8m Catalac -Transport by Road?

[chrisk01]

Hi, Can anyone tell me what the width measurement between the Center line of each hull is. I am trying to find out if my Cat can come home on a flat trailer by truck.

Many thanks

C. J Knight
TWINWAKES

cknight2@anec.co.uk

[Tropic Cat]

CJ you failed to mention where you live or rather where you need to move the boat. This forum has folks from all over the world and we could probably answer if we had more information.

Why are you asking for a center line measurement when overall width is the concern?

If you live in America, even though individual states regulate maximum permitable roadway widths, the Catalac 8M at 13' 6" (4 meters), is too wide for casual hauling.

I did hear of one man who built a custom trailer which tilted the boat on an angle to reduce the overall width. He drove from Texas to California and didn't have an issue.

[chrisk01]

Hi Tropic Cat,

Yes, sorry I am in the UK. Move from East Coast to Derbyshire. 137 Miles!

Chris

[dmmbruce]

My HT which is a fraction narrower than yours had to have police approval to be moved by road in UK. It was not a problem, but the transport company had to do it and I had to pay the fee.

There are probably plenty of experienced transport companies that could move your boat for you. Just ask at the yard/harbour at one end of the journey or the other, and see what they recommend locally. It is a good idea to leave the dates as flexible as possible if you can. Then ask the company to do the job as a 'return trip' from doing another job. Then you only get charged for the one direction, not for the return journey to get the lorry back to base.

.

Incidentally, it generally helps if you put a note of your boat and general location in your profile so that that people know what may be relevant when they answer your posts.

Mike

[Talbot]

It has been done in UK, but you need a police escort.

Any of the transport companies shoud be able to advise on costs, although they will probably need to survey the route if it is not a known one.

Any reason you cant do it by sea?

[chrisk01]

Hi all,

Yes, I can get the transportation. But first problem is - I need to know how wide the trailer needs to be to enable the hulls to sit on the trailer platform.. therefore I need the distance between the two keels.

Thank you.

Chris

[Talbot]

Hi all,

Yes, I can get the transportation. But first problem is - I need to know how wide the trailer needs to be to enable the hulls to sit on the trailer platform.. therefore I need the distance between the two keels.

Thank you.

Chris

I have seen this done before with the hulls outside the trailor, and the weight taken on a platform built up betwen the hulls. John Lack used to lift and shift 8 and 9m Catalacs with a trailor using this. I don't know the dimensions anymore, but this should make the trailor selection a lot easier.

[chrisk01]

Well that's interesting; Its seems that a Hiab will do the trick; these carry portacabin offices and similar wide loads along our motorways.. I'll let you know when I have some returned quotations. I guess the keel center lines are approx 10 feet apart. (I don't have time to drive over hence my request to see if anyone actually know what this dimension is)

Thanks for your input

CJ Knight

[dmmbruce]

In my case, the company put three large timbers across the bed of the lorry and the keels sat on these timbers. This caters for quite a variety of hull widths.

Mike

[chrisk01]

Yes that's what I had in mind.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Chris

[Camargue]

In August 2010 I transported my newly purchased 8m from north Wales (Bangor) to south Wales (Milford Haven) using a company called Sealand. The boat was ashore but I obviously needed to hire a crane too. They had to go east to the M6 then south on the M5, west on the M4... as the roads on the west coast of Wales were too small... They needed a police escort all the way and it included an overnight stop. They were not that interested in the 'between hull' width (from the invoice I see I told them it was 9ft but I can't remember if I measured this or estimated it - sorry!) as they had large timber baulks to rest the boat on. They wanted to know the overall width, height, length and weight. They were very efficient but...

it cost £1880. Other quotes were more!

I spent ages wondering if I should hire some help and sail her down the coast but, as a beginner, I knew it was not viable, could have loads of problems and anyway would be reasonably expensive plus the boat need some work done. No choice really.

A thing I didn't check is that the lift had the strops across the strong bits - the bulkheads - and I also forgot to detach the wind generator so that delayed it a bit, but otherwise everything went very smoothly. Good luck!

David

[dmmbruce]

That's interesting Camarque. My trip was Conway to Poole, and £880 I think in mid 1990's. The difference is probably that I got a 'return trip' as I mentioned above.

A police escort was threatened/promised but never turned up. Maybe HT's are a bit smaller, or they had something better to do that day.

Mike

[ridders]

hi, i've moved my 900 twice by road now, you'll need two rsj's about 10 foot long to go on the trailer, as the boat is more than 13 foot wide you need an escort for some of the route ( to be agreed between haulier and police).
if the load is 14 foot or more you'd need a police escort (catalac 900 is 13' 10").
mine was £1100 to go from bristol to newcastle, then 900 newcastle to grangemouth, the company i use has a new rig with a hiab on the cab which can easily lift and launch a catalac

edited to add i hired the rsj's from an architectural scrapyard, for £30 the 2

[chrisk01]

Thank your information; do you have the transport company details and a contact please and I will give them a call.

Chris

[ridders]

http://www.oldhaulage.co.uk/
i've used them 3 times (twice for my catalac without a scratch! )
they know where to pick up the rsj's as well, they've moved another catalac since.

[dmmbruce]

Try John Weaver Transport, Poole and see if they have freight going your way. They move a lot of boats, it is a bit of a speciality for them.

Mike

[uklinus]

Starting up an old thread here, as I'm also considering shifting an 8m by road. The marina where it is at the moment is far from me [boat was there when I bought it], would I normally be able to ask the marina to take out of the water, drop the mast ready for transport and lift it [whole boat] onto the transporter? Or would I be expected to do the mast drop bits myself?

Linus

[Talbot]

I'm also considering shifting an 8m by road. The marina where it is at the moment is far from me [boat was there when I bought it], would I normally be able to ask the marina to take out of the water, drop the mast ready for transport and lift it [whole boat] onto the transporter? Or would I be expected to do the mast drop bits myself?Linus

As in so many things in life - you get what you pay for

Most marinas will lift the boat and will remove masts for money - but they will take a lot more care if you are there!!!!