N20 hull cradles

I am making hull cradles for my I20, have laid up the cradles themselves out of heavy glass and foam core. I need some suggestions on how to build the connection to the Beach wheels, and connection to the trailer. The rear set will set on a single roller(inserted after the boat is on the trailer), the beach wheel set goes on 2" round stock, The front set will go on 2" sq stock.

Im thinking of using foam rubber to make a form directly on the cradles. Cradles laying in place on the hulls(Boat is assembled upside down) Lay glass over the foam, set the beach wheels or 2" stock wrapped in plastic onto the layup. Im thinking I may need to use non oriented glass instead of woven mat.
Same method for the roller set.
The front trailer set, i think i will need to wait till I can flip the boat over, slide the cradles under (on top of the trailer crossbeam), crossbeam wrapped in plastic, lay glass and resin from the cradle to the sides of the beam and let set. Remove them, then finish the cradle with foam and mat.

Dont tell me that it would be cheaper to buy some, this is part of what I enjoy about cat sailing.

Use aerosol insulation foam to make a form, sculpt it to shape and glass over it?

Some one here may know: http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showforum=56

I did the same thing. For the roller or B/wheel axle I just draped the glass over the roller with wax paper under it. Then mixed filler in some resin and glued the hull part to the roller part and let it kick. Then glassed the two together.

I would probably make separate fiberglass forms and then join them. First, I would make the cradle for the hull (using the hull as a form with plastic on the hull, ,carpet, a little more plastic, then fiberglass and resin). I would then grease up the end of the cattrax tube with Vaseline, wrap and tape some 3 or 4 mil poly sheeting around the axle with 1 wrap nearest the end. I would wrap some glass around that and let it cure. Slide the glass off the axle, cut it in two, and now you have two half forms for mating to the axle. Glue those to cradles with a lot of thickened resin, tidy it up, and let it cure. Then glass some more to make the joint strong. Done.

Alternatively, you could tack the half tube to the cradle with super glue or quick setting epoxy and squirt in some hardware store insulation foam around the joint. Carve this to a good shape and then fiberglass. Do not rely on this foam to be structural, though. Use it only as a form to put the fiberglass on...and then put plenty of glass on the joint.

For the trailor I've taken some 2x4s and milled them between my band saw and table saw to fit the shape of the cradle and have a V-notch to receive a metal tube (stainless). I lay that on the formed cradle, with the tube, thickened resin between everything, and then vacuum bag several layers of woven knytex glass fabric to that to join in to the cradle Then I cut the ends of the glass around the metal tube, and insert a rod in there to act as a pivot. With a couple of metal fittings bolted to the trailer, these have been going for about 8 years strong and show no signs of wear or loosening even with double stack loads and a lot of miles. They align themselves perfectly to the hull when loading or trailering.

Or the easy way.You could borrow one from someone and use it as a mold . Made all four of my trailer cradles that way. For the wheels ,just fill in the square to a round using the axle or a piece of equal size pipe or pvc for the fillet. If you don't have one to borrow Jake's way would be the program.

PM sent. I may have a spare set to sell.

I know the instruction was to not suggest just buying them, but...

Just buy them. For the single axle mounting, I just got some trailer rollers, scuffed them up, and bedded them into the square areas with 5200. Then mount to the trailer the roller axles as usual. They haven't budged in years. When I'm not trailering, I made simple stands with 2X4s with brackets and mount the cradles with the same roller axle as used on the trailer. The thing with the back of the trailer that most around here do is have double rollers in the back - they make sliding the boat on and off the trailer easy. Once the boat's on the trailer, lift the back of the boat up and drop your cradle onto the double rollers - the square mount fits between the rollers holding it in place, the whole assembly pivots to match the hull. Simple, easy.

That sounds very nice Keith, but the description hurts my head. Can you post a pic, pretty please?

dave

Boat's not close, so pics will come as I can. Here's one of the boat on the trailer. You can see the rear cradles. The trailer has a single roller/axle mount. The cradles have a standard rubber trailer roller bedded with 5200. Then you just mount the roller to the trailer with the regular roller axle. When I keep the boat at the lot, I put the beach wheels just forward of the front beam, then I pull the cradles off the trailer, put them on the 2x4 stands, and put them under the rear beam.

I'll try to get a pic of the double-roller thing, not on my trailers.

Thanks Keith!

Large diameter PVC tube, cut it in half, heat it up on the grill, once it's soft lay it on the hull with carpet in between. Let it cool, glue carpet to pvc, Bolt this to wood and bolt to the trailer.

Or do what Jake said.

I made some custom cradles for my a cat by laying carpet on the hulls and then carbon, epoxy over that. The connection to the axle was a pink insulation block covered with carbon and epoxy. Painted to match the boat. Probably the most over engineered, most time consuming, most expensive cradles ever made.

Three more pics - two different views of the same cradle on a stand. Again, rubber trailer roller bedded into the cradle with 5200, can mount on the trailer or on these stands. Stands are three equal length 2x4s, stuck together with some long screws, a couple of trailer axle brackets. Last pic is boat at the lot, beach wheels under front, easy stands under back.

Here's the double-roller cradle drop-in that's popular in our area. The back of the trailer is fitted with a double roller set up, front with cradles. In the back, the cradle simply sets in the double rollers. It stays put, and is used for trailering and when the boat just sits on the trailer. For putting the boat on and off the trailer, you lift the back of the boat (very easy) and pull the cradles out. The boat now moves very easily on and off the trailer. Put the boat back on the trailer, lift the back and pop the cradles back in place. My modified cradles work fine with this set up too.

Excellent! Very slick system Keith, many thanks!

Dave