Weird question of the day - Would an 11 foot RIB inflatable fit in a pickup truck ?

[Milacron]

As in full size bed, dually pickup. Lower the tailgate and over 10 feet of flat, but wonder how the side tubes would do being slighlty wider than the sides and would the RIB hull fit between the wheel wells ok ? Motor would hang off the back of course but could tie down the front ok.

Backing under it hanging from overhead hoist, seems like it would work....but dunno really...could be something I'm missing that would kill the whole procedure. Sure would beat buying a trailer for one time use (the boat is 400 miles away) Launching it in the water from pickup might require a bit of brute force from strong friends.

 

[Artzco]

Shouldn't it fit if the tubes are deflated? As for hull, deflate the tubes and measure width. Suggest the hull (if it fits) be cushioned with soft foam, etc, to prevent chafe.

 

[capttonyf]

Two ways:

1. Place it in the Bed at an angle, Same way they transport wide catamaran racing boats. Google it I'm sure something would pop up. I know "The King of Beers" transported theirs that way.

2 Deflate the RIB, place it in the bed, then partially reinflate. It will lock itself in place and fit like a glove.

Just be sure to put cardboard, rubber or a few towels uder the hull so it doesn't rub against the bed of the truck and ruin either of the two's finish.

Tony

 

[capttonyf]

I forgot. U Haul Rents 12 and 14 foot open trailers for one way deliveries. If there aren't any available in your area you could always rent one of their car haulers as well.


http://www.uhaul.com/Trailers/6x12-Utility-Trailer-with-Ramp-Rental/HO/

Without Ramp:
http://www.uhaul.com/Trailers/6x12-Utility-Trailer-Rental/RO/

http://www.uhaul.com/Trailers/Auto-Transport-Rental/AT/

Hope this helps.

Tony

 

[Milacron]

Thanks guys, been decades since I've owned an inflatable and completely forgot about the possibility of deflating the tubes....can't see how it wouldn't work given that. Just measured the truck bed and it has 5'4" between the inside of the bed sides.

 

[Walter P]

Sounds like a neat idea. If you plan to transport the RIB on your truck fairly often, you may want to consider making a padded cradle to match the bottom contour of the RIB for the pickup bed. You being in the machine shop business, it shouldn't be difficult to design and build some sort of detachable "crane" on the truck to facilitate loading and unloading. Just a thought....

Walt

 

[seasalt]

Same principle as the 18 wheeler that couldn't get under the underpass until the farmer advised him to let some air out of the tires.

 

[magnawake]

I deflate mine and chunk it in the back when ever I want to store it at home. I love not having that awefull thinng hanging or flipped up on the swim platform. It is kinda heavy though and I have a 10 ft carib. I place the outboard in the center part.

 

[Milacron]

Sounds like a neat idea. If you plan to transport the RIB on your truck fairly often, you may want to consider making a padded cradle to match the bottom contour of the RIB for the pickup bed. You being in the machine shop business, it shouldn't be difficult to design and build some sort of detachable "crane" on the truck to facilitate loading and unloading. Just a thought.

The idea is to transport if just once....from Florida where I buy it and then launch it at boat ramp that is 1/4 miles from the mothership. After some motoring fun haul it on the flybridge with Marquipt single point davit. (adjustable chocks already in place, dingy comes with single point lift harness)

The one irritant is the best view, by far, from the mothership's aft deck is deck facing west (i.e. boat tied up starboard side) but the way the davit is mounted, the dinghy can only be launched and retrived from the starboard side, thus necessitating moving the mothership 180 degrees and docking on port side if we intend to use the dinghy much while at the marina (that we plan to stay at possibly for years)

 

[thoward]

I fit an 11'er in an Excursion, once. If it is a tiller motor, I would remove it and lay inside boat.

 

[rwappleton]

Milly,

I built a removable cradle Out of 2X4's and had it just above the bed sides strapped it down and away we went for 400 miles without a hitch (with motor attached). Cradle took about an hour made it with a ten degree angle (read dead rise) and it fit almost perfect with some cardboard thrown in. You will want to strap down the motor really good to ease the stress on the transom of the RIB.

The tubes buffeted a little at 80 so we held it to 75.

Cost about 75 bucks with stainless hardware and no I did not make a drawing. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Good Luck

 

[Milacron]

FWIW, as it turns out I later found a really nice 2005 Avon 360 Seasport with Yamaha 4 stroke, 76 hours, on a nearly new trailer for the same price as the trailerless Zodiac and closer to boot (but still pretty far away..in Tampa)...picked it up this morning, did some shopping in Jacksonville and towed it home tonight. As a bonus I got to see the owners 2005 Ferrari and classic Jaguar XKE...super nice folks.