Bob Brown’s Belle

[Bob Perkins]

I had a miserable process of jacking up the trailer and putting all 4 wheels on car dolly's. The garage it was kept in (not the shop) was just big enough to store it diagonally.. with a drop down tongue.. I had 3" clearance at the back corner and about 2" at the front. It was a pain..
back it in.. jack it up.. hope I got it positioned.. twist sideways.. it doesn't really want to move on little 2" wheels.

If you are going to continue building.. I suggest pop it off the trailer and put it back on its building cradle if you can.. Working around the trailer can get painful. The cradle being 100% under the boat just made things much simpler.
Looks good!

[BobBrown55]

Bob, I just had a bad experience with the skates as well. Got the boat up on them, just started to move it, and it fell off of them, all four at once! That was exciting. Realized afterwards that strapping the skates to the trailer tires might have solved the problem. Fortunately, it moved enough to accomplish what I wanted, an inch more room for the garage door to close (i.e., from zero clearance to 1”) and enough room to walk by.

I get your comment about putting it back on the cradle, but I don’t really want to do that. That’s a full day project and not one I can do by myself. Going to try to get enough done in the next couple of weeks to get her in the water for some testing. I may go to plan B over the winter when I’ll be working to finish the deck and interior, which is to store her in a nearby RV storage facility and bring her home for work.

It is a challenge building a boat this big in a 2 car garage!

[Aussie]

Bob,

I agree with Bob Perkins

I would complete off the cradle, your biggest challenge will be keeping your nice shiny trailer clean.

Top deck makes an incredible mess of the shop

Just my thoughts

Looking great and can’t wait to see you on the water

[Roberta]

I also think you will be miles ahead working off a cradle or dollies. The boat will be lower and not working over the wheels and fenders will be much easier. Spare your trailer from a disastrous mess.

Roberta

[Bob Perkins]

Maybe rethink getting it on the cradle - I can to it alone in about 45 minutes.. Its been on/off a few times over the years.

The way I got it off:
Moved front of boat to big sling at garage door made from truck duty ratchet strap. Then I jacked the boat and trailer straight up to a height that I knew had clearance for the cradle. Ratchet it up a bit.

Jack the back of the boat up just enough to get it off the trailer bed and slide the trailer forward a couple feet (I made a T-brace sorta thing for this step). Then jack boat and trailer straight up until its high enough and slide a pair of brownell boat stands under the back at the transom. But centered on the stringers.. Lower the trailer/boat onto the stands.

At this point your boat is fully suspended in mid-air as you pull your trailer out..
Slide the cradle in place.
Then jack it up to get the rear off the stands, then the front to get it off the sling..
The first time it was a bit scary - I don't even think about it anymore when it needs to go back.
My cradle design allows me to reassemble it in about 5 minutes. The trick to the whole thing is having strong wheels. My first set could not handle the weight..

Just a thought.. But all of us who lived through your next step agree.. save your shins and your trailer

[BobBrown55]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Good counsel.

Bob, thanks for the description of your approach. That’s very helpful. I need to develop a way to jack up the stern as you did and modify my cradle so it’s easier to assemble / disassemble.

Oh, and move to a house with a big shop!

Thanks again.

[BobBrown55]

Meanwhile, got started on the exhaust system. Copying Roberta’s design as well as I can.

[Roberta]

Looking good!

Roberta

[BobBrown55]

Big day! Cut the 4” hole for the first exhaust trumpet and installed it. It looks awesome and I’m so glad to be past this step.

Also, finished the exhaust pipe and connected it to the trumpet. Almost time to get some gas in the tank and see if that thing will start!


Ok, here we go! Just love cutting holes in the hull.

Ok, that turned out just right!

One of the best features of these boats! Just love the way it looks.

[Roberta]

Looking great!!

Roberta

[BobBrown55]

One more photo, the rear end of the exhaust piping. This was the only section where the fiberglass tube was used. The heavier flexible rubber tube was used at the engine end, as well as for all the connections.

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[TomB]

Bob,

The trumpet looks great!

A bit of boat-keeping to consider, a wave hitting the through-hull for the bilge will bring water into the boat. Consider a re-route to the hose so the hose connection loops up and toward the hull and then down next to through-hull to the bilge pump.

Tom

[BobBrown55]

Bob,

The trumpet looks great!

A bit of boat-keeping to consider, a wave hitting the through-hull for the bilge will bring water into the boat. Consider a re-route to the hose so the hose connection loops up and toward the hull and then down next to through-hull to the bilge pump.

Tom

Tom, thanks for your comment. I planned to route / anchor that bilge pump tube after the exhaust was in, but hadn’t thought about your point. I’ll route it higher! Thanks again,

Bob

[BobBrown55]

Got the second / starboard exhaust pipe and trumpet installed. Very glad to have that done!!

I really appreciate the help from Roberta with layout / design and part sourcing.

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[mickfly]

Love the trumpets! Can you share the source?