A30 Trailer Saga Continues...

We have finally had several warm and dry days in a row. With this nice weather came more trailer progress...and some surprises that will require yet even more work. But in the end it will make the trailer more reliable and trouble-free for years to come. 

                                         

Surprises first: With a little down time waiting on the coupler to come in, I decided to take the wheels off to check the bearings. This is what I found. 

It doesn't take a genius to figure out this wasn't good.

This is what the bearing looked like. Luckily I was able to go to the parts store and buy all new bearings and races. Unfortunately I was only able to reuse 2 of the 4 hubs on the trailer. I have 2 new ones on the way. More pictures to follow on hub and bearing rebuild.

After I pulled the wheels and hubs I decided to change the hanger and axle spring bolts. These are the bolts that hold the wheels to the trailer...pretty important. I knew from the start of this project these would need attention and I was right. They were wrong size and heavily corroded.

Here are the new bolts holding the new spring plates. I cleaned it all up with a wire brush and sprayed some rust encapsulator on it. Should be good for quite a while now. I was happy to see something finished and looking good.

Next on the list was the trailer coupler, the part that connects trailer to the tow vehicle. I knew when I bought the trailer this too would need attention.

Installing the new coupler sized for the job of pulling Sal. It is rated at 12,500 lbs. I was happy to get to do some more fabrication work.

Here is the almost-finished install of the coupler. To me it looks a lot more sturdy and I will feel better knowing that it has been done right. I have only welded it with the small welder and will need to use the larger welder to finish it sometime this weekend.

Still needing to be done:

• Light and wiring-Still need to buy parts.
• Repack and install new hubs and bearings-Ordered and on the way.
• Brakes-Ordered On the way.
• Paint- Still need...and more importantly, what color?
• Tires- Still need to buy

Progress has been slow but steady. The trailer is getting there. I am hoping the weather will stay fair so I can finish it up. More to follow soon!

My eyes!!

My eyes!!!!!! The sun is shining and the ground is starting to dry. I should be able to get back to work on the trailer here in a day or so. My yard is almost free of standing water, with temps near 70 the yard will dry rather quickly. So for the next few days I will try and get some house stuff, like cleaning the garage finished.

Feeding the ducks yesterday as the storm blew through and turned my yard into a tiny lake. It was 35 and raining yesterday, today near 70 and sunny. Welcome to Virginia

Now This!

Yesterday it was 72 degrees and sunny. This is what today has brought. The white stuff is ice, not snow, its been sleeting here for last 3 hrs...

I did get the trailer coupler and a few other things taken care of, no fenders yet.

Progress to Report

Had another good progress day on the trailer. At this point I believe she could hold old Sal, upright anyway. I was originally going to have the yard place Sal on the keel support and leave her there in the slings while I made the supports to keep her upright. I decided to go ahead and make the stands before hand. The decision was made after receiving a great drawing and measurements from James Baldwin of www.atomvoyages.com. The supports came out great. As you can probably tell I used old boat stands. I simply cut them up and reused what I needed, not too bad considering I paid $25 per stand! 

Yours Truly welding the support in place

More welding

Using my calibrated eye to ensure all is straight! An eye I got from my uncle and my father. Both of them taught me, from the time I was a child to the the day I left for the Navy at 18, how to use my hands to create and fix things, something that no amount of money or school could replace. I could never repay them for it either; what they instilled in me growing up is priceless. It is because of them I am able and not afraid to do what I do today...Thank you guys! 

"Laying a bead" as they say

As you can see in these pics, most of the trailer mods so far are just temporarily welded in place ('tacked' in welding terms.)

I will transport the trailer out to a friend to use a much larger machine to complete all the welding.

One support finished

Close up of the other side

I am very happy progress has been made. I was able to complete 2 of 6 planned hull supports. I finished the keel supports and cross members. I am working hard to get the trailer finished in the next week or two. I hope to have the boat on the trailer by the end of the month. I am going to purchase fenders tomorrow.
Looks like some foul weather headed our way this week, ice then snow.....so progress may be slowed once again.

Stay Tuned!

Thinking of warmer times

No trailer progress to report, the cold has settled back in this week. Snow flurries yesterday and a few more today have halted all outside projects. Tomorrow's high temperatures are only supposed to reach high 20's. The thought of that gives me chills. To combat this frigid weather I am looking at pictures of our previous Adventures aboard Salacia. 

Schooner Virginia passing us as we sail out of Little Creek on Chesapeake Bay

First mate headed down the docks as we return from a nice sail

A steady course with a 10kt breeze, very refreshing!

Ok, back to today....it is cold. It's going to continue to be cold for at least the next 3 or 4 days. I hope to get back to work on the trailer this weekend.

Stay Warm!

Progress on Alberg 30 Trailer

Made some progress on the trailer this weekend. Here are a few shots of the modifications:

New trailer jack, old one was seized up

Old rollers cut off and cross members added where most of Sal's weight will be centered. Cross Members ar 4X6X .375 angle, pretty heavy duty.

All cross members added, working on marking up keel support

3x2x .250 angle will tie all  5 cross members together to help spread weight out, keel will rest on 2x10 

Work will continue this week weather permitting. Stay tuned!

Trailer for Alberg 30 Salacia

I mentioned in earlier posts that I would be working on a trailer for our Sal so we can get her to the house for a refit. Our goal is to make her more seaworthy and a more comfortable liveaboard.  

Well, the weather has finally broken enough to get started. Below are a few pics of the work:

Trailer the day I picked it up

Starting by removing the makeshift fenders. I will use these for additional keel support.

One fender removed

My main goal over the next week is to build up the trailer's crossmembers to support Sal's hefty weight, so I needed to find out what her keel dimensions are; more specifically keel width and length. I turned to the internet and found plenty of info on Alberg 30 trailers....but nothing that contained the exact data I was looking for. I emailed James Baldwin of www.Atomvoyages.com, known for his two circumnavigations on a Pearson Triton, as well as his plastic classic refitting. He quickly emailed me back and offered very close-up pictures and a sketch to help me with the Alberg 30 keel dimensions. Thank you James! 

New material sitting on trailer awaiting placement and welding.

This week I picked up some material to begin the keel support. Stay tuned for more info on the trailer build.