# ARTILLERY-STYLE TRAILER PLAN FOR 16 FOOT BOAT????



## satx78247 (May 29, 2014)

Friends,

I've recently been given a (late 1950s or early 1960s) 16ft Lone Star open fisherman that weighs about 500 pounds, with my "new to me" 1958 Johnson ES 18HP outboard & fishing gear.

I've looked at San Antonio's "craigslist" & other "worldwidewierd" sites out to Houston, Dallas & Laredo & found NOTHING in a light-weight trailer, so I'm considering a DIY trailer BUT I have also located NO suitable 1950s-style plans.
(I drive a 1986 M-B 300SDL saloon that only has 148BHP & that will SAFELY tow a gross weight of 1,000 pounds.)

IF any reader has or knows where I can find such a suitable plan, I would be "a buyer".

yours, satx
[email protected]


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## bobberboy (May 29, 2014)

Maybe this'll get you started

https://www.google.com/search?q=pop...jEYONyATM5YKIAw&ved=0CCkQ7Ak&biw=1127&bih=627

https://www.google.com/search?q=pop...7#q=home+handyman+boat+trailer+plans&tbm=isch


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## satx78247 (May 29, 2014)

bobberboy,

THANKS for the NIFTY images but NOT even ONE artillery trailer in the litter.

To those who wondered (besides the member who emailed me) an ARTILLERY TRAILER is essentially ONE long C-shaped central support or a pipe or a square/rectangular tube, with an axel/springs/shocks/fenders/wheels attached to the central pipe/tube/etc. and 2 or 3 "bunks" to receive/support the hull.
You don't see them much anymore because most modern boats are too heavy to work well with such a light trailer. = MOST of these light trailers max out at 750-1,000 pounds, gross weight.

yours, satx


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## lckstckn2smknbrls (May 29, 2014)

At onetime I had a trailer that was a long main tube and one leaf spring mounted sideways over the axle.


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## satx78247 (May 29, 2014)

lckstkn2smknbris,

YEP that's ONE kind. - Some have 2 "stub axels" & separate coil springs on each wheel.

yours, satx


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## bobberboy (May 30, 2014)

how about one of these?

https://www.google.com/search?q=ART...ew%26action%3Dsingle_ad%26id%3D274680;450;338

https://www.louisianasportsman.com/...sifieds&event=view&action=single_ad&id=274680

https://www.janer.com.au/images/m2.jpg

https://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae78/cherrie274/Picture102.jpg

not completely sure what the "C" shape is but maybe this?

https://johnandloripowers.com/Sunfish/IMG_0727.JPG


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## jethro (May 30, 2014)

How heavy is the boat you are towing? You can get a conventional trailer that will not be much more than 300 lbs for a 16'er.


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## satx78247 (May 30, 2014)

jethro; all,

The 16 foot deep/wide V-bottom aluminum boat weighs 272 pounds.
The 18HP, 1958 Johnson OB motor weighs 83 pounds.
The 6 volt "golf-cart" battery (for starting the OB) weighs about 90 pounds. 
The 10-gallon fuel tank (to be "built-into" the bow) weighs 8 pounds plus 80 pounds of 2-cycle fuel.
The two anchors weigh 10 pounds each plus the anchor chain/lines.

That adds up to: 553 pounds & doesn't include the fishing rods/tackle or "incidentals" like cold drinks/igloo cooler & ice/live bait.

Thus the weight of the trailer is IMPORTANT to stay well under 1,000 pounds gross weight.
(Btw, yesterday afternoon, I went & "looked at" the lightest "conventional" 16 foot trailer that I've found locally. - Took it to the local public scales & it weighs 396 pounds.)

yours, satx


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## satx78247 (May 30, 2014)

bobberboy,

The trailer on "Louisiana Sportsman's site" is precisely what I'm looking for, though it is missing one of the "bunks". -Unfortunately, it's "sold".

yours, satx


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## jethro (May 30, 2014)

Wow, strange. I went to Shorelandr Trailers to look at my model and it's weight and found this one which appears to be 245 lbs.

https://www.shorelandr.com/pages/t_specs.aspx?type=boat&productID=406

The one you linked looks like something really easy to put together yourself. That one looked like it might have been home built.


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## satx78247 (May 30, 2014)

jethro,

I wouldn't argue that Artillery Trailer LOOKS home-made BUT it is LIKELY a late 1950s GATOR (or a CLONE of a GATOR) or a DALTEX, as Gator/DALTEX & other "clone-makers" made a FLOOD of that type (in LA & TX) between 1955-70 AND one of those "pipe-trailers" are LIGHT, CHEAP to keep "roadworthy", EASY TO TOW & thus, "hard to get the owner to turn-loose of".
(That's WHY I'm looking for a "building plan" to make my "homebrew" version.)

