Transporting Large Inflatable Boat - Any Suggestions?

[Dwight Norris]

I have been racking my brain on ways to more easily transport my inflatable boat. I have a 16ft Saturn SD488 inflatable boat and my SUV is 16.3ft long. This boat has a metal floor.

I have a side by side driveway with my attached neighbor. It is a random driveway, but the back is 3-4 feet closer in so when we park family in the back the cars are almost touching so getting a trailer back there without running over something or hitting my neighbor's car is not good.

I was previously putting the completely deflated boat in its bag along with the floor in another bag and putting that in the back of the SUV along with everything else (no outboard yet, but I will be getting one). I had to squeeze it in there because the boat is so wide. Imagine a suitcase being stuffed on your way to Paris. This requires moving all this stuff into the SUV, out of the SUV, blowing it up for 30-40 minutes, putting it into the water, taking it out of the water, deflate and pack for 30 minutes and take it back home and unpack and store for 30 minutes. As you can see some time and sweat could be saved here.

I was originally going to get an awesome kayak, but I don't fish without my son. More like he won't let me go without him! He is young and can't man his own vessel reliably yet. Maybe in the future! Also, my wife said I have to get something all of us can fit in... oh the dilemmas!

I thought about unhooking a lightweight trailer and pulling/pushing the trailer uphill into the spot might be a feasible option. However the boat is 100lbs, the metal floor is 85lbs, the outboard is 175lbs max, the trailer is 250lbs+. That's over 600lbs of dead weight to push up a slight uphill.

I thought about putting it on top of the SUV, but I am worried about the floor coming loose and flying away even though that would be very hard to do. It may work for short trips at speeds below 50 mph. I have 3 inch wide straps to hook it on so I know it won't go anywhere, but I rather not do this. I would still have to manhandle it down and into the water and I am not getting any younger.

The last thing I thought I could do was buy a trailer and pay a ridiculous amount to store it at a nearby yacht club. I forgot the price estimate they gave me, but it seemed like a lot and they required that I volunteer time that I don't really have.

Now with all this said does anybody have any ideas. Maybe I just need to man up and pay the money. Maybe I need to find a machine to push/pull the trailer into the tight spot in my uphill driveway... I don't know.

Thanks for your help!

[Michigander]

They have those hand trailer caddies that would help you maneuver it in the driveway. Couldn't you put it on top of the SUV in one of those canvas roof pods?

 

[Dwight Norris]

OH! Hand Trailer Caddies... That just might work. I wonder if I would need a motorized one or not? I do have a large roof bag, but that would mean deflating and inflating and all that jazz. However, it would allow me to put an outboard in the back of the car. 

 

I really like the hand trailer caddy idea! Thanks!

[A-Jay]

How about just sliding it into a local commercial storage.

If you have one that is en route to the waters you fish that could be pretty convenient, especially if you are able to leave it intact.

A-Jay 

[TnRiver46]

Flat wooden trailer and strap her down. PVC pipe rollers to push it off steep banks. 

[Michigander]

5 hours ago, Dwight Norris said:

OH! Hand Trailer Caddies... That just might work. I wonder if I would need a motorized one or not? I do have a large roof bag, but that would mean deflating and inflating and all that jazz. However, it would allow me to put an outboard in the back of the car. 

 

I really like the hand trailer caddy idea! Thanks!

Not sure what your body strength is but I don't think you'll need a motorized one for an inflatable. I can just barely move my 21' Triton up a slight incline by myself without a caddy and that's many thousands of pounds.

[CountryboyinDC]

I knew Saturn made whitewater rafts and cats, I didn't know they made this kind of boat.  The people that I fish with that have inflatables in this size range have them on utility trailers, and they definitely don't inflate/deflate them when they get to the river.  Usually they just carry the cataraft/raft to the river or drag it off the trailer to the water if there's a ramp.  Yours is heavier still than a raft and frame, and with a motor, will be a beast to move if you leave the motor on (although I think you should be able to find a sub-175 lb outboard to move that boat along as fast as you can safely go).  A pickup truck with one of those trailer hitch bed extenders might suffice, but a trailer is really going to be the best solution.  With the weight of the boat, you possibly could get away with a Yakima Rack and Roll trailer, which folds up really neat.  It isn't cheap, but they resell really well if you go to a type of boat for which that isn't suited.  @TnRiver46 has the solution that offers more versatility, but it does take up more space.

[Dwight Norris]

I have decided to go with getting a proper trailer. Thanks for the suggestions @Michigander @TnRiver46 @A-Jay @CountryboyinDC

 

I did some measurements and there is 8 feet of space to get my 6.5 ft wide of boat into the back spot of my driveway. I will definitely get the trailer dolly to manuever it up there because hitting my neighbors car isn't really an option right now and blocking a main road for lots of corrections won't go well. 

 

This will allow me to get the 25hp+ outboard I want to get down the river and fish in the harbour.

 

Something too look forward to in the Spring!