A design request to the metal fabricators on the site.

[Tom L]

I made a setup like this for my 17 ft bankes and my hercules , layout was sold a bunch of years ago
not sure if I can dig up a picture.

the way it worked was I left the boat on the trailer and towed it as normal.
I made a wooden frame, out of 2 x 6's with a large pvc hinge near the back, and put that in my pick up truck bed.
it held the layout over the top of the bankes bow. and tilted to let me and a friend slide the
layout out of the bed, hinge was just past the center of the layout, to keep the weight forward in the truck
when running down the road, and the layout was roughly at the top of the pick up bed
once un strapped you would just tilt it down with a little pressure,

so the routine was to get to the ramp. unload and float the boat out of the way, then pull the truck up and jack
the trailer off to one side, this opened up the layout to slide out of the pick up bed and into the water

at the end of the day, load the layout first , then re align the trailer and load the boat.

it all worked out very well, and I wish I never sold the hercules, as it was a breeze to tow, and a hell of a boat to
hunt out of.

TomL, did you ever find any pictures of your set-up?

I haven't found a picture,it was before cell phones and cameras for me, I made this very crude sketch of what I used
everything was made out of 2 x 6 pressure treated, and the 4" pvc pipe hinge was thru the entire frame
from side to side,the bottom frame was all joined together
with the hinge at 7 ft from the front of the bed it was easy to pull down on the back of the layout and slide it off
the 8 ft noted below is the length of the pick up bed
the pivot was just behind the center of the layout
a strap over the front held the layout down and secure

I do remember that it was heavily built, and had little flex when in place, all heavily screwed together.
with backing blocks and framing splice plates, the ones used in house building



View attachment layout cradle.pdf

 

[RLLigman]

No figure posted, Tom.

 

[Tom L]

No figure posted, Tom.

I can see it on my screen, wonder what is wrong that you can't see it?

 

[Huntindave McCann]

No figure posted, Tom.

I can see it on my screen, wonder what is wrong that you can't see it?

is end because it is a PDF file. Solution is to click on the little icon and select "view image" Then you should get another tab or window showing the PDF file.

 

[RLLigman]

Dave, first thing I tried. I don't get the transition to the "hand with pointing finger" that indicates there is a functional file link, just a box with an X in it. Logged out and back in several times and tried again...

 

[Huntindave McCann]

Dave, first thing I tried. I don't get the transition to the "hand with pointing finger" that indicates there is a functional file link, just a box with an X in it. Logged out and back in several times and tried again...

Must be how it interacts with the browser one is using. Using Firefox I can open the PDF file in a new tab. Using Microsoft Edge, I can do nothing.