Transporting a Carver 325 AC

Q

quint4

Member
Joined
Sep 18, 2006
RO Number
23507
Messages
11
Hello,
I am looking at purchasing a 1995 Carver 325 AC. Has anyone ever had one of these hauled? Can it be moved without removing the bridge? I am hoping it can be done with just the windshield removed (on a low boy trailer).
 
You don't say where you are from, on the east coast heading North you cannot travel overheight. I have heard down south or out west it is possible. If you are in an area that can't travel overheight, don't think that it is possible to ship with the bridge on. Taking a bridge off is very doable, I did it. It all unbolts...
 
Thanks for the reply.I am looking to go from Kentucky to Indiana with it (about a 150 mile trip).
 
i had my 320 sedan shipped cross country. i think the hulls are the same but i could be wrong. anyway, they needed to removed the windshield only. that said, what a pain it was to get the windshield back together. also, if i had a boat shipped again, i'd think about having it shrink wrapped first. i have never in my life seen a boat dirtier than mine when it finally arrived.
 
In our experience, it is highly route dependent and dependent on the equipment they use to haul the boat. Our boat is a little different than the 1995, ours is 1983, but they're both pretty close in keel-to-flybridge overall height. Around 14' give or take. We did a lot of shopping for a shipper for our 3207 from Texas to South Dakota. We had to plow through some pretty intense debate among the shippers about whether the flybridge had to come off. Got really annoying after a while. We didn't want to take the flybridge off not only for the sake of expense, but I just didn't want to pull all that structure and linkages and equipment off a relatively older boat and then have it put back on. Just asking for leaks and fit and linkage problems. Hight Boat Transport out of Dallas finally delivered it with the flybridge on, no problems at all. Get ready for a lot of debate back and forth on that topic from shippers though.
 
The shipper I just talked to said $1800 if he only removes the windshield. He was unsure if the bridge needs to come off.
Sounds like I need to do some investigative homework myself. Thanks for reply's.
 
You could check here for any low clearance spots along your route. http://www.aitaonline.com/Info/Low Clearances.html The website only lists places that are marked 13'6" (standard maximum tractor trailer height) and under. If its only 150 miles it may be worth your while to drive it yourself to double check that there isn't anything under say 15' tall. Even if you know the route and have done it many times I would still drive it because you were probably never looking at bridge heights before.

I would assume it is coming from one of the big lakes in Southern Kentucky, but if it is from the Northern part of Kentucky I could probably help out a little if you have any questions or need any help loading the boat.

Good luck, and let us know how you end up shipping it.
 
Coming from Ohio river. I will let you all know how it turns out (I haven't bought it yet).
 
Find an experienced boat hauler who has hauled your model. I had two guys tell me that we had to remove the bridge on our 3227. The third guy I called had hauled the same model over the years and just took off the windshild and the seats. No major issues but there were some broken tree branches on the flybridge when it arrived. Saving the money was great but the main reason to do it that way was that I didn't want to deal with the months of fooling around trying to work out the bugs when it went back together.
Jim
 
If memory serves me correctly, the flybridge does have to come off. It's been a while since we've even had one here, so I may be wrong.
 
had the bridge removed from my Silverton for shipping last year. All the electicals were fitted with plugs from the factory. The yard labeled everything so the recieving yard had no problem reconnecting everything. They did not even open up any hydraulic lines, just took the steering box down with the lines still connected, layed everything out on the deck staright and wrapped the bundle with shrink wrap. You get what you pay for. The yard put my bridge back on with a fork lift and slings one day and reconnected everything the next day, No problem since. Remember, your boat probably arrived at the dealership when new with the bridge off. Figure about an extra $1,000.00 on eac hend for the bridge work. ( 1 boat unit} I would not have the transport company remove the bridge, only a marina experienced in that kind of work.
 
quote:
Originally posted by 32carv

Find an experienced boat hauler who has hauled your model. I had two guys tell me that we had to remove the bridge on our 3227. The third guy I called had hauled the same model over the years and just took off the windshild and the seats. No major issues but there were some broken tree branches on the flybridge when it arrived. Saving the money was great but the main reason to do it that way was that I didn't want to deal with the months of fooling around trying to work out the bugs when it went back together.
Jim

Click to expand...


Exactly. You wouldn't have believed the ferocious debate between bidding shippers on whether that bridge had to come off. As soon as we found the right guy who knew exactly what he was doing, everything got easier. Just as 32Carv said, the money was secondary -- even if everything comes off and goes back on without breaks and leaks and problems, removing the superstructure drastically increases the hassle and time factors on both ends. Depending on the route I suppose you may have no choice, but if you can avoid it, life is much easier and you'll be back in the water much sooner.
 
I have a 97 405aft. Purchased 2 years ago. Due to having to remove bridge, I turned down a boat in Cleveland. Found boat in Cincinnati and finally agreed to price. You need to find same person that takes it apart, being able to put back together. Worst thing is ALL old caulking MUST be removed before reassembly. A pain for removal of caulking. If caulking is not removed trouble will follow according to Carver's(Marquis) service manager. Good luck. Being a 325 if you find a low boy or talbert trailer you may be able to leave together.
 
It depends on the route, but we were able to haul our 3607 by using a low boy type trailer and removing just the arch and hard top over the aft cabin, leaving the fly bridge intact.
Hauled it from Lake of the Ozarks, MO. to Beaver Lake AR. that way.
Our transport hauler was very experienced boat hauling and after determing the boat clearance on the trailer he found a route the boat could clear without removing the bridge.
 
According to the Carver manual for that year the bridge clearance is 11'6" and the draft is 2'9". You should be able to clear most bridges by removing the windshield, the seats and possibly lowering the helm pod. Especially since you are only going 150 miles.
 
Just an update as promised. After the 3rd bad sea trial, I have moved on. The fuel tanks had debris in them and after much effort on the dealers part it still does not run right. Carver is a great boat and I realize this could happen to any brand, but after multiple 5 hr round trips to sea trial and survey, and over two months of my time, I am done. Thanks to all who responded with advice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top