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Old 01 March 2021, 11:43   #1
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What size boat would fit on a drive?

Hi all,

Question out of curiosity, not planning on replacing my boat for a while, it’s currently being renovated - by me. But out of curiosity I was wondering (for the future) what size boat could fit on my drive. I have 10.4m exact between the garage door (which sticks out 0.5m from the house so could be reduced by that much if needs be) and the footpath front of the house. My thoughts are depending on the manufacturer of rib, some the engine sticks out further than the rear tubes some do not.

Also I guess the length of trailer varies how much the tow hitch sticks out. Would that be about 1 metre ish forward of the tip of the bow? I see in America they have folding trailer arms, not sure how good they are but not seen anything similar here.

My summary thoughts were that a 8.5m-9m Rib is about the max for a 10.4m space, perhaps 9.2-9.5m if the garage were brought back to create 11.4m length of space.

A 10m future RIB would be sweet though I suspect that would involve either a house move or dry stack

Just musings really but curious what people think.

Cheers!
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Old 01 March 2021, 12:15   #2
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Originally Posted by xpertski View Post
Hi all,

Question out of curiosity, not planning on replacing my boat for a while, it’s currently being renovated - by me. But out of curiosity I was wondering (for the future) what size boat could fit on my drive. I have 10.4m exact between the garage door (which sticks out 0.5m from the house so could be reduced by that much if needs be) and the footpath front of the house. My thoughts are depending on the manufacturer of rib, some the engine sticks out further than the rear tubes some do not.

Also I guess the length of trailer varies how much the tow hitch sticks out. Would that be about 1 metre ish forward of the tip of the bow? I see in America they have folding trailer arms, not sure how good they are but not seen anything similar here.

My summary thoughts were that a 8.5m-9m Rib is about the max for a 10.4m space, perhaps 9.2-9.5m if the garage were brought back to create 11.4m length of space.

A 10m future RIB would be sweet though I suspect that would involve either a house move or dry stack

Just musings really but curious what people think.

Cheers!


Will you have to reverse said boat into the drive or can you drive in/out forwards? Is the drive level or sloping? How wide is the entrance?
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Old 01 March 2021, 14:25   #3
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Consider the access - my 585+ trailer from raised engine to hitch is c 7.5m.
With the road width (quite narrow)and the angle needed to reverse onto my drive drive it is really tight. It's not the length of the drive that's the limiting factor.

Also think about what else needs to get on the drive, other cars, garage access etc,
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Old 01 March 2021, 21:03   #4
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You already have a 6.5m rib in your bio, where do you keep this ? If at home you would already know how a few more metres would effect the driveway differently and getting a boat onto it.

Those folding arms they use in America don't reach Australian standards in most states here in Australia (we have regulations closer to the UK) so check on that before you calculate that into your figures.

I keep a couple of boats at my home, one in the garage and one at the side between our neighbours, trouble for me is backing up the drive off the road. As you would know engaging a 4x4 on a sealed road surface and trying to turn the wheels to get the angle right causes bind up in the 4x4 system if you turn to hard. The weight pushing back onto the towball on any sloping drive is quite high and if anything gives you can expect to have a boat parked in the back of your 4x4, just make sure all components are heavy duty enough.
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Old 01 March 2021, 22:12   #5
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If you are realy tight for space you can have the boat bow almost directly above the tow hitch depending on tow vehicle. You see loads of boat trailers with huge drawbars which aren't necessary its a very simple operation to shorten most trailer draw bars if you need to minimize the space taken up
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Old 01 March 2021, 22:25   #6
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I kept my 9m Ribtec on the drive for many years, which with the trailer nose length must be more like 10.5-11m. That drive had quite an upward slope, a double width entrance, and a reasonably wide residential road out the front. I did have to ensure when getting it on and off the drive though that people hadn't parked right outside our house though, given the length.

