Boat height on trailer -- I've got an older garage

[stevieb]

Hey everyone, I'm a first-timer here.

I'm looking for a skiboat, likely new. I've done lots of reading and have narrowed down some choices and I really like the CC offerings.

However, and it is a BIG however, I've got a garage height problem. I've got a sweet four car garage (two car front/two back) and a huge length in the back...the back section is 27 feet long by 20 wide..with 9 ft ceilings. From back wall to door is 47 feet. Heaven? Almost. My entry is only 78 inches high and that's if I sweep all the dust off the ground. Otherwise it's 77.999. Flat entry, no driveway slope. And, the back section is heated (key in MN), with a canopy that closes off the heated from the cold section. Sorta like those old McDonalds BLT ads..... Okay, I'm dating myself.

I want a nice boat and I don't mind spending a bit because I know that IF I keep it stored inside it'll still be looking good in a decade.

So: What boats out there fit in a six and a half foot high garage? Does a 196 without a tower?
A 216?

I measured a 211 on a big trailer and the thing came out to seven feet minus a few thousands, and that was without the tower. The tower was something like 7 three.

Do I have to go older/smaller boat? Speciality trailer?

Any and all advice is welcome here. If you have a tapemeasure handy, let me know what your real world heights are.

Also, I really can't knock out the garage door and gain height. The stringers are just too close to the ceiling....Fifty year old attached garage and it's the limiting factor without doing a huge remodel, which I would like to avoid....

Thanx in advance..

[surroundsound64]

RE: Boat height on trailer -- I

What about getting a jackhammer and lowering part of the driveway?

I know some guys deflate their tires partially in order to get their boats in the garage.

[stevieb]

RE: Boat height on trailer -- I

If it were an inch or two I'll consider it. But too much lowering will just cause snow/rainwater to roll into garage. Driveway is very flat, and new. I could maybe notch the header an inch or two without having it break like a toothpick and trench the driveway....but there's no way I'm going to get an extra seven or eight inches. I re-measured tonight and there's places where the lumpy garage floor provides only about 77.5 inches of true clearance.

Tire deflation would work too.... Possibily I can get an inch here, an inch there...

Still, I'd love to hear heights from various boat/trailer combos out there.

[nautique95]

My 206 w/ a tower fit in my 7' door with no problem and you can see how far the tower leg sticks up past the windshield so I don't think you will have a problem with one without the tower. You may have cut down the guide posts a little though. I would measure for you but I sold my 206.

[Fast351]

I just went through this exercise with my 211. My dealer ordered a trailer with 2006 bunk height (Prestige trailers went up a couple inches in 2007 for some reason) and my tower legs scrape the trim on my 7' door (actually 6'11.5") with the trailer jack all the way down. I put a smaller wheel on the jack which gave me another inch so it will at least get into the garage without having to rock the tower slightly so I can get it in one leg at a time.

I'm in a slightly different boat than you though, the garage is too short for the boat with the platform attached too, so I'm having the garage stretched to a 2x2 car garage, with an 8' door and that will solve the problem permanently.

Raising the header on your garage is not a gigantic project. Perhaps this is the call. I know when I'm coming off the lake late at night the last thing I want to do is screw around with deflating tires and all kinds of other gymnastics when I'm tired and it's dark. You're looking at probably a $2000 investment to do it, with a new door and all the related bits. Something to think about. (If you need a contractor I'd be happy to put you in touch with the guy that's doing the work on mine....)

Otherwise head to Son and chat with them about playing with the trailer dimensions. Mark was eager to solve the problem for me to sell me a 211. It didn't sound to me like Prestige was hard to work with either, so that might be a possible solution.

Good luck!

[NautiqueJeff]

I'm thinking of expanding my garage to a 2X2 car size too. Do you mind me asking what that cost? My current garage is 20x20 (2 car attached).

[Fast351]

Numbers aren't in yet, but it's looking like about 20K After everything is said and done.

[NautiqueJeff]

Cool. Thanks for the info.

[nautique95]

I had to put in a 9'x8' door so when my 211 comes in it will fit without any issues. I put in a Wayne Dalton insulated door with 4 windows, the door itself was $650. I raised the header and reworked it myself.

[stevieb]

Thanks for the comments.

Unfortunately my garage is about as crappy as it gets for raising the header. It's old, with seven foot plaster ceilings and the header is tied into the roof line of the house. I know it can be done..I've cut out the wall of an old stucco house to put in big new windows myself...but theres a loooot of stuff that would go into doing both headers on the garage, and rewiring everything. And raising the ceiling...on and on and on.... I'm trying to keep it simple. If a big boat won't fit, get a lower boat, I guess.

I was struck looking at the 211 trailer at Son how high off the ground everything is. I wouldn't want to drag the tail going over every speed bump, but I'm not planning on going off-roading with the thing either.

Unfortunately, my garage is so low that even with a lower trailer I think a 211 is pretty much history...So, again, I'm interested in real-world tape measure stories....

Thanks...

[stevieb]

Fast351: I live in Edina, and I'm new to the area, so if you have any good leads on good contractors let me know. I've got a basement remodel that I won't have time to get to....I just bought this house cuz I love the school district and I love the supersize garage. It's the doors that suck. Previous owner was a car collector, so entry height didn't matter. I'm new to the whole dedicated skiboat thing. I grew up in N. MN and we always had a cabin (but old beater boats) so I'm used to skiing behind anything, in any weather. I've been away from MN for a long time and now back and I wanna take advantage of the fact...plus, my wife LOVES to ski, so we are getting a boat!