Drascombe Dabber Modifications by Steve Shone - Dabber "Missee Lee" (Continued)
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The Trailer
The malevolent beast that sits sullenly under the boat has an unglamorous life and deserves more care than it normally gets. Last year I replaced the standard 8” wheels with beefy looking 10” jobs as the 8” tyres were due for replacement anyway. The relatively small additional cost of three new wheels and a couple of mudguards has been more than justified by the transformation in behaviour of the trailer. The reduction in rolling resistance and the ability of the larger footprint to spread the load wider on soft ground makes towing and manhandling a breeze.
Launching isn’t affected and I still don’t have to dip the hubs – but
there again, I have made the secret weapon. I almost went for a new swinging
cradle trailer and was on the point of ordering when the voice of Uncle Scrooge
rang in my ears – being a Yorkshireman
has nowt to do with it! This gadget was in part also due to the purchase of
an estate car. The new bowsprit/bobstay arrangement meant that rigging on land
was easier than doing
it whilst afloat. The lower boot lid old saloon car gave the necessary clearance,
but the rear screen of the estate was now in peril.
The solution was to extend the trailer on a temporary basis. Whilst I was
thinking about this, the idea to put a bend in the extension slowly formed.
The end result provides an instant, portable slipway. How much bend? A guesstimate,
based on the old adage of ‘if it looks right, it is right’ and
it worked first time. Misselee rolls off the trailer under her own weight after
the lightest of shoves, and recovery is a doddle. I also fitted additional
rollers either side of the rear roller to stop her habit of falling off the
sides if not square on. At a cost £15 all in and a little bit of welding
I think it’s a bargain. The hitch is obviously not intended for road
use, though I have no doubt that it is well up to the loads expected of it.
The extension is made of box section steel the same width as the trailer chassis.
I have drilled two clearance holes in the top surface that fit over the mounting
nuts of the trailer’s towing hitch providing safe fore/aft/sideways location,
and the whole thing is held to the trailer by two pairs steel straps with pins.
I dare say other ways of securing it could be devised, but this was what came
to mind first.