Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2012 10:16 pm Post subject: Rebuild or replace? Whats your opinion??
Hey guys, I'm looking for a few opinions here, I have an old (very old) brooker tilt trailer, 70% full of rust, but suprisingly the outer framework and drawbar are fine, only minor surface rust on some welds..
What I'm thinking of doing is either a complete overhaul/rebuild of this trailer OR build a completely new trailer.. I'm a boilermaker by trade so I'll have no problem doing either job, plus I have a lot of unused steel in the shed, which may come in handy and save a few bickys..
As much as I'd love to, I don't have the money to go out and buy a new trailer, so I need to make a decision.. Should I rebuild the original trailer OR spend a little more coin and build a new one from scratch??
All opinions welcome.. lets go! _________________ The quick brown fox may have jumped over the lazy dog, but then he went under the commodore ute!
My personal opinion, scrap the trailer build a new one. I just rebuilt a Mackay multi roller, and its not worth the effort and expense. I replaced rusted sections, got it re-dipped and just that would have paid for the materials to build a very nice Aluminium or even stainless trailer. Now at the end of the day all I have is still just a gal trailer, were I could have had something much better.
Good Luck _________________ Cheers
Katoh
I think a closer inspection tonight has made my mind up for me, I backed it into the shed earlier and got underneath it to find the springs, hubs and the axle are pretty rusty aswell.. I plugged in the old 5" grinder and knocked a bit off the axle to find it badly pitted and definately unroadworthy, so I would imagine hubs and springs would be no better..
So considering the cost in steel to build a new trailer, the cost of axle, springs, hubs, wheels, and bearings etc. I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy a new trailer.. Any suggestions on the best brand of aluminium trailers? I'm in no rush but I'd like to get an idea of what kind of dollars I'm up for..
By the way, I only took possession of this boat and trailer a couple of weeks ago, I would never have let it get this bad.. _________________ The quick brown fox may have jumped over the lazy dog, but then he went under the commodore ute!
I had a trailer that I ad the same dilemma with. I decided to renovate the old trailer. When I was pushing the boat off the trailer on to some tyres and was about half off, I heard this creakig sound, then a 'SNAP' !
The rust was worse than i thought, it had rusted right through the frame and the trailer with all the weight of the boat hanging on the back end had just given way and it broke it's back !! Ha to scrap the whole thing and get another one.
Hi reason
what size boat are you towing, IE. what are your trailer needs? Tandem , single, braked or even tri?
As far as brands go, I have no idea, to me there much of a muchness. Try boatboint http://www.boatpoint.com.au/accessories/trailers/ or even Ebay you may pickup a second hand one at the right price, depending on size again Ally or even stainless might be feasible. there is a thread running at the moment with nearly the same question asked.
quick sidetrack, are you in the ACT region? _________________ Cheers
Katoh
Katoh, I'm in northern NSW..
The boat I'm towing is a 17' runabout so a single axle will do just fine I think.. I'm in no big hurry to buy a trailer as the boat is a project and won't be completed for a few months yet.. I would like to have the trailer ready to go as soon as the boat is though, so I'll have a good look around on the net and see what I can find..
Wetspot, I was worried that when I take the boat off the old trailer I might do some damage if 1 or 2 of the cross members decides to let go, I might try to support the rear of it somehow as thats where most of the really bad rust is _________________ The quick brown fox may have jumped over the lazy dog, but then he went under the commodore ute!
Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 10:25 pm Post subject: Re:
reason wrote:
Katoh, I'm in northern NSW..
The boat I'm towing is a 17' runabout so a single axle will do just fine I think.. I'm in no big hurry to buy a trailer as the boat is a project and won't be completed for a few months yet.. I would like to have the trailer ready to go as soon as the boat is though, so I'll have a good look around on the net and see what I can find..
Wetspot, I was worried that when I take the boat off the old trailer I might do some damage if 1 or 2 of the cross members decides to let go, I might try to support the rear of it somehow as thats where most of the really bad rust is
I think I could have avoided most damage if when I slid the boat off I did not have the trailer hitched to my 4WD still. If created a pivot point that just gave way. If I had chocked the wheels of the trailer and gently slid her back till the transom touched ground, then remove the wheel chocks and let the trailer move forward whilst the boat slid back, I think (?) I may have saved it breaking ?
In the end I think it was doomed anyway, and was just a ticking time bomb waiting to happen, so I probly just did myself a favour.
I've never taken a boat off a trailer before but thats pretty much how I was thinking I'd do it, and being a tilt trailer should eliminate the pivot point but I think I might weld a bit of flat bar across the rear cross member anyway.. Better to be safe than sorry.. I'm not worried about the trailer as I've decided I'm going to scrap it, I just don't wanna damage the hull at all _________________ The quick brown fox may have jumped over the lazy dog, but then he went under the commodore ute!
I should have added earlier, once you see rust on the outside its all Over Red Rover! trailers disintegrate from the inside out in most cases, you can clean the outside but you can never get into those sections to throughly wash the inside. Come to think about it your better with a trailer built from channel then any sort of hollow section, at least you can see everything thats happening.
Theres a mob in the US that do an Ally package trailer and not expensive either, I wonder if they would be worth a call? Might even give them a ring myself as curiosity killed the cat but education bought him back!
Just wanted to add quickly removing your boat from the trailer seems a daunting task its not really, just plenty of car tyres , do it on grassy area, you cant go wrong. Or you can do like me 8 guys, Lott's of beer and Egg/bacon rolls and they just roll it off the trailer to were you want, easy as, and my tubs a little bit larger. _________________ Cheers
Katoh
Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 8:06 am Post subject: Re:
Katoh wrote:
I should have added earlier, once you see rust on the outside its all Over Red Rover! trailers disintegrate from the inside out in most cases,
Too true !
Mine had some rust on the outside, but the inside had all but disappeared. It was very deceiving because on first inspection I thought a sandblast and re galv would do the trick.
As for taking the boat of the trailer I used around 12 old car tyres for my 18 footer.
3 down the keel line and 4 piles of 2 high for the sides. Its worked a treat and held the hull up nicely. Definately do not hitch the trailer to your vehicle. Just chock the wheels, get a mate to help, lift up the drawbar end and let her gently slide till the hull touches the first tyre, then remove the chock from the wheel and sloly let out the winch and the trailer will just move itself back till the boat is completely off the trailer.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
