In article ,
says...

On Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:23:34 -0400, JustWaitAFrekinMinute
wrote:


Seriously Don... Get to craigs list and get a 6 hp rototiller... Remove
the blade and have sombody bolt or weld a ball on the thing... Just find
one for a couple hundred bucks that is self propelled and look up
anybody locally with a set of end wrenches and a welder, another 35
dollars and maybe even a case of beer and you are golden...

I was really thinking you could make something.
Use something like a garage door opener motor for power. They are
usually gear head with a pretty good reduction and they end up with a
sprocket chain drive. These show up at garage sales and on Craigs List
for $20 or less.
Put a big sprocket gear on the wheel drive to get a little more
mechanical advantage.
Then is just a question of fabricating the dolly.

Garage door opener won't work, they won't pull that hard before the
safety mechanism cuts it out. I've got a 16' wooden door that is heavy
as hell, with two torsion springs to make it seem light enough to easily
pick up. One of the springs broke and the opener was useless. You can
hit your garage door opener, and when it's going up, grab the door and
it doesn't take very much effort at all to stop the opener. Springs are
adjusted properly when you can raise the door with the opener disengaged
and where ever you stop the door, it should stay.

In article ,
says...

On Wed, 05 Jun 2013 16:26:47 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

On 6/5/13 4:16 PM, iBoaterer wrote:
In article om, hank57
@socialworker.net says...

On 6/5/2013 3:25 PM, True North wrote:
Actually, the only real tricky time is first time out in the spring, as I winter the boat up on blocks way back in front of my shed. It narrows up down there thanks to a fence and a stairway to my rear deck....giving a 'thread the needle' effect.
Sure wouldn't want to scratch the Highlander.

No need to be intimidated by a fence or a stairway. Move em, dummy.

Gee, John just whined about Don's alleged name calling, I wonder if
he'll admonish you as well? I'd bet not.

Some posters here are interested in eliminating the snarliness and
name-calling and others, such as FlaJim/Hank, are not.

Where was this comment yesterday when Donnie was calling names?

John H.

As I thought.

In article ,
says...

In article , says...

On Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:23:34 -0400, JustWaitAFrekinMinute
wrote:


Seriously Don... Get to craigs list and get a 6 hp rototiller... Remove
the blade and have sombody bolt or weld a ball on the thing... Just find
one for a couple hundred bucks that is self propelled and look up
anybody locally with a set of end wrenches and a welder, another 35
dollars and maybe even a case of beer and you are golden...

I was really thinking you could make something.
Use something like a garage door opener motor for power. They are
usually gear head with a pretty good reduction and they end up with a
sprocket chain drive. These show up at garage sales and on Craigs List
for $20 or less.
Put a big sprocket gear on the wheel drive to get a little more
mechanical advantage.
Then is just a question of fabricating the dolly.

Have you ever lookd at the spindle where the sprocket is installed. It looks like a bottle
cap, the sprocket, on a bottle. They use the smallest part of the spindle to mate with the
sprocket. Time, alignnment and general use can shear the sprocket off of the spindle.

With the lower cost garage door openers it is easier to buy a new head unit and attach it to
the existing rail and hangers.

Again, a garage door opener will not work. They don't have that kind of
pulling power.

In article ,
says...

On Thu, 6 Jun 2013 20:27:05 -0400, BAR wrote:

In article , says...

On Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:23:34 -0400, JustWaitAFrekinMinute
wrote:


Seriously Don... Get to craigs list and get a 6 hp rototiller... Remove
the blade and have sombody bolt or weld a ball on the thing... Just find
one for a couple hundred bucks that is self propelled and look up
anybody locally with a set of end wrenches and a welder, another 35
dollars and maybe even a case of beer and you are golden...

I was really thinking you could make something.
Use something like a garage door opener motor for power. They are
usually gear head with a pretty good reduction and they end up with a
sprocket chain drive. These show up at garage sales and on Craigs List
for $20 or less.
Put a big sprocket gear on the wheel drive to get a little more
mechanical advantage.
Then is just a question of fabricating the dolly.

Have you ever lookd at the spindle where the sprocket is installed. It looks like a bottle
cap, the sprocket, on a bottle. They use the smallest part of the spindle to mate with the
sprocket. Time, alignnment and general use can shear the sprocket off of the spindle.

With the lower cost garage door openers it is easier to buy a new head unit and attach it to
the existing rail and hangers.

The Genie I have in my junk box looks pretty sturdy

It may look sturdy, but it won't pull a boat.

In article ,
says...

On Thu, 6 Jun 2013 17:59:18 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:

"Sam Adams" (our black lab) is supposed to love water but he heads
for the hills whenever we are using a garden hose. His partner in
crime "Fudge" loves it however. He likes us to point the hose
directly on him and he "attacks" the stream of water. Can't get
enough of it. Great fun, I guess.


