energy use during building, the types of chemicals used, the waste materials, etc. What's the AVERAGE life of a wood boat compared to a fiberglass one? It may be that fiberglass is more green overall, due to its extremely long life, than the wood boat. Another consideration for me is what happens if all you can do is bury it. I'm not sure that fiberglass poses any threat to groundwater, etc., when buried. The idea that we are running out of room to bury things is a myth; we can still dig a lot of holes, so space isn't the issue. But lead-acid batteries and other things can be dangerous to bury. I reallly don't think cut up fiberglass poses much of a threat to the water supply, but there could be other bad stuff it does when buried. Quote
Mike Pennington Posted January 30, 2004 Posted January 30, 2004 I bought a twenty eight foot 1969 mood for three hundred dollars for my Vacationer. I tied a rope to a tree and the boat, then drove off with the trailer and a satisfing thump left loudly behind me. :roll: Maybe, I can arange a Viking funeral someday nope my wife wouldn't part with the boat. I'll be deep sixed for sure. :shocked!: Quote
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