I have actually seen pontoon boats used for this a couple of times, and it seemed to work very well. I'd be a little concerned about the relative fragility of those thin walled aluminum sponsons, but some old tires hanging inside might be plenty of bumper. You're talking about a lot of lift here--does that mean you intend to lift the sub bodily out of the water? Vance
In a message dated 11/4/2006 9:39:08 AM Central Standard Time, joeperkel@hotmail.com writes:
Here are the problems that I can foresee here, and would like discussion on improvements or otherwise unforeseen circumstances.
Joe I am Dean Ackman from Duluth Mn. You are touching on the subject
of my plans for trailoring.
I am planning a 2 man 1atm fw 300-400 ability.
My current thoughts so far is using pontoon boat pontoons for the
trailer.
Being from Minnesota I am very familiar with pontoon boats and have a
huge resource of cheep parts.
You are correct in width being a problem to keep em legal down the road.
My solution so far (unbuilt or tested) is at least a double deck pontoon
set stacked on each other. The top set will have cradle for sub. The
top section itself will be on slides to pull it back further in the water.
Most Lake launches I will be going in, get fairly deep once you get
past the normal boat launching area. Once I achieve bouancy on the sub
a simple mechanical release will turn her loose. I have even thought of
a cat walk thingy so I don't need to get me all wet to enter the sub.
Most of my diving will be in Lake superior, and their are many good
launch points I can use. However I do have several 200 ft lakes
in the area I may want to explore so I am also considering Having
the trailer to have the ability to disconnect the wheels and become
a tender boat for these lakes.
Any way like I said the only place this exists is in my head, but
have not been able to think of a reason why it won't work.
Dean