# Trailering for long distances



## MDC902 (Feb 23, 2014)

Had a buddy say that trailering a raft for long distances to a launch was bad. His theory was that the rubber gets abraded when bounced on the trailer for extended periods of time. 
He suggested rolling the raft and using the trailer for all the gear. 
Thoughts? Anybody had problems?


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## kengore (May 29, 2008)

In my experience your friend is correct. For longer trips (IE, less than an hour) I find it easier to transport the rubber rolled. Not only does it save on abrasion but I get significantly better gas mileage. Also driving over mountain passes causes enough change in pressure that the straps needed regular adjustment.

Be careful of how you load up the frame and oars. I wrap a towel between any parts that touch. Two pieces of hard aluminum tubing will rub against each other and do some real damage as you bang along dirt roads. 

Most trailers have leaf springs and no shocks. So pack accordingly. I had a friend loose over a dozen cam straps as a mesh bag loosened up and the straps wandered out one by one.

If you are towing over gavel roads and you don't have mud flaps you will kick up enough gravel to remove the paint from the leading edge of the trailer frame. I try to get a piece of my plywood floor up front to act as a shield.


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## caverdan (Aug 27, 2004)

I both roll the boat and wrap it in a tarp to avoid any wear holes from rubbing, during transport.


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## Stiff N' Wett (Feb 18, 2010)

I leave my boat inflated and fully rigged on 7 hr drives never had a problem. But I'm stopping often to check the pressure straps etc.


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## wildh2onriver (Jul 21, 2009)

Never had any problems towing a fully rigged cat on countless trips from the Vail Valley to Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Arizona-well you get the point...


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## MDC902 (Feb 23, 2014)

Do those that leave it inflated have a cover on when you travel? Do you have any sort of protection from gravel spray? (Mudflaps, plywood, etc)


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## wildh2onriver (Jul 21, 2009)

No covers, no issues and did extensive trips on lots of gravel roads. 


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## shoenfeld13 (Aug 18, 2009)

I have never had any problems on many 8+ hour trips. I deflate a bit when going over big passes, but that is it. I strap it down extra tight and it seems to be fine.


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## SummitSurfer (Jun 23, 2010)

$20 bucks gets ya outdoor carpet to put/mount to trailor under raft. Ive done it for 1000's of miles and no issues. No covers. I rig most the boat at the house, back it into the water, splash the boat to get it to river temp, then inflate to desired pressure add water, beer and stir for fun!


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## nemi west (Jun 22, 2006)

We deflate our..... Rub it down with KY.... Water soluble...... Roll it loosely..... Wrap it in a tarp....... We have a plywood rock guard. 

We have determined this will make our raft last 317 years with the amount of boating we do........19 days a year. The sex shop in Boulder has 10 gal buckets of KY. Costco has them too in the new rafting section.


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## cataraftgirl (Jun 5, 2009)

Another rigged, loaded, ready to go on the trailer person here. No cover. Check pressure & straps at each pee/gas/food stop. Utah to Idaho several times a year. No problems. All depends on the trip & whether I'm hauling just my boat, or other peoples gear as well. If it's a multi-gear in the trailer trip, then I'll deflate & roll.


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## swiftwater15 (Feb 23, 2009)

Rigged and ready. Portland to montana and California many times.


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## OldandBitter (Jun 11, 2011)

I rig in April and de-rig in October. I am a fan of the old man method. It is highly likely my cat will outlast me.


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## theusualsuspect (Apr 11, 2014)

Put duct tape on trailer corners and put the rigged raft on the trailer in...2002.

Never have deflated the raft during the winter, and routinely drive over an hour to put in. 
Average about 30 days/year on the water. 

BTW this is "Star" rubber I picked up used for less than 1k. I doubt it's worth the effort to take it apart.


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## cataraftgirl (Jun 5, 2009)

My last trip of the season is usually a fly-in MF which works out nicely, since I store my disassembled NRS frame on shelves in my garage during the winter. The boat and frame are apart for the airplane flight in, then packed up at the takeout. When I get home, the frame goes on the shelf and the boat goes in the shed until spring. Come spring, it all gets put together for the season. I may try leaving the boat inflated on the trailer over the winter with a cover & tarp? Not sure on that yet?


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## elkhaven (Sep 11, 2013)

I'm on the water 30-50 days a year, year round (though much less frequent in winter). In a different thread awhile back on the same subject I mentioned that my old boat probably had 30k trailer miles on it, I believe I was mistaken We were talking at a BBQ this weekend and started adding things up, in 12 years it logged at least 60k, possibly 80K miles, all on a trailer, uncovered. It had only been rolled once in that time so it could ride on a horse. The only issue I've had was at one point I had it sitting farther back on the trailer for a few years (so that the tubes were resting on the roller) and it wore a bit of the hypalon off (never leaked and was an easy two wear guard fix). Other than that narry an issue. It lived about half the summer in the drive way and half in the barn and spent most winters in the barn. I have a cover that was on it most of the time while sitting but I wasn't anal about that. It never had one on while on the road. 

My boat was not baby'd, it was taken care of but well used. I typically feel that the more gravel road on the way to the ramp the better and I rarely drive slow. My trailer has no powder coat left on any of the leading edges and I've been through 4 sets of tires. With all that there is not a scratch on the rubber, you would never know that it's been pelted with millions of high-speed gravels, sand, mud, small rodents and the occasional venison remnants. I can be in or out of a boat ramp in way less then 5 minutes, typically one or two minutes on the ramp and would not, for any reason do it any other way. For me, a trailer is the only way to go! 