We are relatively lucky in that the yacht club is only 200m down the same residential road, so it didn't exactly have a long tow, and that meant I could easily move it very late at night or very early in the morning, before too many people started parking on the road outside, or just park it on the road overnight to ensure a straight to off in the morning.

I personally find constantly manoeuvring a 9m RIB around tight spaces quite a bit of a faff, as the trailer does need quite a lot of space to turn, and between getting it on/off the drive and then wiggled through tight confines at the club to the slipway, it can be a bit of a pain. Certainly in our location a 6.5m RIB/trailer is so much easier, but I do love this boat! Now it lives on it's trailer at the yacht club, which in some ways is great, but if they have to move it they do so with a 4 wheel steerable Manitou with an extending boom and squeeze it into tiny places with no space in front, forgetting I have to get it in/out with a standard vehicle!
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Old 02 March 2021, 00:09   #7
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Will you have to reverse said boat into the drive or can you drive in/out forwards? Is the drive level or sloping? How wide is the entrance?


Hi PD, drive is flat, direct access off road full width drive (about 9 metres wide), have to reverse boat on ...
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Old 02 March 2021, 00:16   #8
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Consider the access - my 585+ trailer from raised engine to hitch is c 7.5m.

With the road width (quite narrow)and the angle needed to reverse onto my drive drive it is really tight. It's not the length of the drive that's the limiting factor.



Also think about what else needs to get on the drive, other cars, garage access etc,


For my current 6.3m the engine when down doesn’t protrude much behind the rear tubes, maybe 10-15cm, then the tow bar is about 0.5-0.7 metre further forward of the bow, so maybe 7.3m for the current rib.

We are widening the access anyway, not just boat related, it’s a pity. 9m driveway with an access of about 5m access which makes reversing the current boat absolutely fine but takes some concentration to get the swing right. With the drive widened to full 9m that would be much easier. I suspect a larger boat may require reversing into the entrance then maybe an electric winch or something to get it into place.

It’s more amusing as to what is possible, a new house with more land would make things easier haha. Reality is we will orb ably keep current boat for 5-6 years after which we may move - but you never know ...
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Old 02 March 2021, 00:18   #9
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You already have a 6.5m rib in your bio, where do you keep this ? If at home you would already know how a few more metres would effect the driveway differently and getting a boat onto it.



Those folding arms they use in America don't reach Australian standards in most states here in Australia (we have regulations closer to the UK) so check on that before you calculate that into your figures.



I keep a couple of boats at my home, one in the garage and one at the side between our neighbours, trouble for me is backing up the drive off the road. As you would know engaging a 4x4 on a sealed road surface and trying to turn the wheels to get the angle right causes bind up in the 4x4 system if you turn to hard. The weight pushing back onto the towball on any sloping drive is quite high and if anything gives you can expect to have a boat parked in the back of your 4x4, just make sure all components are heavy duty enough.


Yeah always wondered about those folding arms. Must be something that is foldable and has enough strength - I wonder out of curiosity why they don’t meet UK / Australian standards
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Old 02 March 2021, 00:19   #10
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If you are realy tight for space you can have the boat bow almost directly above the tow hitch depending on tow vehicle. You see loads of boat trailers with huge drawbars which aren't necessary its a very simple operation to shorten most trailer draw bars if you need to minimize the space taken up


That was my thought, we don’t take the boat on and off every weekend so that could work. To my estimation that would mean a circa 8.5-9m boat would be feasible
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Old 02 March 2021, 00:22   #11
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I kept my 9m Ribtec on the drive for many years, which with the trailer nose length must be more like 10.5-11m. That drive had quite an upward slope, a double width entrance, and a reasonably wide residential road out the front. I did have to ensure when getting it on and off the drive though that people hadn't parked right outside our house though, given the length.



We are relatively lucky in that the yacht club is only 200m down the same residential road, so it didn't exactly have a long tow, and that meant I could easily move it very late at night or very early in the morning, before too many people started parking on the road outside, or just park it on the road overnight to ensure a straight to off in the morning.



