Trailers

Looking at used trailers. I noticed that drift boat trailers typically have about a 1200 lbs limit. I am looking at a ski doo trailer that says 950. Do you all think that will be fine for a decked 16'?

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Permalink Reply by Terry E Walsh on April 8, 2011 at 2:45pm
Yes that should work fine!
Permalink Reply by Stephen Blalock on April 8, 2011 at 2:59pm
Bigger tires are better!
Permalink Reply by chris towles on April 8, 2011 at 5:15pm
most anything will work. your completed boat will be half that limit. almost any trailer can be modded with a 2x4 carpeted frame to work...v hull, yard trailers, etc. you can make a roller out of a galvinized pipe and pvc pipe a guage or two bigger. get on craigtlist and buy the cheapest thing you think you can make work. its only for getting to and from the river.
Permalink Reply by Charles Ray Heater on April 8, 2011 at 9:23pm
I have seen more boats damaged by homebuilt trailers than I have ever seen boats wrecked on the river!!!
Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on April 9, 2011 at 5:43am

I think Ray Heater might be right on this one- remember you will (I do) be tooling  along at 50-70 mph and don't want the thing to start fishtailing or start falling apart. 

Good Luck

Permalink Reply by lhedrick on April 9, 2011 at 8:50am

Another nod to the comments of Ray.  The vast amount of damage done to my boats has been done by my first cheap trailer.  It was a trailer for a V hull boat.  The bunks were 90 degrees off from the layout of a drift boat trailer.  No matter what I did I couldn't keep the boat from moving around and the more straps I use the more they rubbed through the paint and epoxy.  Miles and miles on washboarded roads cause all kinds of damage.  Epoxy is soft and trailers will grind right through it.  If you need to cut costs don't do it on the trailer.  

 

My next trailer may be a flat bed so I can transport rafts as well as a dory but, extra bow and stern eyes must be in place to cross strap the bow and stern so the boat can't move side to side.  On a flat bed some 2X4 stock can be used as bunks to keep the bottom off the bed of the trailer preventing stray rocks for grinding through.

 

 

Permalink Reply by Jason Knight on April 11, 2011 at 3:15pm

I built my trailer from a trailer originally intended for a much heavier glass boat. If you retrofit a trailer to fit the boat like a driftboat trailer does I don't see the problem. I will post a pic if I remember. Older trailer, but has larger tires, I rebuilt the hubs/bearings, and removed all the rollers and "v" related stuff of it, built some bunks for the flat bottom, and even made the angles perfect for the rocker on my boat. Built a roller for the back. The only thing that still needs to be done is to weld some guides with rollers on it for loading.

The heavier trailer with bigger tires makes for nice rides down the washboard roads. 70+mph on the highway no problem.

 

Permalink Reply by AJ DeRosa on April 11, 2011 at 8:56pm
Cheap trailers are just that . Good boats need trailers that are adjusted to fit the boat's rocker.
Permalink Reply by mitchell on April 12, 2011 at 7:33am

Ben,

just my experience.

you might be saving money at the get-go with the smaller trailer but in the long run you'll  be spending time and money on replacing tires. I could not believe that when I had the little 8" tires under my boat, I was at the tire store at least once a year to get new rubber.

 

Flat tires too. Those little 8" just can't take the weekly grind. The boat now sits on top of 14" tires and after 3 years I've not had a flat or had to replace a tire because of wear or flat.

so that 250.00 you'll save up front will be eaten up quickly on tire repacement alone. just my 2cents.

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on April 12, 2011 at 7:43am

Mitchell, didn't you have your trailer crash when a tire went flat? Will we see you at the Wooden Boat Festival? It would be great to see you again.

 

Regards,

 

Rick Newman

Permalink Reply by mitchell on April 12, 2011 at 8:20am

Rick,

Yep on the crash X2. Well, 3. Tire/wheel and hub on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere on the first. Ended up having to replace an axle.

The second was on a lonely river hwy just a week later. Tire/Wheel fell off. Never found it.

The 3rd was just a week after the 2nd mishap. When I was pulling up a goofy boat ramp (hi lip) the axel caught the lip of the dropoff and pulled the axel off the frame.

 I bought a new trailer the next day and a friend of mine

salvaged/rewelded the wreck of a trailer and still uses it today hauling his 14ft. Livingstone lake boat. Gives me the willies when I"m in his rig hauling that trailer.

Rick, I hope see you at the show and float. Buy you a beer too! But as of now I'll be in town cooking brunch for 200. If that remains the deal and I've got some energy after the event, I might drive down without the boat in the afternoon. Just take in the show and see wood shine. Maybe fish on the way home.

 

 

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on April 12, 2011 at 5:55pm

Mitchell, good to hear from you. I really hope to see you in a couple of weeks. Cooking for 200 should be pretty easy for you! I am currently building my boat and hope to have it at the show. Doing epoxy and glass tonight on the inside of the sides and working on assembling, routing and sanding the frames also. So no real pictures to show yet.

 

Let's keep in touch!

 

Rick Newman

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