Since the "gunnels" thread was so popular lets try this:

Does "Deep Vee" only refer to the angle at the stern or does it apply to bow
angle too?

I know what dead-rise means and I understand the difference in how boats
with
a greater "V" in the back handle. On our boat the bottom of the hull in the
stern is
pretty much flat. But in at the bow it's a very steep "V" shape. So would
this also
be considered a "Deep Vee" hull, or no?


Cow-Catcher: On our trailer the last cross-member is cut out to allow for
the
prop and rudder to slide into the trailer without hitting. We will (haven't
yet)
create a dropped section there that ties the two sides of the trailer
togther.
We've been calling this the "cow catcher" though is seems more like a
"squirrel catcher". Is there a better term to refer to this.

Again, pics at this link. See the last two. So far there is just a flat bar
across, but is will "drop" down about 7" when we're done.

http://tinyurl.com/yvq2t

Gary

"Gary Warner" wrote in message
...

Since the "gunnels" thread was so popular lets try this:

Does "Deep Vee" only refer to the angle at the stern or does it apply to
bow
angle too?

I know what dead-rise means and I understand the difference in how boats
with
a greater "V" in the back handle. On our boat the bottom of the hull in
the
stern is
pretty much flat. But in at the bow it's a very steep "V" shape. So would
this also
be considered a "Deep Vee" hull, or no?


=====================

No, your hull isn't a deep vee. Check out this article, here's a link:

http://www.bertram31.com/ray_hunt.htm

Steve P.

On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 00:57:15 -0400, "Gary Warner"
wrote:
On our boat the bottom of the hull in the
stern is
pretty much flat. But in at the bow it's a very steep "V" shape. So would
this also
be considered a "Deep Vee" hull, or no?

============================================

A true deep-V will carry the deadrise aft to the stern. What you have
is basicaly a flat bottomed boat which is sometimes referred to
euphemistically by the builders as a "modified-V". That's not
necessarily a bad thing but it emphasizes speed and fuel efficiency at
the expense of rough water capability and smooth ride. You should be
fine in protected water which is what the boat was built for.

How much did you save by building the trailer yourself? Nice job but
it looked like a lot of work.

Modified deep vee
G

"Gary Warner" wrote in message
...

Since the "gunnels" thread was so popular lets try this:

Does "Deep Vee" only refer to the angle at the stern or does it apply to
bow
angle too?

I know what dead-rise means and I understand the difference in how boats
with
a greater "V" in the back handle. On our boat the bottom of the hull in
the
stern is
pretty much flat. But in at the bow it's a very steep "V" shape. So would
this also
be considered a "Deep Vee" hull, or no?


Cow-Catcher: On our trailer the last cross-member is cut out to allow for
the
prop and rudder to slide into the trailer without hitting. We will
(haven't
yet)
create a dropped section there that ties the two sides of the trailer
togther.
We've been calling this the "cow catcher" though is seems more like a
"squirrel catcher". Is there a better term to refer to this.

Again, pics at this link. See the last two. So far there is just a flat
bar
across, but is will "drop" down about 7" when we're done.

http://tinyurl.com/yvq2t

Gary

"Wayne.B" wrote:


How much did you save by building the trailer yourself? Nice job but
it looked like a lot of work.




We won't have saved much money. Someplace between $0 and $1000.



Below is a long history of our trials and tribulations trying to get someone
to

sell or make us a trailer. The short story is: Even with all the work we had
to

put into it this was the easier route. AND we got a trailer that is EXCATLY

custom to our boat. It's nearly perfect and a very simple & clean design.



- - -



Our boat is a little unusual for a trailered boat. It has the prop and

a skeg hanging below the boat. Accommodating these on an "off the

shelf" trailer would likely have meant that the boat would set quite

high. Lots of ski-boat trailers would have been perfect...except our

boat is much heavier and longer. We did not find any trailer

manufacturer that wanted to work closely with us to figure it

out so the boat would set low to the ground.



