Enclosed trailer boat racks...

[Andrew 4CE]

I've seen some guys using what looks like a commercially available vertically adjustable click in rack system to mount boat bunks on. Anyone know where I can see these setups online what they are called? Are they easily removeable during the day so you can walk around in the trailer? Or anyone find a system that will swing to the wall when not in use?

Lets have some posts with pics of your enclosed trailer setup ups!

[Joe J]

I have our trailer set to where the rqacks will swing off to the side. Teh frawback is that the height is not adjustable.

As soon as I put new flooring in it I can send you some pictures if you are interested.

Joe

[Andrew 4CE]

pics would be great when you got 'em Joe... I've got a new toy and need ideas

riverrat04@hotmail.com

[Check-book]

Racks

We use Unistrut(sp?)in the last 3 trailers with complete ajustability It's available at places like Grangers or electric supply houses. It can be removed in about 10 min.(racks for three boats plus two side racks)We also added a rack in front of the same material for those funny shaped pro engines.
Dave

[crankbearing]

Nedco in TO

Hey Andrew,

You can buy Unitstrut in Toronto at Nedco. Cheap stuff and it uses spring nuts fasten and then a couple L brackets bolt to the upright with a heavy duty pin for pulling to swing them out of the way.


Regards,

[Mark 72@E]

Andrew,

So, what's your new toy?

The track you're describing is how I finished the interior of my enclosed trailer last year. If you've read my early posts, I'm the guy who has kids who chose motocross over boat racing. So I wanted to build boat racks that could be taken apart and removed easily, leaving almost nothing but the bare walls.This method suited my needs perfectly.

The metal track is called vertical e-track. The fitting is called an e-track wood beam socket. The socket is designed to hold a 2" x 4" (or any 2" x ? ).

Click the link below to go to the page that has both with pictures. The wood socket is farther down the page.

www.etrailer.com

I bought my e-track locally, but I had to >>explain<< to the professional enclosed trailer folks what I wanted and it was a special order. You can get e-track in longer than 4ft lengths, the problem becomes shipping. UPS will deliver 4ft lengths but 8ft lengths must be shipped via a trucking company adding to the delivery time and delivery expense.

But when you think about it, 4ft works fine in a 6ft tall enclosed trailer unless you have a really, really, really skinny boat (measuring top to bottom) with no throttle and no windshield.

To explain to others who may not have seen this system, as you look into the back of the trailer, you have two or three rows of horizontal, carpeted, 2" x 4"s. I installed three pairs of e-track in order to support the transom, the bow, and a point in between on each of the two racks.

I placed the bottom of the 4ft vertical e-track on the floor so that the floor would be taking the bulk of the weight of the boat and rack and not the screws holding the e-track.

The end of the horizontal 2" x 4" attaches to a wood beam socket. The wood beam socket attaches to the vertical e-track. The vertical e-track is screwed at the top, middle, and bottom to three horizontal 1" x 4"s that run the length of the inside of the enclosed trailer. I used the 1" x 4"s so I could move the e-track forward and backward (by unscrewing and re-screwing the e-track into the 1" x 4" ) to accomodate different design and length boats without having to worry about finding the metal braces on the trailer sides. I screwed the 1" x 4"s to the metal braces on the trailer sides which was easier to do.

The e-track can adjust the racks up or down in increments of 4". Although I'm calling them racks, each horizontal 2" x 4" is actually separate and not connected to another.

The bottom rack does not fasten to the floor. The bottom rack can be raised off the floor to give you storage under the bottom boat.

Two racks work fine in a 6 ft tall enclosed trailer holding two boats. Three racks would be a tight squeeze, if not impossible because in many enclosed trailers the door is smaller than the size of the box. Get a 7ft tall or taller enclosed trailer and three racks becomes a reality.

Although the e-track wood socket locks securely into the e-track like any other e-track accessory I wanted to go a step further. I didn't want to open the door to the enclosed trailer after a long trip and find my boats laying on top of each other on the floor. So I cut the horizontal 2" x 4"s long enough so that the latch on the wood socket wouldn't release from the e-track unless the 2" x 4" was removed first. This also eliminates some of the shimmy and shake that occurs while the trailer is in motion.

The horizontal 2" x 4"s attach to the e-track wood socket using a 1/4" lag bolt and >>wing nut<< so that you can install and remove everything by hand without tools.

Because I have a CSR, and not a hydro, the horizontal 2" x 4"s worked fine. I didn't need to run 2" x 4"s front to back on top of the horizontal 2" x 4"s like you would want to do for a hydro. Even so, I found several pieces of hardware that would attach 2" x 4"s at the cross points that would also be removable.

I chose to go with wood, but I can envision how one-piece aluminum hydroplane racks could be made for this system that would reduce the actual height of the rack.

None of the trailer folks at the four different shops I was buying parts from had ever seen/heard/built anything like it.

Now if I just spend this same amount of energy and thought into figuring out how to go faster on the water...

