Towing poly boats off road/corrugated roads

[crayfish]

Was seeing if anyone has done some serious corrugated road/ 4wd tracks towing their polycraft? I'm looking to upgrade to a more seaworthy boat, but I'm a bit worried what the vibrations of 1000+ km of corrugations will do to the hull,IMHO fibreglass hulls are out , also been looking at 4 to 4.4mt tinnies but have the usual tinnie problems , hull fatigue cracking, corrosion, rough ride.....

Over the years I've always cartopped alum tinnies when going off road & long distance on unsealed roads, I do a mix of inshore fishing / tidal creeks & rivers plus spearfishing in unprotected waters. Basicaly the 4.50mt drifter tiller steer seems to suit my needs, just need to get one with a boarding step & ladder.

Also does anyone do much shallow water work with either the 4.1mt challenger or the 4.5mt drifter? guessing they would have a deeper draft than a standard v bottom tinnie.

Thanks for reading

[Learjohn]

Crayfish, the only problem I have had towing a Poly on rough, corrugated roads is the tie down straps rub hell out of the sides. This is easily fixed with a bit of carpet or rag. Also the soft front roller rubs the bow and wears a hole in it. I stopped this by changing to a neoprene roller or solid neoprene vee block. Apart from that you only have to worry about the trailer falling apart.
John2thumbsup

[Luke G]

No worries off road, had to put a S/S plate over where the front roller sits due to putting a hole in it and thats it.

[Giffo]

Crayfish

I have a 4.55 and had to put stainless angle on the gunnels as the strap melted the poly on corrugated roads.You can find it on the old forum,but other than that, good boats for spearing/fishing.

[Andy]

I have a 4.55 also that has done many k's on dirt tracks. Same deal with the tie downs. I dont care about mine though, they only wear down so far and seem to stop.

[poly]

I have found this the best way to tie the boat down, this way nothing touches the plastic

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee7/poly2312/P5030014.jpg

P,s, not my boat but i do use this type of tie down

Paul:):):)

[Craiglh]

To try and answer your question on the draft of the 4.1 and 4.5.

I have a 4.1 and goes into extremely skinny water - possibly shallower than a V hulled tinnie - I raise the outboard and use a Minn Kota electric mounted on the front.

I would expect that the 4.5 has a slightly bigger draft than the 4.1 but certainly no more than a tinnie.

From what you indicate as the intended use of the boat - go for the 4.5 as it would be better at handling the varied conditions you will encounter.

cheers

Craig

[Andy]

To try and answer your question on the draft of the 4.1 and 4.5.

I have a 4.1 and goes into extremely skinny water - possibly shallower than a V hulled tinnie - I raise the outboard and use a Minn Kota electric mounted on the front.

I would expect that the 4.5 has a slightly bigger draft than the 4.1 but certainly no more than a tinnie.

From what you indicate as the intended use of the boat - go for the 4.5 as it would be better at handling the varied conditions you will encounter.

cheers

Craig

Oh yeah, i forgot to respond to the draft bit... Anyhow, I do a lot of crabbing (or used to until anna shut evrything down with the green zones) and I put my boat in places where no one goes. Like craig, I often motor up creeks with the electric. Best way to do it, means I can go crabbing where almost no one else will go.

[crayfish]

Hey, thanks for your ideas, I think I read somewhere here before about tie downs melting the gunnels, looks like in Pauls pic there is a eye bolt installed in the side of the hull, top idea I reckon. Was more worried about below the water line, no one has mentioned any probs there , so thats a relief. Thought maybe that hard blue plastic they use on the trailer skids may rub flat spots in the hull, have seen this happen on alum hulls, but the suface area was small, so spreading the skids the full length of the keel ( as the trailers for poly boats seem to be built) seems to be the better idea. Just may need to get the trailer frame beefed up & maybe bigger wheels for the beach towing, have heard its best to have the trailer axle the same width as the 4wd's axle, less resistance in the sand, may not be possible ie the boat would sit too high on the trailer with a narrow axle.

The shallow draft report is great news too , its a pain , but some of the better fishing is just before low tide, so a shallow draft is important, being stranded for hours is no fun with sandflies for company....

As for spearing , usualy its just a matter of a kick with your fins & up you go into the tinnie, but cant see me doing it with the 4.1 or 4.5mt polycraft boats!! I'll have to check out boarding ladders etc.

Brad

[Dave]

When I was living at Doomadgee (look it up on Google earth) the one thing I did notice was along the side of the road were trailer parts lying on the side of the road.
Usually mud guards. No just boat trailers but all sorts.
Its rough corregated road through there 100's ok km of it.
So consider how the guards are attached and keep an eye on them for stress fractures etc.

[handy]

i have towed my 4.55 over heaps of dirt tracks and had no dramas,but i have done what others have done and made the tie downs hook up to eyelets under the handrails and fitted stone deflectors to the trailer.
i have had roos jump into the side of the boat at 130km and bounce off big time.
your only down fall will be your trailer. they are one tough mother of a boat.

cheers

[bigmark]

Ive towed my 455 up to Weipa and had no probs.Full length skid RM trailer got through ok.In saying that the road is pretty good these days and is like a dirt hwy most of the time.If I was to tow it on the Savannah Way I'd look to beefing up the trailer with full welds and bracing etc.:)

BM

[crayfish]

Looks like these poly boats are tougher than a brick s...house

Just regarding the trailer, I've heard shock absorbers been fitted to some off road campers, but none to boat trailers, thinking a good pair might save the trailer falling apart ie reduce vibration, anyway just a thought.

Can't see it being a problem, but has anyone put their boat back on the trailer when the boat is on sand & not floating? ie when the waves are more than just a ripple & too rough for the usual recovery method ( driving the boat onto the trailer) , just hope the bow eye is strong enough.

BM have to agree with PDR conditions, I drove south from Bamaga early Dec 09 & found it very good, but school holidays can be pretty rought & dusty..... but when I stop cartopping & get a trailer boat I'll have to take it easy.

Brad

[Dave]

The bow eye on mine is strong.

I have winched it up off the ground several times.

I used to tow it at 8kn behind my Trimaran as well and there is no signs of any problem with it at all. Sometimes it was pretty rough and i was a bit worried but it was fine.

[Mark]

Hey crayfish,
If you have ever followed behind a boat on a trailer & watched were it moves you may notice alot of side to side movement. Everybody ties them down but not everybody crosses the ties to stop sideways movement. I learned this a LONG time ago in my Ski days with Lewis twin tunnel hulls on skid trailers. So looking at the rear of my boat you can see the Tie downs stop up & down as well as left & right. Other thing you can do is add a chain with a turnbuckle at he front to firmly hold the nose down firm on the front roller. I have also thought about the idea of adding s.hocks for long distance trips. makes so much sense to control the rebound. I was thinking of removing them for general use around home, then bolting on for trips (prevent them rusting out)

http://i806.photobucket.com/albums/yy350/Markrel/ReartiedownsSmall.jpg

Good luck
Mark

[Darth]

Hi Poly

I like your tiedown modification in the photo. Does that tiedown (ring nut?) replace the nut on the base of the grab rail or how is it attached?

Dave

I have found this the best way to tie the boat down, this way nothing touches the plastic

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee7/poly2312/P5030014.jpg

P,s, not my boat but i do use this type of tie down

Paul:):):)

[bigmark]

Ive winched the 455 on to the trailer from off the ground a few times in the backyard.Just unhook trailer and it will slide under boat while winching.

BM