albin 25 trailer specs and pics ??

[gregor]

Hello fellow albin 25 owners
My Albin 25 is in the water in Petaluma,Ca and am trying to get together a dual wheel trailor.so I can get her to Brookings,Oregon. I have a trailor kinda older with an old 25 ft boat on it that we can pull off to maybe use but how does one configure a trailer with the boat 500 miles away so we can just go down empty and load and return. I know this must sound dumb on my part but I have never had a wonderful mini trawler that I could haul on a trailer. Have owned my Albin for 11 years but she was always in the water on S.F. Bay. I guess there is a rule of thumb guide idea or something so any help would be appreciated. Am missing hanging out on "Thistle with my border collie mix "Freya"
Blessings and cheers
Gregor

[NickScheuer]

I've modified several trailers, and I wouldn't want to set up an Albin-25 without expert help. Our Albin came to us on a fairly new trailer, and that was a large part of its appeal.[ahttp://www.albinowners.net/aog/download/file.p ... tachment=0]NS Trailer.JPG[/attachment]

[dkirsop]

The answer is - it depends. Some trailers work with bunks and some don't, the key is that the boat must sit low enough on the trailer, or must be capable of backing far enough down the ramp, to float off. My trailer manufacturer assured me that bunks would be better than rollers (which I originally requested) - it was a disaster. So, an experienced builder doesn't always get it right.

Here is a picture of the trailer as it came from the manufacturer.

Trailer Bunks.jpg

They sat too high to float the boat on and the strain to drag it on damaged the winch mount. End of Chapter One.

The trailer was modified to use four sets of four arm roller bunks, 32 rollers in total. A vast improvement but there was some distortion of the forward portion of the hull. I added keel rollers on the two frame cross members and this finally achieved an acceptable solution. I trailered the rig 2000km last year without incident.
Here are some photos.

Roller Bunks.jpg

Front Rollers.jpg

Rear Rollers.jpg

If I was to do it again I would add a third cross member and keel roller.

3rd Keel Roller.jpg

Be careful how low the rudder assembly hangs. Mine seems to work but I use caution on sudden grade changes such as ferry ramps. Even a light bump would damage the rudder support. I use a cinch strap to hold the rear of the trailer against the boat.

[DesertAlbin736]

For what it's worth, here's our trailer setup. It has five sets of double rollers along the center to support the keel, and adjustable bunks to support the sides of the hull, not to mention it is quite long with the tongue extending pretty far ahead of bow of the boat. I have experience with making adjustments having taken the boat off trailer for bottom paint job & putting it back on. In order to slide the trailer out from under the boat we used a gantry and chain hoist to lift the bow of the boat and a fork lift on the stern, and dropped the bunks down to gain clearance, and upon sliding the trailer back under the boat after the paint job was finished, used a floor jack to raise the bunks back in place.

I would recommend finding a trailer something along the lines of what we have, in which case it would be preferable to have the boat hoisted out of the water with a Travelift & set down on the trailer and adjust the bunks from there. In any case a trailer that has some means of supporting the keel would be better than just bunks supporting the full weight of the boat on the sides of the hull.

Here's a photo of our trailer with the boat removed & on blocks for the bottom job. As you can see here, the bunks are lowered all the way down to allow the trailer to be rolled forward without the curve of the hull interfering with the bunks. Click on the photo for enlarged view.

DSCN3611 (1280x960).jpg

Notice how the box channel supports for the bunks attach at each cross member with adjustable brackets. To adjust them one puts a floor jack under the supports to raise the bunks & tighten down a set screw bolt.

Here's the boat on the trailer & a look at how the aft end of the keel & prop sits & detail of the bunk supports.

DSCN3631.JPG

DSCN3662.JPG

I would add that we've trailered our boat over 12,000 miles coast to coast over the last three summers without incident relating to the bunks and rollers, although we did have some problems with the trailer brakes, but this is a 1999 trailer that is now 18 years old. Hope this helps.

[jcamill55]

You can look at mine ,it's in Petaluma Jim (707) 696-7566
I had it costom built but had to modify it . And it needs more .

[jcamill55]

That's custom

[jcamill55]

Where did you get those double keel rollers ,thanks in advance

[DesertAlbin736]

Our boat came with the trailer when we bought it. The owner previous to our PO purchased the trailer new in Florida in 1999 and the company that built the trailer, Performance Trailers, has since gone out of business. The rollers & roller brackets should available from marine supply stores as a standard item. I've already had to replace the rearmost single roller bracket & found that at our local West Marine.

