60's boat with built on trailer/tires

[Harold49]

Hello, I am a new member.
I acquired my father's boat and am trying to find more information about it. He never titled it but used it up to the early 90's. It is a 14 ft steel boat. It has the word Vollrath on the steering wheel, but there isn't another name or number anywhere. It still has the id # decal but my father doesn't remember any type of title. He lives in Kansas. The great info about this boat is it has a attached trailer with wheels that crank up and down when you are in or out of the water. No need for parking a trailer and it is very unique. It just needs some TLC to restore it back to its original state plus 2 tires. Also, I am trying to find the right tires. Allstate 480/400 x 8 are now deteriorated. If anyone knows where I can get the right tires and if anyone knows the name or type of boat this is called, please let me know. Thanks for providing an opportunity to speak out. (Picture attached, not a good one though!)

[marshmat]

Hi Harold,

That is a rather funky little design, with the retracting trailer.

Looks from the photo like it's got a bit of rust here and there, but it's hard to tell from the picture how bad it is. There may be enough plate thickness left to just clean it up and repaint with a modern, protective coating. Steel can be tricky; especially in a small light craft there is not much extra material to rust away.

I think Vollrath's marine side was mainly a hardware supplier- stainless steel castings, deck equipment, etc. Not sure if they actually built any of their own boats.

480/400x8 is not a common highway tire size anymore, but are still used on go-karts, wheelbarrows, etc. If you want to tow this thing on roads, look for a DOT-approved 8" trailer tire of similar width and sidewall height, about $40 or so a tire. 8" tires spin awfully fast and after this long the wheel bearings will almost certainly be shot; they should be fairly easy to replace.

[Harold49]

Thanks Matt,
Through Harbour Freight and other hardware stores, you are right about none of the original tires are available. Have an auto dealer that sells go karts and other atvs and said he could order 2 for me. Yes, not really much rust, just dirty, but plan to sand down and repaint it. Have not seen another one like it but saw "amphibious" type ones that use this same idea. It is great for that one person fishing as you don't have to deal with trailers. You are right about the bearings...probably will keep an extra pair of wheels around.
Thanks for answering. Harold

[Harold49]

I forgot, on the bearings.....there are none! There is a brass bushing greased that holds the hub to the middle.