Restoring a Wagemaker Wolverine

[Mark Pfeiffer]

I have a 1957 Wagemaker Wolverine, 15' bow to transom with a 5' beam. The hull and transom appear to be in pretty good shape, but the deck is shot (older partial restoration that got left out in the rain). I want to get it into my garage and off the trailer so I can work on it this winter. The boat doesn't weigh all that much, so a 2-point hoist attached to the roof trusses, perhaps with some additional 2"x6" supports across the sills and nailed to the truss cords, should do the trick. My question is this: does anyone know of a simple method of transferring the hull dimensions to lumber stock in order to cut out cradles? I would attach the cradles to a frame platform made of 4"x4" beams with 3" casters so the whole thing could be moved about. I'd leave it on the trailer, but (a) it wouldn't fit in my 18'x24' garage; and, (b) I'd like to get the boat a little closer to the deck.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Restoring a Wagemaker Wolverine

I built a pair of stands out of 2x4's and carpeted the top. The height I chose was my preference, but you could make them as short or tall as you like.

The top was flat, so the keel rode on it. I made 4 carpeted wedges to keep the boat upright. By removing 2 of the wedges I could tilt the boat to one side to work on that half of the bottom.

The pic below shows the day just before we put her back on the trailer. On or off the stands was a breeze - just pulled the boat back to rest the transom on the aft stand, then lowered the tongue to raise the bow high enough to slide in the front stand. No need to use a hoist at all.

My boat weighs 330# - Dad had a Wolverine in the 1950's and I bet she was lighter than my Lyman.