Transportation & Trailer Tips?

[cdreynolds]

Hi, I'm considering buying a Picnic Cat that is in California, and I live in Iowa which I will do if I can figure out how to get it here.

Here are my questions:

Does anyone know of a reasonably priced transport company?  The "boat transport" folks send me messages with pictures of a big rig towing a 72' Hatteras and want $2,500+ for the trip.  I'm not picky on the time frame since there's still a lot of ice up here, but I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions.

If I did decide to go out there and get it, would anyone have a recommendation on a trailer brand or distributor?  I imagine if I look through some of the forums on here that I could find some good suggestions on appropriate bunking.

Thank you for your help,
Curt Reynolds

[NateD]

I've used ubid.com to move a boat. You enter the zip code the boat is in now, the zip code where you want it delivered, and a range of dates for the pick up and delivery. People then submit bids to you, and you chose the hauler you want. The haulers range from guys with a pickup and no insurance all the way to large trucking companies.

Even with ubid, you're probably going to be paying $1,200 to $1,700 for someone else to move it for you. Let's say a large diesel pickup towing that little boat got 15 mpg, its 2,000 miles one way, and diesel is around $4/gallon. Just the one way trip would be $533 in diesel, not including wear and tear on the truck/trailer, labor, food, or insurance. And that is just looking at one way, most of the time the bids come in at about the cost of hauling, and then returning empty, then they hope to pick up another haul for the way back, which becomes the profit on the whole thing. So a $2,500+ bid from a large hauler isn't too out of line with the market, but you can probably find a guy with a truck and insurance who will do it for about $1,500 if you aren't picky on the timing.

I got my CP23 moved from Atlanta to St. Paul for $1,200, but I was flexible on the timing, the boat was on its own trailer which had new tires/bearings/brakes, and the hauler already had a back haul arranged.

[skip1930]

So you don't have a trailer with this boat?
Build a cradle, put the cradle on to a flatbed rented trailer that you picked up from your home town area and pulled to the boat, sling the boat into the cradle on the trailer, pull her home.

It's a short vertical height boat and only 20 or so foot with an 8'-4" beam.  --> " ...2,500 lb light displacement and shallow draft, towing and launching is effortless with dual axle custom trailer." <--  says so in the book.

Here is what we did with a buddy's full keel and heavy boat. Road trips are fun. You need a road trip right?

skip.

Here is one way;

here's our way;

Steve on his 'New' boat.

" We have seen a lot of guys take boats like Skip says, sadly we have to laugh as they pull away. " Go ahead and laugh dar matey Mac Gyver [Not living up to your name sake]... We pulled her from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin. And this Coronado was a damn site heavier then this stinking fly weight Horizon Cat. I agree, if you have a proper trailer go ahead and use it. If your a marina it's not possible to back any of my hair brained ideas that work just fine. Too many lawyers. You know you could just lay this boat flat on the deck of the trailer and just block it...she has no deep keel.

The kid who came and bought our Star Boat pulled it away on a cut down 4 wheel truck frame with draw bar steering...and he pulled it with a black and pink convertable Nash Metropolitan. I heard dad saying, "Good Luck Stopping Junior."

"  Skip: Do you have any actual photos of the trailer/cradle that you used to move Steve's boat? " No. Got a pic of the trailer, the crib, the boat on the hard in the lot in Pennsylvania, and the Expedition but none together. Steve does not have the boat anymore, just has his CP-19 now. The only pic I could make is to toss the cradle on the trailer but you'd have to imagine the boat sitting in it.

[MacGyver]

We have seen a lot of guys take boats like Skip says, sadly we have to laugh as they pull away.

Had a few over the years, I guess whatever works.  One guy didnt make it. Though he used a old farm trailer because he could save a few buck and this old farmer was willing to pull it on it.

All I recommend is look into the price of a new trailer, maybe call Hutchins, see if they have used, etc.

Try that Ubid site otherwise call some marinas around both areas and see if they recommend any haulers.

we have a list, guys we know did a quality job. The second they do something we think is dumb, they are off the list.
The pricks dont make it on the list, Only the guys that care for the boat no matter if it is a junker or a pristine boat.

Just the way we operate...... keeps our name clean along with our recommendations.

Wish I knew that guy that just hauled one out last week, super nice rig, real cautious, and took his time to look everything over..... kinda person I would want hauling mine....

Mac

[CaptRon28]

We're talking about a 14 foot Picnic Cat. The Compac website says it weighs 500 pounds. I'd guess it's actually around 600 to 625. The boat has no keel to support and it draws something like 6 inches. Finding a 2 rail trailer, new or used, that can be modified with a few bunks should be fairly easy. Buying a new one custom made to hold it should not be that expensive either. And this small single axle trailer would not require brakes anywhere in the country. You could safely pull it with a compact SUV or car.  

With a boat this size that can be VERY easily launched, it would not be a bad idea to have the trailer for winter storage or moving the boat around. You could probably save enough on marina storage costs for the 1st year to pay for the trailer. All of the following years would be free.

[Salty19]

Welcome to the forum.

I would be a little leary of buying it site unseen, so be very sure you know who you are buying from before wiring off money and arranging a shipper. 

It will probably be cheapest, and perhaps most reliable to have a local California boat trailer company pick it up, make a trailer for it, then go pick it up ready to go. Most of the trailer builders tend to be local shops rather than big national companies, and  you want a trailer made with the builder having the boat in hand..they will be best able to locate rollers, bunks, winch, etc and size it all for the load and dimensions.  I bet the cost won't be much different for all of this and your gas/lodging than a pro shipper without a trailer.

Those are pretty cool little boats, we don't have a lot of Picnic Cat members on here, so naturally we want to hear more about it and of course PICTURES!!! when you get it.

[cdreynolds]

Thank you all for the suggestions and advice.  This may or may not be the right situation for me (unfortunately, I can't pull off the job for a road trip this time of year), but I'll keep looking.

Thanks again,
Curt

[ribbed_rotting_rusting]

Use a LTL(less than trailer load) carrier, somebody like yellow. The trick is that they want a business address to pick up at and drop off at. They usually do a pretty through inspection at pickup. The problem is that the insurance on it is always based on weight, they might tell you $5000 in insurance--but it will based on 5000 lbs--always buy a insurance based on actual repair costs  and value, not weight. Based on who you are buying it from you can have some type of container built or even buy a trailer and have it moved on the trailer still in a enclosed container. It used to be household movers were the cheapest since people moved to Calif, no loads back or "dried flowers" for freight, not so true in the past 4 or 5 years.

[Bob23]

   I bet with a little creativity, a decent pickup with and 8' bed and no racks and a good set of cahones, you could move this boat in said pickup. Heck, if I were in the area, I'd do it for free just for the challenge!
   A agree a trailer is the best solution...a real trailer because we're not just talking about transport here but future launching and storage. Maybe a friend could get off work and move it for you.
   Skip: Do you have any actual photos of the trailer/cradle that you used to move Steve's boat?
Bob23