If you spend less time on the water and storage, money or tow vehicles are issues than I can see how other folks might prefer not having the hassle. I do not even slightly comprehend having a trailer and rolling up your boat! Sure it's conceivable that something could hit and damage the boat but that's not worthing worrying about for me.


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## captishmael (Feb 8, 2008)

Common sense says that Deflate/Roll will avoid abrasion, but Practical Experience says it's just not an issue. I used to deflate and roll, as much for gas mileage as anything else. Now I leave it inflated every time I can with no ill effects. Keep your raft clean, sweep the trailer before use, and you're good to go.

Regarding the adjusting of straps, I think it's even more important to monitor the pressure of the raft, especially on hot days and when going over passes and Eisenhower Tunnel. I'm sure that overinflation causes more premature raft deaths than abrasion. 

Peace,
The Capt


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## elkhaven (Sep 11, 2013)

captishmael said:


> I'm sure that overinflation causes more premature raft deaths than abrasion.


^^^^^^I whole heartedly agree with this ^^^^^


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## Willie 1.5 (Jul 9, 2013)

More rigged and stacked boaters, usually two boats, depending on distance. I will say the trailer carries the boats 2 feet off the deck of the trailer(+/-42 in off the ground). From casual observation they get very few rocks or other debris thrown at them.

We take out the coolers and dry boxes and such. But will transport soft items in them. 

Thousands of miles in the last couple of years. Oregon to SE Utah last fall.

Any floor without a PRV gets deflated.

If you get good, you can set the straps a little loose when boats are soft. When its time to let pressure out, you can see the straps are tight in your mirrors.


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## captishmael (Feb 8, 2008)

_If you get good, you can set the straps a little loose when boats are soft. When its time to let pressure out, you can see the straps are tight in your mirrors_

Oooohhhhh...........
I like that!


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## Osprey (May 26, 2006)

If you wanted to get real fancy you could incorporate an extension spring into your strapping so it could expand and contract.


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## montana_field (Mar 28, 2011)

I agree with your friend. Most damage to our boats happened while inflated transport. When rolled up make sure to avoid abrasion. 


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## swiftwater15 (Feb 23, 2009)

So have folks experienced any damage from trailering other than from overinflation?


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## elkhaven (Sep 11, 2013)

As I stated in my overly verbose post above, I had a wear problem when the tubes rested on my roller. This probably occurred over the last 3 or 4 years. I'll reiterate that all the leading edges of my trailer are "gravel blasted" i.e. not an ounce of paint. Some trips we take (gravel road return from the Smith River in particular) if it's recently rained there will be inches of mud, sand and gravel on the trailer and coating the front of the boat. I would not agree that things don't hit the boat, but these boats are designed to be abrasian resistant. The only other thing I have seen is one buddy that got his knifed in his driveway once. Lives on the walking route from bars to college dorms... My experience includes a dozen friends that always trailer boats, hundreds of thousands of trailering miles over the last two decades. Not one issue that didn't involve over inflation or over ingestion of alcahol followed by some sort of "short cut"...


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## captishmael (Feb 8, 2008)

Over the past 20 years of trailering rafts, I have had 3 "incidents". All were preceeded by the phrase "Here, hold my Beer. Y'all ain't gonna believe ths shit!"


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## firejenson (Mar 15, 2012)

I grew up with the idea that the boat could not be inflated with gear going down the road due to abrasion. But after watching so many folks that I raft with do just that, I thought I would try it. I had two seasons of complete paranoia for no reason. The boat sustained no damage. I have trailered it practically fully rigged and ready to put on the water with no damage. (I religiously check inflation and straps). You will find that this operation is very nice when it comes to pulling off the river. I rigged a setup that pulls from three D-rings from the trailer winch. I get the trailer as deep as possible and crank the boat up as if it were a drift boat. Once on dry land I get it road worthy and I am long gone when the "roll-up" guys are still fussing.


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## Learch (Jul 12, 2010)

I Rolled my Sotar one time, and it sucked. I grew up rolling up Riken IK's and rafts up to 15' long, and they were easy. For my boat, I think it is much safer to keep it inflated as much as possible. It has been from Oregon to the Colorado on a trailer with carpet, the Rogue a few times, the John day a few times, etc on a trailer. I check straps and pressure when on longer trips out of the Willamette valley, and haven't had any issues. I think I'd have more issues with folded material possibly rubbing a hole than a nice long tube sitting on a smooth, clean surface.


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## [email protected] (Jun 1, 2010)

Osprey said:


> If you wanted to get real fancy you could incorporate an extension spring into your strapping so it could expand and contract.


 Liked your suggestion so much  that it has become my winter project to mount springs permanently on my trailer. I travel fully rigged and almost always do. I have found If I'm inflated to 2#'s at 5,280 feet I can go to 12,000 and stay around 3 1/2#'s, which is a very safe pressure range for a Sotar boat. So the only stops I make now are for strap adjustments. I'm hoping that the springs will end the need to adjust on the road. Will report back after first trip.
The only damage I have ever had was when I was towing not rigged and a cat tube fell off on a interstate highway:shock:.


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## Osprey (May 26, 2006)

Sounds good! Keep us posted.


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## catwoman (Jun 22, 2009)

We have trailered rafts, sometimes double stacked, for long distances. This past fall we put a hole in the bottom of the top raft of double stack driving the Westwater shuttle, caused by abrasion on a cam strap buckle that was holding a table to the raft below. There are three other abrasions from cam buckles on the same table. Abrasion holes can happen quicker than you'd think.


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