Trailer repair

[yankee]

 My trailer is in need of some repairs.  All the bunk boards need replaced along with some of the mounting brackets.  I believe that it is going to take a day or two and I have no dock or marina to offset the boat and leave it sit while I do the repairs.  Is there anyway to do this while sitting in my driveway?  It is a single axle, v1900cc.  I've seen some videos of lowering the bow of the boat and blocking the transom then raising the bow to lift the boat partially off the trailer.  Sounds kinda scarry but doable.  Any suggestions?

[gnrphil]

What you said is the way to do it, you could also try to raise the boat one side at a time to do the bunks one at a time.

[Juan]

You should be able to get it off the trailer with the method you described but if that technique doesn't give you enough clearance then you could do as I had to do when I changed my bunks. I used a floor jack to lift the boat and placed braces under the keel and under the sides then pulled the trailer out.

[yankee]

If I were to lift the boat up from the trailer, could I then slide a board under the boat and across the trailer to support the boat. Would this hurt the hull, gel coat, keel or anything on the underside? I was thinking that I could do this from the rear first and replace the rear 2 x 6 bunks that guide the boat onto the trailer, then move to the front of the boat and do the same with the 2 x 4 bunks that support the mid section? I can see that the braces are probably going to need to be cut away from the boat. Also I am not sure how the u-bolts are measured. I was going to take the old parts to the hardware and match them. It is a galvanized trailer that has been into salt water in the past. Its not real bad but bad enough that it needs to be repaired before it does some expensive damage to the boat.

[freezerfiller]

I recommend you do something like Juan posted and pull the trailer out from under the boat so you can safely work on it. When I did mine, I just asked the local city owned marina if they minded if I tied up to their dock over the weekend so I could work on my trailer and they said "sure". I'm sure anyone with slip room would do it for a small fee.

[yankee]

I like the idea of having the trailer out from under the boat. I was even thinking of getting a engine hoist from Harbor Freight or Northern Tools.

[Juan]

I'm thinking an engine hoist might be in the way and wouldn't work but I've never tried it. The way I did it with the floor jack and supports worked great and was super sturdy and safe but it did require a lot of jacking and moving a couple of support locations to pull the trailer out. If I have to do it again, I've got a better plan. I'm fortunate to have a a few trees with branches that will support the load so next time, I'll park it under a tree, jack up the transom and lift the bow with a chain hoist tied to a big limb.