TRAILER INSPECTION

[cjpolecat]

danger ..... caution don't get caught,.....
THE NEXT TIME YOU GO BOATING DON'T JUST PARK THE TRUCK AND WALK AWAY FROM THEM LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO. INSPECT THE TRAILER GOOD.. CK
ALL WELDS AND ATACH POINTS FOR RUST AND CRACKS AND SECURITY, CHECK WHERE WATER COULD PUDDLE. I FOUND WHAT I THOUGH WAS JUST A CRACK, I TOOK THE BOAT OFF THE TRAILER AND I WAS SHOCKED.. THE FWD CROSS MEMBER WAS RUSTED//CRACKED ALL THE WAY AROUND AND THE BACK WAS 3/4 GONE.THAT COULD HAVE BEEN A BIG MESS ON RT 4 IF I GOT THAT FAR.... DON'T THINK IT CAN BE WELDED, NOT ENOUGH GOOD STEEL LEFT. I NEED A OOOD TRAIER FOR A 16' DEEP V. BE CAREFUL.

CJP

[crappiemax]

I've been right where you are...3 times.
1st time I pulled my boat out of Cowan and my trailer broke in half. Lucky for me Tommy had a little buzz box welder and some rods I could use. You haven't live until you've welder wet, rusty, painted metal back together in shorts, sandals and a tee shirt on a 95 degree day.
2nd time I pulled my boat out of EF and my trailer folded in 2. Both center cross members rusted and snapped. Got lucky again. 2 guys who work for me lived near by. They came drove over, picked up my trailer and knew a guy who had 1 welding rod. One of the guys who worked for me was a welder and he patched it up enough to get my boat out to work where I could replace the cross members.
The 3rd time it was the same trailer as the 2nd time this time I noticed some rusty spots in both rails. I took the rig to work and pulled the boat off looked at the trailer and decided I needed a new trailer. Unfortunately it's not easy finding one so I had to do a lot of patching to make the trailer safe for an upcoming trip to Ky Lake.

Here's the problem with trailers
A lot of cheap trailers are made from tube steel. When a trailer is painted, it's just the outside that get's the paint and the inside is just plain steel and it's prone to rusting. Tube steel is similar to pipe in the fact that it rusts form the inside out. It's rare to see the problem before something breaks. You are correct CJP...everyone should inspect their trailers.
Here the next problem.
No one wants to sell you just a trailer at a REASONABLE price. The place where I bought the boat refused to even give me a price because he didn't want to waste his time getting a price because he said it was too expensive and I wouldn't buy it so why bother. I never could figure out how he knew what my budget was. I called BPS because it's a Tracker and the said they would only sell complete out fits. I called a few other places and their prices we just ridiculous. Finally I called Allcraft Marine (513-533-8800) and he found me a galvanized trailer for half the price of what other people quoted me on painted trailers. It's an EZ Loader Trailer and they have lots of sizes. If ya can't find what ya need up there give Allcraft a call.

[crappiemax]

One thing I forgot to mention about the trailers is to be sure to look at the underside of the rails and the cross bracing. Just looking at the trailer from the top won't find most of your problems. Since water pools it will rust the bottom surfaces 1st where it has the best chance to collect. One way to check the underside of the trailer with out crawling on the ground is to take a mirror and hold it so you can see the bottom surface and then walk along the length of each piece of supporting steel. Especially check at the joints and also at the valleys of the cross braces. I've seen cross braces that have drain holes at the bottom and a lot of times the problems will start there.
One of the bad things about rust is it's really hard to control. Even if you find a spot or 2 and fix them you should really keep a look out for more spots to come to the surface. If a trailer is made of tubing and it's impossible to see exactly what is going on inside that tubing I would suggest replacing the bad sections rather than repairing them.

I'm fairly fortunate in the fact that I manage a mid size metal service center and have access to overhead cranes, welders and fabricators. If I needed to I can also do the work myself. Rebuilding a trailer from scratch is probably more expensive than just replacing it.
However I will say that no matter what your background is and whatever your resources are that is one lonely, lonely feeling to be the last guy at the launch ramp at night and have your trailer collapse.

[cjpolecat]

Thanks for corlaberating ( phonics spelling) my problem . had never heard of our problem until it almost happened to me.

CJ Polecat.

[Tom 513]

Wow, glad You started this thread, I read it yesterday Morning, launched the boat around 4:00pm and thought hey maybe I should take a look at My trailer, well I didnt have to squint to see the passenger side bunk hanging there by one bolt, if I wouldnt had seen that I could of blow a big hole in the bottom of My Tracker when I loaded it up in the dark last night. Thankfully I had a trusty bungee cord to keep it in place for the ride home. After further inspection today it seems the board is starting to rot and the large wood screws are backing out with road vibration, I ran over sized screws in with wood glue and hoping that will get me through the rest of the year. Again thanks for the thread, trailers are always ignored!

[cjpolecat]

Wow, glad You started this thread, I read it yesterday Morning, launched the boat around 4:00pm and thought hey maybe I should take a look at My trailer, well I didnt have to squint to see the passenger side bunk hanging there by one bolt, if I wouldnt had seen that I could of blow a big hole in the bottom of My Tracker when I loaded it up in the dark last night. Thankfully I had a trusty bungee cord to keep it in place for the ride home. After further inspection today it seems the board is starting to rot and the large wood screws are backing out with road vibration, I ran over sized screws in with wood glue and hoping that will get me through the rest of the year. Again thanks for the thread, trailers are always ignored!

You 'r very welcome, the fact that I've helped someone hAS MADE MY DAY. KEEP AN EYE ON THE WOOD.

[cjpolecat]

Don't forget the wheel bearings, they are hidden trouble... If you have bearing buddies ....don't get over confident, check the inside of the tire. if there is any grease, the bearings may be dry.