Ed is not big on being squirted with the hose but he will jump in the
pool or off the boat in a heartbeat.
We swim laps in the pool until I let him win one and he gets out.

It's a good thing you let him win...........!!!

In article ,
says...

On Thu, 6 Jun 2013 13:49:35 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:



"Wayne B" wrote in message
.. .

------------------------
Been following your progress on the "Wayne Spot". Looks like you
are well away from any effects of "Andrea".
Getting to be a dicey area down there this time of year.


====

We altered our return route to keep us out of harms way. Right now
we're in the mid-Exumas (eastern Bahamas), getting some rain but the
wind is manageable. Storm is already going up the coast at this point
but some of the outer bands are still swirling around here.

I had originally planned to go up Old Bahamas Channel, off the Cuban
coast, directly to the Keys. Unfortunately that would have taken us
directly towards the storm and with no place to hide. Discretion
being the better part of valor, we opted for the more conventional
route.

Do you plan your trips so that every night you'll be in safe harbor?

On 6/7/13 1:43 PM, wrote:
On Fri, 7 Jun 2013 10:02:14 -0400, iBoaterer wrote:

In article ,
says...

On Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:23:34 -0400, JustWaitAFrekinMinute
wrote:


Seriously Don... Get to craigs list and get a 6 hp rototiller... Remove
the blade and have sombody bolt or weld a ball on the thing... Just find
one for a couple hundred bucks that is self propelled and look up
anybody locally with a set of end wrenches and a welder, another 35
dollars and maybe even a case of beer and you are golden...

I was really thinking you could make something.
Use something like a garage door opener motor for power. They are
usually gear head with a pretty good reduction and they end up with a
sprocket chain drive. These show up at garage sales and on Craigs List
for $20 or less.
Put a big sprocket gear on the wheel drive to get a little more
mechanical advantage.
Then is just a question of fabricating the dolly.

Garage door opener won't work, they won't pull that hard before the
safety mechanism cuts it out. I've got a 16' wooden door that is heavy
as hell, with two torsion springs to make it seem light enough to easily
pick up. One of the springs broke and the opener was useless. You can
hit your garage door opener, and when it's going up, grab the door and
it doesn't take very much effort at all to stop the opener. Springs are
adjusted properly when you can raise the door with the opener disengaged
and where ever you stop the door, it should stay.

I would just jumper out those switches



Bury 4' of an 8' 8x8 at the yard end of the driveway, dead center.
Attach an electric winch to it. Drill and bolt a hook to the back bottom
of the trailer, dead center. Put a non motorized trailer dolly on the
hitch end. The winch should easily pull the trailer back into the yard
and be controllable at slow speed.

In article ,
says...

On Fri, 7 Jun 2013 10:05:18 -0400, iBoaterer wrote:


The Genie I have in my junk box looks pretty sturdy

It may look sturdy, but it won't pull a boat.

You are confusing what it can do and what the safety weenies will let
it do.

Try it, then. Those motors aren't near strong enough to pull a boat.

In article ,
says...

On Fri, 7 Jun 2013 10:05:18 -0400, iBoaterer wrote:


The Genie I have in my junk box looks pretty sturdy

It may look sturdy, but it won't pull a boat.

You are confusing what it can do and what the safety weenies will let
it do.

Besides, $250 for a garage door opener that you have to modify and it
still won't be powerful enough, or $250 for a winch that will do the
job. Go for it!

On Fri, 7 Jun 2013 10:11:21 -0400, iBoaterer wrote:

In article ,
says...

On Thu, 6 Jun 2013 13:49:35 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:



"Wayne B" wrote in message
.. .

------------------------
Been following your progress on the "Wayne Spot". Looks like you
are well away from any effects of "Andrea".
Getting to be a dicey area down there this time of year.


====

We altered our return route to keep us out of harms way. Right now
we're in the mid-Exumas (eastern Bahamas), getting some rain but the
wind is manageable. Storm is already going up the coast at this point
but some of the outer bands are still swirling around here.

I had originally planned to go up Old Bahamas Channel, off the Cuban
coast, directly to the Keys. Unfortunately that would have taken us
directly towards the storm and with no place to hide. Discretion
being the better part of valor, we opted for the more conventional
route.

Do you plan your trips so that every night you'll be in safe harbor?

====

Ideally yes but it is not always possible. We end up making all
night runs once in a while and have even made a few 2 1/2 day runs but
always with a good reason. You have some situations where you can't
cover the needed distance between ports during the number of daylight
hours available. Rather than arrive at an unfamiliar port in the
dark, the sensible thing to do is leave in the afternoon, run all
night offshore, and arrive after sunrise next day. There have been
other situations where we had a lot of distance to cover with
problematic weather conditions. When a good weather window does open
up it pays to run with it for a few days. My wife and I are not
getting younger however and multi-day runs do take a lot of stamina.