I personally find constantly manoeuvring a 9m RIB around tight spaces quite a bit of a faff, as the trailer does need quite a lot of space to turn, and between getting it on/off the drive and then wiggled through tight confines at the club to the slipway, it can be a bit of a pain. Certainly in our location a 6.5m RIB/trailer is so much easier, but I do love this boat! Now it lives on it's trailer at the yacht club, which in some ways is great, but if they have to move it they do so with a 4 wheel steerable Manitou with an extending boom and squeeze it into tiny places with no space in front, forgetting I have to get it in/out with a standard vehicle!


Sounds about what I was thinking, a 9m rib adding about 1.5m on trailer. One option is a hitch shaped hole in the garage haha.

I agree the the manoeuvrability of a 6.5m rib - quite easy to tow, even on country lanes. I suspect a big rib would be more of an operation - I wonder if larger rib owners generally keep them on dry stacks / at clubs not just for drive space but to avoid towing ...
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Old 02 March 2021, 08:51   #12
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Sounds about what I was thinking, a 9m rib adding about 1.5m on trailer. One option is a hitch shaped hole in the garage haha.

I agree the the manoeuvrability of a 6.5m rib - quite easy to tow, even on country lanes. I suspect a big rib would be more of an operation - I wonder if larger rib owners generally keep them on dry stacks / at clubs not just for drive space but to avoid towing ...


If you go longer, you’ll end up going wider too. You’re into 2.7m beam territory which is the limit on roads without becoming a “wide load”. All doable, just needs taking into consideration. Re.your drive. It sounds like you have the space, it’s the access that’s usually the problem. Having the room out front to get the swing of a 10m rig + vehicle. Depending on what you’re towing it with (I’m assuming it’s not a Ford Focus[emoji6]) a front mounted tow hitch could be useful.
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Old 02 March 2021, 10:54   #13
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If you go longer, you’ll end up going wider too. You’re into 2.7m beam territory which is the limit on roads without becoming a “wide load”. All doable, just needs taking into consideration. Re.your drive. It sounds like you have the space, it’s the access that’s usually the problem. Having the room out front to get the swing of a 10m rig + vehicle. Depending on what you’re towing it with (I’m assuming it’s not a Ford Focus[emoji6]) a front mounted tow hitch could be useful.


Haha yes not a Ford Focus. Currently use a Tiguan but you are right we would probably time it with a different vehicle - front mounted hitch would be very handy plus the extra grunt for a larger boat!! Do things like Touregs have front hitch capability?

Exciting potential for the future! Then it will be to think about potential rigs, new prices for that size are quite eye watering but there seem to be some good deals on the market now and again. Who knows - maybe I’ll build one from a base hull!

Thanks for all the responses, an interesting discussion!
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Old 02 March 2021, 14:05   #14
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Sounds about what I was thinking, a 9m rib adding about 1.5m on trailer. One option is a hitch shaped hole in the garage haha.

I agree the the manoeuvrability of a 6.5m rib - quite easy to tow, even on country lanes. I suspect a big rib would be more of an operation - I wonder if larger rib owners generally keep them on dry stacks / at clubs not just for drive space but to avoid towing ...
Certainly in Poole I don't see that many 9m (or even 7m+) RIB's being towed and launched - must people are very surprised to see mine go rolling by on it's trailer!

I think it very much depends on your home setup, and that of your launch point. For me, even though the distance between the driveway and the yacht club is tiny, it's really just the challenges of manoeuvring at either end that present the issue. The way the club is laid out and how tight boats are packed in, it's really not suited to 10+m long trailers behind normal cars, especially during active sailing times, and people tend to park their cars/boats all over the place, sometimes forcing me to move numerous trailers/trolleys, etc.