[dkirsop]

I purchased the front double roller assembly from here http://www.trailerpartsdepot.com/p-4264 ... ubber.aspx

I had to fabricate the rear roller assembly myself to fit in the space under the keel. Used various pieces of 3/16" thick angle iron and 1/4" thick flat bar. Bought the rollers and axles from a marine store. Once everything was cut, drilled and fitted I sent the iron pieces out to get them hot dip galvanized. I didn't need fancy tools - vice, hacksaw, drill and file.

[gregor]

Thanks all for the trailer info. I have been told that a good set of hull offset line drawings would be a good idea.The only one I have seen is in the original owners handbook but it seems to be not very easy to make out. When we get the old ply and fiberglass 25 ft thing off the trailer up here in Oregon we can take a good look on how to retro trailer for trip down to Petaluma,CA. The trip back to Brookings,Or will be one way of about 500 miles up 101 north with mighty "Thistle" Albin 25. I will most likely rent a 1/2 ton PU for this or borrow a gimmi suv as my car is a Suzuki side kick teehee
Again the pics are super helpful so anyone feel free to add more.Great seeing Albin 25's on trailers. And again a big thank you to all who love this cult classic.
cheers
Gregor

[markdbecker]

Ticaboo's Trailer.JPG

Here is Ticaboo's trailer. Custom made by the last owner. Ticaboo has been pulled from lake to lake on this with no problems. Note the custom made ladder on the front of the trailer. makes it easy to get on and off.

[DesertAlbin736]

Mark/Ticaboo,

Ah ha! I notice those were AZ tags on your trailer. Maybe that was your boat that once upon a time in 2012 we spotted being stored in Coyote Pass RV storage yard on El Mirage road north of Olive Ave in El Mirarge after all?

It was there that we first learned about the existence of Albin 25's when we looked at this one pictured below that was listed on CL & happened to notice the unusual circumstance of another Albin 25 being parked in the same yard where they kept this one. It was owned by two old guys in partnership that had planned to restore it but gave up & decided to sell it. We almost bought this boat that had a newer 40 HP Volvo engine recently installed, but got scared off after a check ride on Lake Pleasant revealed severe vibration in the driveline & the owner refused to drop his price enough for our satisfaction. Looking back I could have bought two of these boats at his price for what we've since put into the one we have now.

Albin (1280x960).jpg

Gregor,
Word of caution, our A25 on our aluminum trailer tips the truck scale at 6,850 lbs (disconnected from the truck), which means tongue weight at or above 500 lbs if balanced correctly. If you have to negotiate any 5% & 6% hills or mountain grades be very cautious with a 1/2 ton truck. At 3/4 ton truck would much be preferred. A 1/2 ton truck or SUV would be the minimum, but watch it coming down steep hills.

[Beta Don]

I agree I wouldn't undertake what he's proposing with a half ton truck . . . . but to be truthful, I'm far more worried about his trailer than the truck

" I have a trailor kinda older with an old 25 ft boat on it that we can pull off to maybe use . . . . "

I wouldn't try moving it across town on an old trailer with old tires and suspect (if any) brakes. Doing I-5 with an overloaded old trailer would be a recipe for disaster

Don

[DesertAlbin736]

Don,

2nd that emotion. Advice about preferring 3/4 ton truck vs 1/2 ton , plus agreeing with your comments about the trailer, come from the experience of over 13,000 miles of trailering our boat coast to coast and back, across deserts and mountains, up to NW Washington & back twice, and hauling a Catalina 25 sailboat (8,300 lbs including trailer) over to San Diego from Phoenix & back twice, including the first time towing with a 1/2 ton Chevy Tahoe, which I wouldn't do again. I've seen or heard of boats getting flipped on the highway, including an O'Day 25 and a Catalina 25 similar to the one we had, due to improper balancing & too small tow vehicle.

See that big mast on this sailboat? that's why we switched to an Albin 25.

Nikon 2012 350.jpg

[Beta Don]

I towed an O'Day 25 from Biloxi 2750 miles to Seattle one time. We spent 6 weeks sailing the San Juans and then we towed it back home. That was a bit of an adventure, but it was nothing like towing our A27. I bought it in Phoenix, towed it to Biloxi and then last year we towed it home from Jacksonville FL. We had it all decked out for cruising and when the yard picked it up, they told me it weighed 'around 11,000 pounds'. Completely justified my decision to build a 5th wheel trailer and not a conventional bumper pull. I do not understand why more large boat trailers are not made in the 5th wheel configuration. Can't be just the cost, can it? If I was regularly towing long distances, I wouldn't want anything else

Don