Boat loader

[Richard Sellers]

I have bought this Hunter Compact Jr. for $200.00. It has minor damage on left rear near bumper but this will be a full rebuild. I want to install an Eide Boat loader on the top. Total weight on top (with boat) will be about 200 pounds. Am I nuts??? I would appreciate any and all opinions. (I plan some kind of reinforcement). Thanks!
Dick Sellers.

[Tom Trostel]

I think it would work, but I would not expect the fiberglass to support any of the weight. I'd look at welding uprights on the tongue and another pair on the rear bumper supports. Then mount the boat loader to those uprights.

Tom Trostel

[Loren G. Hedahl]

For sure Tom is right. The Compact Jr. we had in the '70s had an awful thin fiberglass lay-up. The top developed a 'dish' such that water would collect in the center.

In our case we towed with a Peugeot 404 station wagon. I had a styrofoam filled ABS plastic sailboat called a Sunflower that I carried on top of the TV. The Sunflower weighed about 50 lb.

Once in Texas the mast poked out the front window on the Compact Jr on a turn into a shopping center. Otherwise the setup worked just fine.

[Kent I]

I add my support to an external frame or internal frame support to hold the boat. Some pictures of other Compact Juniors where people have removed the interior "bulkheads": the edge of the closet, edge of the galley, the roof has sagged.Have fun making it work for you.

[Frederick L. Simson]

I would not expect the fiberglass to support any of the weight.

The top developed a 'dish' such that water would collect in the center.

My Compact Jr was one where internal bulkhead supports (load bearing walls) were removed. My roof (the stationary part, not the pop-top) developed such a sag that I was afraid that it would collapse into the interior of the trailer. I strengthened it by thru-bolting steel "L" channel on the outside of the 3" high lip for the pop-top every 12" or so for the full length of the trailer, and "tied" it to the brackets for the top raising mechanism.