Fwiw, around south TX, the VAST majority of "boat trailers for sale" are for BIG/HEAVY bassboats & even BIGGER/HEAVIER trailers to haul saltwater fishing boats, that weigh as much as 1500 pounds, as a "bare hull".
=======================================

Rather than start another discussion, information on my newest BIG PROJECT is below:

My "new to me" (that was given to me, by a GREAT friend from here in south TX =    ) DEEP/WIDE 1957-58 (a "hand laid-up molded plywood" & "custom-made" hull) HOLMES of Houston "GULF FISHERMAN 18" actually weighs about 450 pounds, plus a PAIR of 35HP Johnson "long-foot" OBs that together weigh less than 250 pounds. When I add in 4-6 (6-gallon) gas tanks with gas, anchors, lines, ice, food/drink, live bait & tackle "for out to the artificial reefs & oil platforms", I'd guess that "the whole deal" weighs about 1500-1600 pounds. - It is "sitting on" a TANDEM trailer that is designed for well over 2.5 TONS of boat/"stuff".
(My "new 1958" HOLMES is THE fishing boat that I wanted when I was a "wet behind the ears kid" BUT couldn't afford then. - A Holmes "offshore" OB hull was designed for "game-fishing the Gulf of Mexico". = When I was a lad, "all of 'THE COOL GUYS' seemed to have a HOLMES that they had had custom-built & custom-fitted by Robert Cecil Holmes, Sr. - In 2014, a GULF FISHERMAN 18 "woodie" is RARE and "hard to find" in restorable condition, as there were never many BUILT & there are a LOT less than that extant, now.)

Fwiw, MY "new to me" HOLMES needs, to be "as new":
1. lots of hand-sanding, inside & out,
2. re-varnishing in/out & re-painting the "below the waterline area", boot-top, "TX numbers", and "HOLMES of Houston" logos,
3. the replacement of the forward mahogany plywood deck and repairing the wooden windshield frame/glasses,
(LUCKILY the deck is "flat" & made of one sheet of mahogany 3/4" ply, with "fore-aft hand-cut grooves", every 6" across the beam.)
4. re-upholstery of the seats & interior trim,
5. "patching" of a "thumb-sized hole" in the forward portside,
(with a plywood patch inside & epoxy "peanut butter" outside. - Then a local HS art teacher will paint "an appropriate design" on both sides to camouflage the repair.)
6. remove, re-polish & replace the exterior bronze trim items,
7. installation of marine-band radio & whip antenna,
and
8. install the OBs and the other "allied fishing stuff".
(My GUESS, based on my other restorations, is that the HOLMES will cost 1500.oo to restore, with LOTS of my hand-labor, PLUS the cost of a suitable 1950s trailer and the trailer restoration. = NOT too much for a "seaworthy game-fishing rig" for "out on the Gulf", imVho.)

NOTE: Once the GULF FISHERMAN 18 is restored to "as new" condition AND I find/buy/restore a 1950s 2-wheel trailer that's long/wide/proper for the HOLMES, I will have a HEAVY-DUTY, 20ft tandem-wheel, trailer FOR SALE "at an excellent price".

yours, satx


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## satx78247 (Jun 2, 2014)

To ALL,

Think that we don't have GREAT members on this site? =====> A "new best friend" in south LA emailed me & then called me (after I gave him my cell number) to say that he is GIVING me a restorable GATOR trailer, that is of the correct vintage and quite suitable to "match" the 1960-61 LONE STAR 16ft KING COMMANDER.
(I'll be traveling to his home SOON to pick it up, will stop in Houston to pick-up the Lone Star and then the restoration on the boat/OB/trailer will start.

"COLOR ME PLEASED"!!!

yours, satx


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## jethro (Jun 2, 2014)

A very happy ending!


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## satx78247 (Jun 2, 2014)

DEFINITELY.
(The only "hitch" is trying to get away from SA for that long.)

yours, satx


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## SumDumGuy (Jun 2, 2014)

[url=https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=354487#p354487 said:


> satx78247 » 02 Jun 2014, 09:47[/url]"]DEFINITELY.
> (The only "hitch" is trying to get away from SA for that long.)
> 
> yours, satx



It's almost summer time; seems like a good enough reason to get out of SA (humidity). :wink:


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