Would definitely be much easier to dry stack/marina berth with that size boat, and we go for a split approach where if I'm in Poole for a period and plan to use the RIB heavily, we try to keep it in the club's marina for x weeks/months.
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Old 02 March 2021, 16:18   #15
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Re.your drive. It sounds like you have the space, it’s the access that’s usually the problem. Having the room out front to get the swing of a 10m rig + vehicle. Depending on what you’re towing it with (I’m assuming it’s not a Ford Focus[emoji6]) a front mounted tow hitch could be useful.
One of the challenges with these massive 3.5t trailers is that the geometry is all wrong. To keep the tongue weight down, they have to put the wheels in the middle of the trailer, which means massive tailswing and you need a huge area to turn it.

Contrast to an artic lorry which has the wheels pretty much at the back of the trailer, and the tractor unit can jack around to 90 degrees or more. You can do a U turn in an artic in a space not much wider than the length of the trailer. Try that with a 10m boat trailer...
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Old 02 March 2021, 16:23   #16
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Certainly in Poole I don't see that many 9m (or even 7m+) RIB's being towed and launched - must people are very surprised to see mine go rolling by on it's trailer!

I think it very much depends on your home setup, and that of your launch point. For me, even though the distance between the driveway and the yacht club is tiny, it's really just the challenges of manoeuvring at either end that present the issue. The way the club is laid out and how tight boats are packed in, it's really not suited to 10+m long trailers behind normal cars, especially during active sailing times, and people tend to park their cars/boats all over the place, sometimes forcing me to move numerous trailers/trolleys, etc.

Would definitely be much easier to dry stack/marina berth with that size boat, and we go for a split approach where if I'm in Poole for a period and plan to use the RIB heavily, we try to keep it in the club's marina for x weeks/months.
If its literally only 200m to get to the yacht club, you could get a little compact tractor to drag it around. Would be 10x more manouverable than behind the car and hitching / unhitching is a doddle.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kubota-B4...kAAOSwfmBgN4yP
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Old 02 March 2021, 18:16   #17
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Here in US the main off the shelf swinging tongue coupler is called SwingAway. It comes in many sizes to handle different loads. I’ve also had a 5,000lb boat/trailer that had a tongue that sleeved together much like a removable hitch. It removed about 3.5’ of length.
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Old 02 March 2021, 22:34   #18
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If its literally only 200m to get to the yacht club, you could get a little compact tractor to drag it around. Would be 10x more manouverable than behind the car and hitching / unhitching is a doddle.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kubota-B4...kAAOSwfmBgN4yP
A great idea, and something I'd definitely go for! But it's actually my parent's house, and think they'd refuse entry if I did that - I already have 2 of their garage spaces for my little Tomkat RIB on it's trailer, a Series 1 Land Rover, and loads of workshop tools...

Since they rebuilt the house 18 months ago (and the previous 18 months during the rebuild), we ended up storing the Ribtec at the yacht club anyway, but the tractor would still be super handy there. It's now only about 20m to the slipway, but the yacht club tend to jam it in to the tightest corners they can find with their Manitou, and all the small dinghies you could lift with one hand get the super easy parking spots :-).
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Old 03 March 2021, 02:12   #19
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Yeah always wondered about those folding arms. Must be something that is foldable and has enough strength - I wonder out of curiosity why they don’t meet UK / Australian standards
We are pretty heavily regulated and each component has to be tested and stamped with Aus standards codes etc, even the shackles. We also have to have our trailers inspected and registered separately (they don't simply go off the tow vehicles number plate). The equivalent of a 12 month mot and compulsory insurance has to be had for them too. I looked into getting one of the US folding devices and found I couldn't legally use one as they don't meet the correct standard, this may not be that they are at any fault but possibly to expensive to get passed. The bolts drilled through the draw bar would have to reduce the tow bar strength to a point. Our basic regs https://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/roads/saf...es/towing.html
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Old 04 March 2021, 21:57   #20
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8.1m scorpion behind gates. In between littlins swing and gate. 9.7m on trailer although I recently reduced it to under 9.5m including outboard by moving winch post. It’s a bummer getting it in, involves a jack knife and a dehitch and re hitch. But it works.

Reality is it makes the boat less accessible though.
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