Pebble beach launch

[Rolphy]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have experience with winching a Rib from a 4x4 up a steepish pebble beach? I’m trying to work out the best way to get a 4.2m Rib with a 50hp weighing around 240kgs 30 to 40 metres up and down the beach. Firstly Is the boat too heavy for folding launching wheels? The ones i’ve found have a maximum weight of 200kgs, or are there any that take more weight?

Many thanks!
Rolphy

[Steve509926]

Hi Rolphy and welcome.

Why the beach? Why not use a slipway?

[Rolphy]

Originally Posted by Steve509926

Hi Rolphy and welcome.

Why the beach? Why not use a slipway?

Thanks for coming back Steve. Local Slipway is wooden with a mechanical winch and needs 3 people to launch and is busy. I’d like to explore winching up the beach outside my house but need some insight to see how we do it. Ideally I’d like the folding wheels but think I’m too heavy. Could use a sledge to sit the boat on potentially but a bit of a faff to get the boat back on the trailer and into the garage. Hope that makes sense. Thanks Rolphy

[Peter_C]

Welcome to the forum

My past Zodiac 4.2m 40HP was about the same weight. I beach launched often with it and it is one of the things I miss now owning a heavy RIB and not having access to remote beaches.

I built my launching wheels and could solo launch down the beach with a front dolly I also built. Recovery was always 2-3 people depending on beach steepness and type of sand. Pebbles on a steep beach will take 3-4 people as every step is only half a step.

The winch idea works for a very short distance. Winches are power hungry and will quickly eat up a battery, along with operating very slowly. On that note once I put transom wheels on I never dipped my trailer in the water again. Instead I used a winch mounted to the trailer with the boats "electronics tower" to power it. Total pull maybe 5 meters.

Now a capsian type winch that has a tail could work if you can bury pull points or get a long enough rope. Again it is going to be power hungry and require a large battery and charger.

At home I use a small stand on skid steer to move my trailers around. They make ultra mini tracked devices just for moving trailers around. Ditch the trailer and put HUGE balloon tires on the transom and you might have a workable solution. Without knowing anything about the steepness or type of sand/rock you are trying to navigate over it is impossible for us to know what will and won't work.

None of these pre-manufactured kits will work for that amount of weight, but gives an idea what they should look like.
https://wheeleez.com/wheeleez-boat-launching-wheels/

I TIG welded up my own beefy legs (Read heavy, but the tires are very light) and used Wheeleez's largest 49cm wheels at the stern, with a smaller pair on the front.
https://wheeleez.com/product/wz1-49ub/

https://www.rib.net/forum/f50/electr...ope-84251.html

[Steve509926]

Originally Posted by Rolphy

Thanks for coming back Steve. Local Slipway is wooden with a mechanical winch and needs 3 people to launch and is busy. I’d like to explore winching up the beach outside my house but need some insight to see how we do it. Ideally I’d like the folding wheels but think I’m too heavy. Could use a sledge to sit the boat on potentially but a bit of a faff to get the boat back on the trailer and into the garage. Hope that makes sense. Thanks Rolphy

A pic of the pebble beach you are thinking about would probably help. However I don't think "shop" bought transom wheels would be man enough for the job. I'm very much with Peter that something purpose built would be much better.
Take a look at some of chipkos threads with regards to wheels, trolley's etc. I think some of chipkos ideas would probably suit your needs providing you are capable of making it.

Take a look at #19 :-

https://www.rib.net/forum/f49/buy-or-build-90224.html

[Peter_C]

A 4x4 quad would be ideal IF you can legally drive on the beach.

[Rolphy]

Thanks both of you for your help with this. Absolutely spot on. I’m thinking a purpose built trolly using wheeleez and a captan winch with anchor points. This would work I reckon! I will update you as I go. Thanks again and I’m delighted to be part of this forum. Very best Rolphy