Thread: Wall thickness for mild box steel ?

its not a tinny its an inflateable and Im guessing that its also a soft floor... and based on this line

Your right Blknight.aus, it is an inflatable but it has a V hull with an full alloy floor that fits in three sections.

Im also guessing that the back of his disco will now be empty so the fuel tank esky and sealable bait bucket can go there.

When I take trips I'm normally on my own with my two dogs, or me and the wife with my dogs...either way I can fold down the back seats and have a ton of room for storage and carrying things.

If you cant find room for a set of rodsnreels in a rover your either crap at packing OR your carrying too much to start with.

Im taking compactness and lightness when folded as being more important than what it can carry..

theres nothing to stop you from putting the boat on the right side up if you want to But IMHO your better off carrying the soft floors upside down on trailers with some protective mesh ESP if your in close country as it helps prevent thrown up stuff puncturing the or the floor from rubbing through on the trailer if it starts to flap.

The whole idea of having a trailer that can be dismantled is...(Like the one pictured below...but this one is for a tinnie)



that I can hook-up the caravan, dismantle the trailer and pack it in the van, deflate the inflatable and store that too in the van or...the back of the Disco.
Head off to wherever I'm heading to, which could be SA, The Hawksbury in NSW, or up around Tully in Queensland or wherever.
Then when I reach my destanation and get set-up, I reasemble the trailer, inflate the boat, place it on the trailer and head off wherever to go fishing.
With the trailer above, the draw/tow-bar is 2.1m folded but the company can also do a three fold which makes the bar 1.4m folded and the axle is 1.380m.

What I did forget to mention is that for the muguards you need to line them with a marine carpet to protect the pontoons from the metal of the guards.

When I'm staying local the boat would never be deflated, it would sit on it's trailer like any other boat...waiting for me to go fishing.
A trailer for a V hull inflatable is very similar to a trailer built for a fiberglass or alloy V hull boat. The good trailers for inflatables have rollers but the rollers are wider than those used for a fiberglass or alloy boat, this is due to the different shape of the V hull on the inflatables.
There are normaly three 75 or 100mm soft rollers spaced out along the draw/tow bar. They also have two stableiser skids on the back-end over the axle to stop the boat from rocking about in transit as can be seen in the picture below.



And here is a registered inflatable loaded on the trailer



You must admit...those alloy trailers are pretty well built...pity they don't have 10 or 12" wheels.

Thanks for your tips mates. Looks like I've some decissions to make but only slightly

Bill

Originally Posted by slug_burner

Bill,

What is a V bottom?

I was assuming a sort or ridgid hull, although that might be a bit difficult to fold up and put in the back to the disco!

Dave (Blknight.aus)

as I said just my two bobs worth. I guess I am used to a slightly larger tinny, and I also dislike the idea of building a boat and packing it every time you pull it in and out of the water.

G'day Dave, some inflatables have fiberglass or even alloy V hulls, those ones in most cases cost many, many thousands of dollars, I believe our Australian navy and the water police use alloy V hull inflatables...Me? I can't afford one I've got to watch my pennies mate so I bought a V hull inflatable with a kind of heavy but softish rubber hull, the V hull also inflates.

Being a ex deep-sea marine engineer, retired, and also the holder of a British inshore skippers ticket that permitted me to take fishing parties (up to 36 persons) out on inshore fishing trips, I too am used to slightly larger vessels than my 3.3m inflatable with its 15HP motor.
Anyway, there's only myself that will be using the boat as all my kids, (the eldest is 44 and the youngest is 31) live overseas and the wife hates the water...salt or fresh so I'll be out fishing on my own.
The boat will be inflated at all times...The only time I'll deflate it is so that I can pack it in the back of the Disco or the small caravan to sod-off up to the Hawkesbury River...I love that part of Australia...on a fishing trip for a couple of weeks or longer, once I get to where I'd base myself, I would assemble the trailer, inflate the boat, load it on the trailer and she's Jake!
The boat would not be deflated again till I was heading back to Vic'. So you see there's not much difference in owning any small, or large boat, be it an inflatable, a tinny or whatever, they must be maintained and looked after, but just because you can inflate and deflate an inflatable...it doesn't mean you have to do that.
But I have one over you Dave...I can take my caravan, my boat and...when it's built...my boat trailer up north when I go and you have to leave your van or your boat behind That's why I bought the inflatable.


Cheers mate,

Bill

The ones I have seen are 50*50*3 mm wall SHS drawbar and chassis. I would go this. I have seen heavier ones, and I'm unsure the weight, but 750 kg hitch should do as a camper/ motorcycle trailer. It may even take 1 ton as my springs take 1300 kg.