This is Marionette's trailer

Marionette's Trailer, October 2008

The trailer started life in 1996 as the steel cradle seen here. It was very well built with little sign of serious rusting. After sandblasting her, we welded a short tongue to the frame and bought, through the Northern Equipment catalogue, a single axle, surge brakes, springs, fenders, hitch actuated hydraullic surge brakes, heavy duty tires, a spare tire, a light package and an 800lb capacity tongue jack, the one in the picture immediately below, It was marginal. In 2008 we bought a new, double wheel 1500 lb jack - much better.

The tricky part of building the trailer was getting the location of the axle right so we could achieve the right balance and tongue weight. This involved some assistance from the S&S office - fore and aft center of balance (see below). Some real nice, expensive hitches have load cells that read out the tongue weight on the truck hitch. This does not fit within the typical Dolphin owners accessory budget. The assembly of all the parts is fun as long as you have a mechanic friend who knows about things like hydraullic surge brakes.

We have a 12’ extension and a removable tongue wheel (click here for a larger image of picture at left) that makes launching easier. The wheel stores on top of the tongue. After positioning on the ramp, the trailer wheels are blocked, the trailer disconnected, the tongue wheel moved to the down position and the jack swung up. The extension is connected to the hitch on the trailer and on the truck. With this one axle system you have to be sure you have your weight distribution right, not only for towing, but when using an extension, especially on a steep ramp. A 'light' tongue is not good - I think 500# minimum and 800# maximum is the right range.

Another problem with a light tongue - with the extension rigged - backing down a nice gentle, beautifully paved ramp is no problem. With the extension, if the backing down process is jerky or stops abruptly (pot holes, bumps, etc.) the tongue "joint" could lift because the boat wants to keep going while the trailer wants to stop.. Not a big problem when the boat's stern is nearly in the water, but a big problem if on the steeper, dry part of the ramp, or in shallow water. This owner has, many times, put his 200 lbs to good use as insurance by standing on the tongue over the extension wheel for the ride to deeper water.. Maybe this is why people invest in double axle trailers? Another consideration is that a short tongue means no really tight turns. More on why a short tongue is a good idea later.

The trailer has a removable 'nose' post to help align the boat when she is being pulled out. This can be a bit tricky without a winch to hold her on nose as the boat will settle in whatever attitude she has when she no longer floats - this is a variable event by poppet depending on how level and even the ground under the water is. Putting a ring in Marionette's bow is not an option! You can't use a line to the bow chock because while it pulls the bow down into the nose post it also pulls the stern up - and when you haul out the stern settles back pulling the the nose back. Sometimes we use a halter around the whole boat so there is no down pressure on the bow. It really all depends an the attitude of the trailer and how gradual the grade is. Anyway, we always manage to get it done and get her home, sometimes with a pad that we slip between the nose post and the bow. In any event, the nose post is not 'structural', only a sturdy guide.

The trailer passed the CT MVD inspection and has a 6000lb rating. She weighs 1060 lbs which means that she is rated to carry a 4940 lb load. What does a Dolphin weigh? I thought you would never ask (click here) Total cost was less than $2000 plus lots of mental stimulation vs the Triad no brainer but expensive $3300, at that time (1997), now maybe close to $6000. The real savings? Marionette's trailer can fit in a barn that is only 28’ deep. The overall length of this trailer with boat is 26’. A Triad with boat would be about 8’ longer, at least several thousand in additional larger barn construction costs on space that I really did not have.

The trailer in the barn. That 2 x 4 in the foreground was a temporary brace for the verticle nose support you see in the prior photo - a removable 1 1/2 in OD pipe with U flanges welded to both sides and bolted to the tongue. Click for a larger image. In the beginning I had built a pair of wood guides for the keel thinking they would help guide the boat on to the trailer. And I bolted a couple of aluminum tubes to the fenders into which thin flag poles could be inserted. Neither of these 'accessories' turned out to be necessary.

On the road - the normal trip is 4-5 miles to the launch ramp or boatyard.

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On September 9, 2008 this trailer made its first ever long haul - 250/275 miles from Southport Is/Boothbay, Maine back to Old Lyme, CT. This trip was approached with some anxiety. She came through with flying colors. I learned one lesson about trailering a heavy load at 65mph on the highway - do not look at the trailer - its scary. Kind of like an out of control dinghy being towed in a following sea... Here she is delivering Marionette safely back to her barn.

Please note that the trailer lights work!

