BadDog

I am building a 21x40 carport for the boats. I planned on a 12' high door and interior ceiling height of 13' 8" in case I wanted to enclose it someday and put in a real garage door. As it stands now the structure will be open with a shingle roof. I wanted to have enough height that if I ever got a cruiser of some sort that it would fit in there as well. What would you guess the average single engine 26 to 28 cruiser trailering height to be?

I sort of need to know before I set my truss carriers on Tuesday.

Turbojack

I am on my third garage now. I started with a 9'6" door. It worked at first & then was too low to get my toys in. Next building was a 12' door. This had been high enought for a while. Now hopefully last building is 50' deep with 14' tall door.

offthefront

iTrader: (1)

I would build the opening as tall as you can ....you can always frame down ...If you use a rollup type door there wont be much difference in cost ...

Cord

iTrader: (2)

My shop has a 12'x12' door. That's enough height to get a motor home through. A little more space would be needed for a oversize cruiser. I'd also suggest adding some more ceiling height. My ceiling is at 14' and it is tight with the gantry crane and light fixtures. 14' is tall, but everything eats the height up.

mikev

max legal height for trailering is 13' 6" so if you go with a 14' door you would be fine no mater what you buy that is trailerable. A lot cheaper to plan for it now than change it later when you buy something bigger.

US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

Lower the driveway. I believe that was the advise you gave me at one time.

BadDog

Yes, but that was your money! I did peel away several feet of asphalt and managed to drop several inches. The plan is to have soffits level with one another. The house has a two car garage with 12' height so the 14 interior worked out pretty close as there is about a 2' drop over 38' to the new garage.

In looking at many trailers I have noticed that the bunk supports on a lot of them could be anywhere from 3 to 8 inches shorter with no interferance between the hull and support members. I don't understand why so many sit higher than they need to be. Lower would always be better, takes less ramp to float it, more stable on the road, tree branches etc. Probably a mass production thing.

US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

My last trailer was a torsion axle. It sat a few inches lower than my current leaf spring trailer. Something to keep in mind. I had to install a 8' tall door for the new boat as I was lacking just a couple of inches. If it was a torsion, then I would have been fine.

p4-33

BadDog - consider what your intentions for the garage will be... is it an OffshoreOnly garage? Or are you looking to park cruisers in there? With a 40' depth, a 35-36' boat will be about the longest that will fit, with room to walk around it. And with 21' width and "boat(s)" in your first post, looks like you're targeting room for two. An 8'6" beam 36' offshore will easily fit in a 10' door, it's those 10' beam cruisers with the radar arches that tend to get tall. A 12' door will accomodate most motorhomes, and a 13'8" ceiling should work fine for a crane to pull motors.

My garage has a 10' door, 11'6 ceiling, and I had to use "low clearance" components for about everything to make it work - hoist h/w, door tracks, lighting. With a motor on the hoist cranked all the way up, I have about 2" clearance to get it over my transom. But, that's the highest my city would allow.

Good luck on your project,
Brian

BadDog

Well it is set at a 12 foot door with 13 8 ceiling. At 21 wide it will be tight for two boats but the kids will be taking there boat when they move out (yeah right, Dad lives 40 seconds from the boat ramp).

The garage will most likely be for a performance type hull only. Might decide to get a Cruiser some day though or something along the lines of a sport cruiser. A 10 door may have sufficed but better to plan for all possibilities and the added height may make it easier to pull engines or have some headroom when cleaning up the boats or waxing.

What I really wanted to do was buy a lot in town somewhere for a pole barn only and let my friends keep there boats there for the weekends as I am so close to the ramp. Not even sure if I would enjoy a boat if I had to pull it 20 minutes to get home after a long day on the river.

Tim T.