Flipping the Boat

How to best handle that exciting point in a boat build when you turn the hull over

We had a reader ask us how most people manage to flip their hull over—when that time comes—during a boat build. The first “method” that comes to our mind is the time-honored “neighborhood pizza and beer” approach, where you gather friends and neighbors to help manully turn the boat over. Our builder’s circumstances are such that he says he might not be able to get much help.

Another common method we mentioned was to employ garage or shop roof-mounted straps, chain hoists or blocks and possibly a cradle, to assist in the turning. It so happens our builder is building under a temporary hoop house structure that isn’t suited to carrying the extra weight (approximately 900 lbs).

We know some boatbuilders have made their own wooden gantrys or cranes for this purpose—typically mixing plywood and 2x6’s or 2x8’s forming an upside-down U shape on wide, stable feet—and we’ve even heard about someone employing an old kids swingset as the overhead support…though we certainly can’t recomend that approach.

If you’re planning on building or restoring a number of smaller boats and you’re willing to invest into a pair of steel gantrys, you might consider buying a pair of 1,000-lb.-capacity models made by Pittsburgh Automotive and sold at Harbor Freight (and others) for about $850 each. See adjoining photo. Add chain hoists to each gantry, along with strong lifting straps, and you’re in business. (In design, they are similar to wooden gantrys you could build yourself, using 2x4’s, 2x6’s and maybe some plywood gussets for extra strength…bolting everything together.)

Attached below are links to a few videos on the subject. (The second one, “DIY Gantry Crane,” illustrates how to use common 2x6’s and 2x4’s to build a gantry that’ll be capable of flipping most smaller boats.)

What methods have you used or seen used? There must be a number of other ways to make the flip go smoothly (like maybe finding super-strong overhead tree limbs to host chain hoists or block-and-tackle rigging?) Let us know below. —Eds

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