Trolly Dolly

[inwe]

Getting older I am beginning to find pulling the trailer up and down the slipway harder and you can't expect other people to help you. So I decided to invest in an electric trolly dolly. (trailer tug!) I found that they aren't available in the size suitable for small boats. Oh well to the drawing board. There are some good u-tube vids of them  --- they are all American. But they do give good basic ideas.
There are a number of considerations: power supply, wheels, chassis, the list goes on. Design wise its as usual holistic. I first started researching wheels, they have to be pneumatic and I guess about 10inch. There are quite a few available but I settled on a pair of disabled ones. Nice size with bearings, even though they were imperial sizes. Not to worry I am not using them in the end but making my own solid ones.
Designed the chassis out of 11/2 inch angle and started manufacture. The drive wheel axle is solid with a chain wheel between them. I decided on chain drive as it transmits the torque effectively especially as its duplex chain.
Photos to follow.

[inwe]

It's stripped for painting at the moment. Have just received the battery.

[Chris Waite]

I meant to ask you when we (all) met yesterday, Richard....

How does something as light, relative to the boat and trailer, manage to develop enough friction to 'march' up an incline with a boat in tow?

This is my alternative -



Handy, Billy?

Chris W

[inwe]

It's all in the design and construction. I haven't noticed you using a handy billy!
 The weight of the boat gives you the friction if you have enough traction.

Richard

[Chris Waite]

Ah Richard!

Isn't your traction dependent on the friction?

The reason why you haven't seen me using my Handy Billy is that if there are others around willing to notice - and subsequently help - then it is not required.

It lives in my Tranny, along with a lengthy coil of similarly diametered line.  Between the two, all alone on Cobnor beach at low tide and a dead winch, 'electric', I might add, I have hauled some three hundred pounds of dinghy up the hard and ramp - ten metres at a time, yes.  Similarly coming to mind are hoiking a large mobility-scooter into the back of the van and another occasion, a well-oxidised yellow Mini, from its resting place at the back of the garden, across a badly behaved lawn and up an incline into the garage.  I'm sure there have been other instances as well, though time and my feeble mind have obliterated them from ready recall.  

And I've never had to charge either of them,

Inflate the tyres even once,

Or paint them

CW

....and think of the exercise

[Paul H (admin)]

Chris,

Comments about old white Trannies are off limits these days.😀


Richard,

I think a hand winch is a good backup. Batteries do go flat.

A long lead from your car is doable.  6mm flex is a bit chunky but is rated at 40A. Double up the earth and neutral for the negative side and you reduce the resistance.

There are some great RC connectors for high currents - Al fitted Little Jim with RC connectors for his electric trolling motor.



This one is rated at 90A. There are surface mount sockets, sealing plugs and other accessories.

Maybe not enough for full power, but great for boosting a flat battery in an emergency.

Paul

[inwe]

Ah Chris but you missed the point by a mile. My design was for an electric tug. You got it right - feeble mind. As for exercise I note that you did not do the exercise recently. Next time consider that other people besides yourself are capable of design and manufacture!!!

[inwe]

Paul
You have advised people on resizing photographs, have you ever considered taking your own advice and downsizing to a presentable size.
R

[Paul H (admin)]

Richard,

I've cropped top and bottom to save real estate scrolling.
As for being 979 pixels wide that's great for laptops, it scales ok on my Android phone and at 143kb is quick to download.

Detail is important on connectors and other widgets: moulding quality, non-reversible, gold plating, chamfered edges, side grips - they all add up to a good product. Those details won't be seen on a small photo; not with my short sighted eyes for sure!


Good luck with the trolly dolly, it's an interesting project.

-Paul

[Paul W]

Handy Billy is on my "shopping list " for exactly the same purpose.  A corkscrew mooring peg could be a useful adjunct.

PaulW.
www.mymorbic.uk

[Port-Na-Storm]

It's interesting that this subject has cropped up in several discussions recently.

The main issue seems to be that as we hopefully continue to get a bit older, because the alternative doesn't bear contemplation, some people are finding it harder to move their boats around on the shore.

It seems that the first solution people go for is to have a lighter boat, which is fine but I must admit the older I get the more I hanker after a more stable and roomy boat, rather than something light and tippy.

So finding easier ways to move a boat around on the shore would seem a good way to go.
Some boats are of course much heavier than others, our launching spots vary from shingle to concrete etc. etc. The solutions will be as varied and diverse as the boats and those trying to push and pull them around.

