TOPIC:

Hi.. new to the site but am looking for suggestions for a new combination trolley for our old girl - Have spoken to West Mersea Trailers but they seem on the rather steep side... All suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks,
Calum

Calum
If you have a mate who is good at welding you could make one up (ie copy an existing model) and buy the wheels -but of course the frame would not be galvanised.
Alternatively, many dinghy sailing clubs have a "graveyard" section of the dinghy park with rotting old boats awaiting a good bonfire. You might be able to find a reasonable selection of usable bits under abandoned boats - and with a small donation to club funds they would be yours to play with!
Best of luck

Hi Calum

We've found that as long as you seal & paint it properly a 'home welded' trolley can last well over 10 years (our previous trolley lasted over 15 & the road trailer's still going strong). You do have to be savvy with how/where you get the steel & various bits (coupling, suspension etc) though as they aren't as cheap as you might think.

The other option to 'grave robbing' is to watch eBay like a hawk (or set an alert) for a project boat that comes with a trailer/trolley suitable, or nearly so, for an Alb. You may then just need to adjust the cradle to suit the Alb hull, and dispose of the project boat how you see fit…

Steve

Ours are also painted - Hammerite from the local surplus store - but there are companies that do hot dip galvanizing if you require. Paint's a lot cheaper but make sure you pour it inside any open tubes and roll the item around to coat thoroughly.

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A road trailer is mentioned - could be a combi.

Sovereign from Welsh Harp are less steep-and I'll vouch for their quality
www.welshharp.co.uk/trailer_info.php?TrailerID=8

Our home made combi trolley/trailer seems uncannily similar to the snipe one, except in how much it cost us obviously. It does help having a mig welder in the garage mind.

If time permits during the winter refurb, we'll take the measurements off ours and put them on a diagram for the 'technical' page, should others want a basis to make their own one.

One thing that the basic/standard trolleys lack though is a good cradle - unless you recover the boat in perfectly flat, sheltered, clear water the 'flat' cradles are not sufficient imho.

Steve