We looked. We visited many dealers and some mid-level manufacturing

places. One place we visited is 1.5 hour drive each way. We had an
appointment

with them. Called to confirm the day before. When we get there the guy says,
"Oh,

we're short handed today. I can't spend but 5 minutes with you." Plus the
only

trailer that might have worked for us was under a stack of 5 other trailers.
We

asked, "Can we look around your yard here and get some ideas?" Nope,
that's

against rules. - - - Yea, thanks for having us drive out here for nothing



Another dealers: Oh we can help you. Talked to us for 40 minutes. Took down

our type of boat. What our concerns were (that the boat set low). Etc. Very

slick salesman like people. Said they'd look into it and call us. Ok,
great.

Never any call. I called them. Oh, yes, well call you back. No call.





THEN WE LOOKED INTO CUSTOM WELDERS...



GUY #1: Recommended to me by someone here was very nice on

the phone and was interested in our concerns that the boat set low...

but was 700 miles away and had never actually built boat trailers.



GUY #2: Builds BEAUTIFUL trailers and would have only cost

about $500 more than we'll have spent. We had an agreement with him

to build us one. But then he stopped returning any calls. We did nothing

to cause that. Asking around I hear he's like that. Probably because he

used to do lots of custom one-off trailers but now gets contracts for

50 at a time. I understand that. But why agree to build us one and then

not return our calls??



GUY #3: I went to his shop south of Boston. He agreed he could do one

and was to send me an estimate. 8 weeks and many unreturned phone

calls later I gave up on him.



GUY #4: We visited him the first time (hour drive each way). His trailers
looked

kind of "ugly" and we weren't thrilled by the design, but he was pretty
inexpensive

and it looked like it would do the job. He said he could start in 4 weeks.



When we visited the second time two weeks later (to bring him templates of

our boat) he said it would be another 4 to 6 weeks out. So we asked him if
he

wanted a deposit to hold that date. He said no.



When we visited him the third time (to bring another template that we had
forgotten

the previous time) we asked him if he'd mind signing a paper I'd listed out
details

on. He looked at it. Good thing I'd had the list. He was going to paint the
trailer his

usual green even though we'd asked him for black. I also had an "on our
about" date

and he looked and said he'd already booked other work and so could not start
until

about 6 weeks after what we'd agreed on.



This felt like we were being pushed around. We left a deposit anyway.



On the ride home we decided to ask for the check back and cancelled the
order.



Good thing we did. A few weeks later we visited a guy that restores boats.
He told us

(no prompting from us) that he's bought many trailers from this guy. But
that many of

them have had problems such as: Wiring was wrong. Wheel bearings were not

packed with grease so the hubs overheated when dragging the trailer home and

.......the best one.....when the boat weight was set onto the trailer the
fenders

came down and rubbed on the tires!



No wonder he was cheap.



BY THE WAY.......We're fairly easy going people...I think. We have a couple
of definite

concerns (mostly that the boat set as low as possible). But we're always
pleasant.

We have the money to spend on this. I really don't think we drove all these
people off.



What I think is that this boat/trailer is a little unusual. I think the
people selling "off the shelf"

stuff just didn't find it worthwhile to want to think through our issues
with us. I think there

aren't that many people doing custom welding that have experience with boat
trailers. The

few that do are either busy or not that good.



I've talked to a few boat restorers. Many seem to have the same problems.



- - -



SO, we decided to weld our own. It's almost perfect. It fits the boat
perfectly. It supports

the boat EXACTLY under the stringers. I'm quite certain it will be a cinch
to load the

boat on because we've designed it to almost self-center the boat. The tongue
weight will

(I'm pretty certain) be exactly what we want. It is very sturdy. The boat is
setting as low as

it possibly can. Any lower and the prop-guard would be closer to the ground
than we'd want

it to be.



It was a lot of work but also a fun project. Double Plus: Another point of
pride.



I've got half a mind to start building custom trailers. But I'd either need
a bigger shop and lots of

equipment or else I'd have to charge $10,000 per trailer. (Not for costs but
for all the work involved.)



Gary