Some comments on the mast issue. When I built the 'saw' horses for supporting/carrying the mast on the boat, I had a couple of things in mind - clearing the bow pulpit, high enough so that I could use them with the mast as a ridgepole system for a winter cover should the need arise, low enough to clear bridges, and a reasonable height so I could use them as horses for working on the mast for normal maintenance. We had no problems with this system but if these horses were lower the center of gravity would be lower - a good thing, and easier to load. And thinking about all the large dents you see in steel bridge trusses on the highway would no longer fog the mind.

We tied the horses down really well, the legs have 'socks' made from remnent carpeting. On the trip back we talked about maybe a better way - like maybe laying the mast on a simple pad system tied to the deck along side the house, or maybe better to a padded pair of cross 2 x 4s, one across the foredeck in front of the house, the other in front of, or in back of, the transom hatch. This would give us a much lower center of gravity, much easier tie down of the 2 x 4s and the mast, and you could load/unload the mast single handed without hardly even getting on the boat. And it would still be higher than that car that you did not see in the rear view mirrors....

New 1500 lb double wheel tongue jack

Spring 2009 Ready to go

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January 23, 2010 The recent interest in trailers has prompted a review of what additional useful information on Marionette's cradle conversion was available.

A key piece of information is knowing the exact center of gravity formula for the Dolphin 24. Here is the formula provided by S&S: The center of gravity is located at 50.55% of the waterline length measured from the bow. Here is a rough sketch used when we built Marionette's trailer.

The measurement formula placed the center of gravity inline with the center of Marionette's aft portlight, which is also a point 11' from the end of the transom - why I considered this relevant I can't remember. When I bought the boat it was on the cradle positioned with the front poppit lined up with the running light (which is just forward of the main bulkhead), and in line with the winch. The boat had been in this position for nearly 10 years without change and there was no visable hull deflection. There did not seem to be any good reason to change this so the next step was to position the single axle under the cradle to get the desired tongue weight.

The easiest reference point on the boat was the end of the rudder - I remembered that. The following sketch shows the position of the axle. it also indicates the height of the poppits and other important dimensions.

This is a sketch of the key dimensions on Marionette's trailer. By viewing the trailer itself (above) and checking against this sketch you can dimension the trailer. For a larger view of this sketch click here.  Click the back arrow on your browser to get back here.

Note that there is a 'tube stand' mounted off center on the rear cross frame. This is to prevent the trailer and boat from tipping back when someone is in the cockpit. It is a large diameter pipe welded to the frame with a smaller diameter pipe inside, and with a few in line holes drilled though both. There is a flat plate welded to the inner pipe. By pulling a pin the inner pipe slides down and the flat plate rests on the ground. By adjusting the jack up forward you can get one set of holes to line up and re-insert the pin to block it. I almost never use it but I like to have it. Usually, I just use wood blocks under the aft end of the keel. Here is a list of the key parts

Reliable Axle Assembly - SP6000 - 087, drop axle, 5200 lb capacity, hydraullic brakes, leaf springs and hangers

Dico Hydraullic Brake Actuator and 2" ball hitch

Dutton - Lainson 800 single wheel tongue jack; later upgraded to 1500 lb double wheel the 800 lb jack seemed 'tired", and I wanted the double wheel for ease of moving the nose of the trailer around on softer ground.

Tires - Titan SD 225/75, 15", 6 lug, 2500lb capacity.

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March 30, 2010 In a recent email a reader, planning to build/rebuild a trailer for a Dolphin he hoped to find and buy, asked an interesting and basic question:

Hi Ron, Excellent website. I'm currently welding up a trailer using the plans on your site. I don't have a Dolphin yet but I'm planning on picking up one of the free ones (or possibly the one on ebay lately). Can you suggest any improvements to make to your trailer or are you happy with it as is? So far, the only change I'm making is to have 2 axles. Any imput appreciated.Thx.Andy

My answer:

I have a 'short' tongue because I needed to get the boat/trailer into a barn without much room. It works but you have to watch for sharp turns, and I think a longer tongue might tow better. I am happier with a 1500lb capacity tongue jack. I am on my 3rd full/partial set of trailer lights in 12-13 years? Generally, I launch and retrieve the boat at a salt water ramp once a year, spring and fall. I always fresh water rinse but....The next time they go out on me due to corrosion I am going to rip off the entire system and replace it with a 'temporary' system - essentially an easily detached (from the trailer frame) 2x4 with the lights fixed to it and wires that clip to the frame. When the trailer goes in the water, the lights and wires come off. For the same reasons I would be careful about electric brakes.

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