[Andrew 4CE]

Hey Guys thanks those ideas. Sound like the kind of systems I'm interested in. Just need to find a way to fold it to the wall during the day. I'll get my hands on some parts and play with them, sure I can do it. Just need pen and paper and thinking cap.

Mark, I also race/track day my supermoto bike (KTM 625), so sounds like we are in the same "boat" My new toy is a 5x10 light weight enclosed trailer. It sounds small, and it is... but I race ASH and ASH. It will be some fancy rack to get my stuff in there, but the cad program says it can be done. The bonus to the trailer I picked up is it fits in the small half of my 2 car garage and living in a city with a yard big enough to cut by weed eater, this was priority #1. The other half is for bikes .

My father is moving, so I'm losing his shop for storage... with a few pullies, rope, shelves, brackets and sitting stairing at the garage for a few hours with a beer in hand it's amazing how much stuff you fit and make easily accessable!

[Mark 72@E]

Fold to the wall?

Just need to find a way to fold it to the wall during the day.

Ok, I'll ask. Why is it important to fold it to the wall? When I take out my wood 2" x 4"s I put them on top of the trailer. Since they're carpeted, the roof doesn't get scratched and they're out of the way until needed.

What am I missing?

And just to warn you, store clerks tend to think you're weird when you stare at a rack full of trailer parts for an hour while you design something original in your head and your only question is "do you have any more of these?" Not that this has actually happened to me.

[Andrew 4CE]

ah, ok, I didn't read thorough enough yet (at work)... the 2x4 comes out with bolts and wing nuts.... Yeah if this is the case there would be no need to make it folding. For the hydro I could attach runners for the bottom of the boat that are a foot or two long so help stop if from moving side to side, yet still be un attached from the front cross member.

[Dick Tyndall]

One more question..............

Mark,
What kind of screw/fastener did you use to attach the 1" X 4" 's to the metal side braces in the trailer? I wish I had know about this last year when I was setting up my enclosed trailer for my CSH. I looked at using the unistrut but backed away.
GREAT IDEA!!! Thank you for sharing it with us. Hope to see you at the races this year!

[Mike 21CE]

I used Unistrut on my trailer and they swing against the wall drop by and have a look Andrew. Also Mark Pugh did his trailer but the racks lifted up it looked like less moving parts I saw it at Waterford 2004. Mike

[Mark 72@E]

Size matters

Dick,

I'll come back and edit this answer when I have some of the screws in my hand. What I remember is that they are:

self threading sheet metal screws
size 10
1 1/4 inch long
pan head
Phillips

The screw length is very important and the length you need may be different. I had to partially take off the luan inside the trailer to mark the location of the metal braces and measure the gap between the flange (facing the inside of the trailer) and the outside skin of the trailer. There is about a 3/8" gap between them.

I added the 1 x 4 thickness, the luan thickness, and allowed enough screw length to pierce the metal flange. If you use a screw that's too long, or if you drive the screw too far into the 1 x 4 you'll pierce the outside skin of the trailer.

Even though the screws were pan head (flat on the bottom), I used a countersink to drill into the 1 x 4. The countersink acted as a stop collar to prevent me from drilling too deep. The countersink hole was big enough so the entire screw head fit into it. This made the surface of the 1 x 4 flush -- no screw heads to snag on gear or mar the surfaces of the toys inside the trailer.

It was time consuming, but I only have to do it once. I can honestly say my trailer isn't holy.

I've already shifted all the vertical e-track towards the front of the trailer once since I finished it the first time. It was easy to do because the location of the metal braces wasn't a factor, I was just screwing into the 1 x 4.

I moved the boat racks forward to built an engine rack at the rear of the trailer that's mounted to the trailer by -- you guessed it -- vertical e-track. But I'm not happy about what I did. That's still a work in progress.

[Mark 72@E]

And another thing

ah, ok, I didn't read thorough enough yet (at work)...

That's funny. Yeah, I tend to be long-winded at times. I figure it's better to give a clear, complete answer than to stop mid

[Andrew 4CE]

Thanks for the lengthy write ups! haha. I've gotten some great ideas from yours and others posts. Got my trailer drawn in the cad system now and boats fit in. Just thinking out the location for motors. A rack that could roll/slide out the back would be cool. lift the motor on, roll it in. Going to an industial supply store after work to browse. Decided to go with the Unistrut since I need finer adjustment than 4" cus my trailer is so small. But I'll make a bracket for it that the cross support can just lift out like the e-track 2x4 setup. Then if I'm reading catologues and things right I could even loosen the t-nut things and slide the racks to the ceiling and roll the motor bike in, even fit one boat and a bike if I wanted

[Dick Tyndall]

Trailer set-up..............

Thanks for the detailed description on your set-up! I understand exactly how you did this, now. Gives me a good idea on how to change my enclosed trailer so that I can get both my CSH and my 1958 ASH replica in the trailer.
This information is sure to be appreciated by many on this site.