moving my 35' 1958 roamer myself

This sounds like it may be an interesting transport. I'm curious to know how you intend to move the boat from it's current "perch" to the trailer?

Getting it onto the trailer is going to be the toughest part. If you get plenty of round poles laid flat on the trailer for it to roll on. Remember to get it balanced on the trailer so you have a little tongue weight. I would support the hull with stands like they would at a boat yard when they store the boat out of the water and it should be fine. Not having the engines in it, works out much better because there is less weight in the hull.

Don't do that !!

I highly recommend that you NOT roll it onto the trailer. A couple tons of steel riding precariously on its keel or it's keel and one chine sounds like leaving a lot to chance. I owned a marina a while back and did a lot of boat moving in and out of buildings without the aid of our travel-lift.

The styrofoam idea will work for short distances and is pretty safe if you make each block out on one piece. If you have to stack blocks, the vibration of travel and wind may jar some of it loose. The boatstand idea will work but you have to fix them to the trailer so they won't move.

IMHO 300 miles is quite a haul, so you need a decent cradle. You can make one out of 6x6's. First place at least two crosswise under the boat - they should be at least a couple feet wider than the trailer, then cut uprights just like the posts in the barn. Nail a 12"x 12" pad (cut a 2x12) flat on top of each upright before positioning the upright. Now cut plywood gussets to secure the uprights to the crossmembers. Lastly, connect diagonal braces from the bottom of the crossmember to the top of the next upright. If you plan on keeping the boat on the cradle, be sure one of the 'cribs' is under the engine mounts.

If the trailer fits between the RR tie pilars, you've got half the project solved. If not, you still have the problem of raising the boat, if you've got that figured out, stop here - and go for it. If you would like a suggestion on raising the boat- read on. . .

If you have a 53' flat bed, you probably have some hydraulic jacks - build at least 4 wood columns (stacked wood or concrete blocks) place hyd jack on top of the column and the cradle on top of the jack (I didn't say this was easy, did I) Now raise the cradle under the boat, then raise the boat to a few inches above the trailer height. This may take several 'lifts' - meaning raise it the limit of the jack then build another column next to the jack; lower to the 'axilary column', put another block in the jacking column, repeat. If this were a boat hauling trailer, that would only be 14 inches off the ground (maybe two 'lifts'). If the boat is in really good condition and there are no engines in it, it should handle this for a short time (without jacking at the keel). If you have to raise it a number of feet, support the cradle under the keel during this process (or if you leave the project overnight, support the keel). When you have it high enough, remove the forward keel suport and start backing the trailer under it, removing the other keel blocks as you go. When you have it in position, lower it onto the trailer.

If you have some other questions, email me direct.

you got it, dude

Sounds like you have a plan. I assume you have the steel lying around. If you're going out to buy it, 8 x 8 is a bit over kill. But with you welding it to the trailer it will be good and sturdy. How are you going to block it at home?

Looking forward to the pictures.

I questioned a guy on another thread who was planning something similar a while back whether it seemed wise. DK if we ever heard from him after he did it. Hopefully your words resonate. Good luck Tim. Let us know how it turns out. This is educational. BTW: Friday the 13th
You Roamer guys are an inspiration. The words 'It's too much work' have no place in your vocabulary.

No kidding huh? Someone would have to pay me $30k to get it out of there and take over the liability.

Don't forget to have somebody following with a video camera. At the very least you might make some money from AFW or one of those shows and at worse it might be easier to just show a video that explain what happened.

Looks like the weather will be mostly north of you. I suspect the move will be entertaining. Hopefully successful. Then the real work can begin. Stay safe and Good luck. Don't forget to take pics.

Good luck and post the pictures.

GOOD WORK! Congrats!