"Battleship Trailer"

I started this project with absolutely no plan whatsoever. All I really new was that it had to fit the boat and it had to roll. It turned out to be a beautiful piece of work that is also quite functional.

Using 1 1/4" angled steel I welded up a rectangular shape to fit the length and width of the boat. At this point I was thinking basic boat trailer. I robbed the go cart tires and wheels from another project and welded up an Axle with carrier bearings to make it roll. Plywood formers were cut to fit the contour of the Hull. During a particular evening of Beer drinkin', my buddy Bob and I were kicking around the idea of making some fenders......"Lets build some out of Aluminum"......okay..

Using flat aluminum stock we cut three pieces for each fender. The side pieces were the dia. that we needed, and the width was tack welded to the sides to create the shape of the fender. This was as far as we got. It was now a functioning trailer that I could move around while I continued work on the boat itself. This is how it sat for a couple of years.........When I finally found the inspiration to finish it, there was quite a bit of Aluminum welding still to be done. Although I welded the entire framework for the trailer, I don't have the equipment or the knowledge to do Aluminum. Not too many people are capable of this type of work, even if they say they are....From start to finish, four different people welded on these fenders before they were complete..........

The next step was to do the finish work.....this is were everything changed.....after a week of grinding, sanding and polishing, these fenders were as slick as a piece of jewelry!!!...Now I'm getting a glimpse of how cool this trailer can be. All the welds on the trailer were ground and finished, then prepped for paint. I chose the bright red to contrast with the dreary grays that the ship is painted. After all the finish work was complete, it was reassembled with stainless hardware, then hand pinstriped and lettered to add some finishing touches to it.

I'm always amazed at how these projects tend to take on a life of their own once they're started. In the beginning, I never imagined this to be anything more than a simple boat trailer.....needless to say I am quite surprised with the end result........