I think some form of power assistance is worth looking at.
I'll be interested to see what your solution looks like Richard.

It's often worthwhile looking around to see what's doing in other areas of technology and as everyone knows e-bikes have become incredibly popular recently, they've moved on from the early step through shopper types to full blown mountain bikes looking a bit like a motorcycle trials bike.
They are reliable, powerful, very robust and have Li-Iron batteries which last all day

So my imagination has been going along the lines having a chassis like this dolly from trident.
 

But powered by a motor like this.



Geared down to a walking pace it should have enough power to at least assist the poor old soul trying to drag the boat up up the beach and it might just save a few backs.
Plug it into the car/van to keep it topped up and you won't need 500 meters of cable either.

Of course all these things were invented years ago by the caravanners.



Stay awesome folks.
Graham.








 

[Paul H (admin)]

I've been thinking an electric winch on MilliBee's trailer would be good. Certainly easier than hand cranking, but with a remote control I could focus on keeping MilliBee on the rollers and not drifting sideways with the tide or wind.

Also an electric winch on the car would be great, to pull the trailer up a pebbly beach like Itchenor when I was stuck with front wheels slipping on the pebbles and MilliBee's trailer in the water. To cut the story short I was rescued by a friendly sailor with a 4x4.

Both the above situations are difficult even with youthful health.

Possibly an electric trailer winch could be attached to the car tow hook, for the trailer to pull itself towards the car.

-Paul

[inwe]

Just to sort a few things out about propulsion. Having delved quite deeply into this I decided that the manual dolly did not fulfil my requirement, it still was quite difficult uphill. Fine on level smooth ground  but a slip. Not easier. The alternatives such as e-bikes or scooters do not provide enough torque. Which is why the solution I found was the electric car winch as used on 4x4s.
I have assembled it today and ran it in my workshop (level floor, no load) good speed and controllable forward and reverse . I just have one piece of metal bar to attach to it and then the towing ball. Watch this space! I have fitted the handle and the remote is attached to this. Sorry no new additions tomorrow - hand surgery!
When I get it out of the workshop I'll let you knowhow it performs.

Richard

[Chris Waite]

Ahh Richard!

I am but a simple-minded, Marine-grade Origamizer;

This time last year I ruptured a (L) Achilles tendon; four months out of action and a few more starting to 'come back', when in October an all-summer twingeing disc finally prolapsed, "Bingo!" rampant (L) Sciatica.  Five more months and I am recently off the Gabapentin and able to pedal my butt from Southbourne to Langstone and back....

So what's your

Excuse?

Christo the Crumbling

(Incidentally Paulie; why are white Trannies "off limits these days"?)  

[inwe]

Well finished the workshop based manufacture. I have some pictures but non of the whole train. I'll take over to the barn and test it with trailer in tow to see how it handles. I've tested it in the workshop and I'm pretty certain that I got the speed right and the motor should handle the weight load ok. Overall pleased with the result, anyway here's the current photos.

[Paul H (admin)]

Well done Richard, it will outlast several Russian tanks.

What brand and model was the winch?

P

[inwe]

Hi Paul It's a NINJA warrior by Brimson Power 2500lb pull. Adapted of course.
Richard

[John P]

Well done Richard - looks good.
Just reminds me that in one of my jobs I was required to find a way to move heavy military vehicles along a production line - the quantity of production was not such as to justify a production line 'track' as in a car factory.  We made something like a very strong boat trailer (the vehicles under construction did not yet have their own wheels) and purchased a gadget almost exactly like you have made to move it.  From memory there were at least a couple of firms supplying such things in the UK, they were/are used to move heavy loads around a factory site.  Of course our one was CE marked and was arranged to apply a brake if the operator moved his hands off the handle bar - I trust that your one is similarly safety tested and carries a seal of approval!

[inwe]

Thanks John. Kite-marked ------ yeah!
Richard

[inwe]

Finally got it to the barn, I had thought that it might be a little too heavy to lift but the weight is mostly in the battery - and that you can lift separately. Speed over the ground not bad both unloaded and pulling. The clutch in the motor unit means that when disengaged the whole unit is easily pushed or pulled without engaging the drive. The only drawback is the tread on the tyres. Not quite deep enough. Still that can be sorted. Anyway here are some pictures, I was going to pull the boat out but due to obstacles I had to be satisfied with the trailer that was blocking my door. Still this one was a bigger trailer and twin axled so I deemed it a suitable test.





It fits neatly into the back of the car. So all in all not too drab.

Richard