Trailer

Tra Bhui sits on an ex MOD trailer that was originally made for a Rigid Raider assault craft and which I bought second hand from a military surplus dealer.

The trailer which is a superbly engineered "break back" trailer was manufactured by

R M Trailers.

A Division of Tex Engineering Ltd.

Prospect Road.

New Alresford.

Hants,

SO24 9QF.

2013

I originally bought it for our Lugger "Braveheart" and as the trailer was too long I cut approx 3 feet off it before welding a new tow hitch on to it.

On her original trailer - being delivered from Ireland

An unexpected surprise for Kathleen! - Braveheart can be seen under the car port

When I purchased Tra Bhui in 2013, it came on a modified 4 wheel car transporter trailer which I sold on to a fellow member of the Drascombe Association.

Lifting Tra Bhui off her original trailer

And there she hangs !

As Tra Bhui is approx 8 feet longer than "Braveheart" I had 4 feet added back into the trailer's spine. As I was at the time working overseas in the Philippines, I asked a local fabricator to carry out the work as I did not have the time.

Our own trailer with 4 feet added back in

Still hanging there!

Once the spine had been extended I moved the axle back to balance the trailer with Tra Bhui on it. At this point the trailer had no rollers on it apart from the 12 keel rollers. This ws due to the problems of setting the rollers up correctly in relation to the keel rollers with out the boat's hull being in place to act as a reference.

Trailer with axle re positioned is fed back under Tra Bhui

Trailer winch being used to winch trailer back under boat.

With the spine extended I moved the axle back to balance the trailer with Tra Bhui on it.

Once I had the trailer back under Tra Bhui I was able to position the rollers correctly in relation to her hull. The Gig has fairly substantial bilge rubbers which protrude downwards from the hull on either side of the keel. The rollers had to take into account their position.

I reused the swing arms that I had originally fitted to the rear of the trailer for our lugger as these had proven their worth guiding the boat on. I also reused two of the trailer's original side rollers which would balance the hull above the axle.

Trailer with cradle rollers, side rollers and guide rails

This configuration worked pretty well, but I found that the keel had a tendency to run off the keel rollers when the boat was being recovered. This was mainly due to the slight rocker that Tra Bhui has along her keel line. When she is recovered any slight list to one side causes her to run on in very slightly curved line.

The solution to this was to add two pieces of steel tube to act as guide rails - one on each side of the keel rollers - (see picture above and below)

Rear rollers on their swing arms

2015

In 2014 I bought new rollers to replace the ones which sit above the axle and which really just balance Tra Bhui when she is loaded on her trailer. Unfortunately time in 2014 did not allow these to be fitted so they sat in a box in the workshop until April 2015 when with the season about to start and Tra Bhui due to be towed over to France and then Spain for the summer, I managed to find some time to get them fitted.

At the same time as changing the rollers I wanted to replace the guide rails on either side of the keel rollers with some box section rather than the 50 mm steel tube that I had originally used. The steel tube while very effective sat a shade to high above the rollers causing slight marking to Tra Bhui's gel coat during launching and recovery.

The first step was to get Tra Bhui off her trailer. the simplest way of doing this I have found is to secure her stern to the handy lamp post that the council installed in our garden - not I am sure for the purposes that I use it for. With Tra Bhui secured to the lamp post and with the winch strap slackened off and the trailer back released, it was just a matter of slowly driving the trailer forward which deposited Tra Bhui gently on to our front lawn.

Tra Bhui unloaded onto our front lawn - more entertainment for our neighbours!

With Tra Bhui off the trailer it was a fairly simple job to change the rollers for 2 new 4 sets on swing arms and to change the guide rails.

Rollers set to avoid bilge rubbers

New mid rollers - note marks left on hull by old rubber rollers

New Guide rails for the keel rollers

End rollers / swing arms

Trailer ready for Tra Bhui to be reloaded

As usual time was against me and with a number of other jobs on Tra Bhui to be finished before taking her to France I had to put her back on her trailer without having time to paint the trailer. I did however have time to paint all the bare metal areas with a zinc paint which should discourage future rusting.

Hopefully before next winter I will have time to get the trailer properly painted.