I am almost finished! But...

[tomstock]

It's been three years since I started my weekender. The sails are finished, and the rigging is in place. I just need to put on a fresh coat of paint and hoist the sails. Funny, I swore I'd have it done in under a year, but then life just got in the way.

One problem however: I still do not have a trailer. I have about $700 to spend on a trailer but everything new is in the $1500 range. I've looked high and low for a used trailer but haven't found anything yet worth buying. I am also not quite sure what size I should be looking for... I've just been asking for a trailer for a 15ft daysailer.

Anyone have any suggestions? I'm in St. Petersburg (Tampa), FL.

Thanks

-tom

[Barry Pyeatt]

Tom,

You might start looking for a Bass Boat trailer instead. They have bunks on them and there should be a bunch of them available in various states of repair. A Bass Boat trailer in the 15' range would work nicely. You may end up extending the brackets for the bunks a little bit to raise them for the Weekender but that is minor compared to other considerations.

Of primary concern to me in looking would be adjustable axle so you can move it fore or aft to set a good tongue weight. Also it would help if it is galvanized rather than painted for your area since you will be dunking it in salt. Larger tire sizes make for easier long distance towing and better reliability. Bearing buddies are a worthwhile investment if it doesn't have them.

Be sure that there is sufficient clearance between the wheel fenders for the hull to set with clearance.

EZ-Loader is a good quality line of trailers and they are available in Florida. I've owned a number of them and had good success with them all. I would look for one like the one below It is a 14-17 with a capacity of 1250# and 13" wheels. It has bunks, adjustable axle and is available galvanized. I recently saw a 3 year old one on e-bay in the Tampa area that sold for $780 with a spare and upsized winch on it.

[tomstock]

I think i found one. It's a John Boat Trailer, item #JB15. It has 12" wheels (assuming that means rims) and a max load of 1250 pounds. Only problem is that the frame is only 40" wide and the trailer 55" wide. My boat is wider than the trailer...hmmm probably not good.

But then I found the JB1612, which has 48" frame width and 64" overall width. This sounds like it could work....

Finally I found the CB17 which is slightly bigger than what I need, but the frame is 55" wide and the entire trailer is 76" wide. This sounds more like what would work for a weekender.

I think the last two could work. What do you think? Right now I am leaning towards the 16ft john boat trailer (the 1st picture).

[Bill Paxton]

Those trailers look very good, and resemble the one I use. Just make sure you can raise the bunks enough to allow for the keelson. It can also be important to have enough room on the tongue to slide the the bow post (if that's what you call the thingy holding the winch) back and forth to properly balance your boat on the trailer.

The side rails can be really helpful when loading your boat on a windy day.

[Charlie Jones]

I wouldn't worry over much about the bunks. You can purchase extended supports that will raise the bunks to any height you need. On the Weekender I built for a customer I bought a new power boat trailer for around 700 and had them strip off the original bunks supports and give me a set of extended supports. I added the bunk boards to those- Easy job.

I also added a keel support right down the center of the trailer.

[Stump]

Try this link and find a city near you.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/about/cities.html

I found a lot of great stuff on this.

Good luck!!

oh yeh, try different cities. They are all different. 8)

[tomstock]

Guys, I found the trailer for my weekender. I ended up with a Continental C7-1500. It's a tilt trailer (although I didn't know that when I bought it) with 59" between fenders with a max load of 1500lbs. The axle location and winch tower are adjustable which will make adjustments for the bowspirit, etc, pretty easy. It looks like it'll be perfect.... at first I didn't think I'd ever need a tilt feature but after some reasearch I think it's great, especially since I am towing with a VW bus. I can get the boat in the water without having to back it down a boat ramp... I can launch from any easy access to the water so it seems.

It was $700 new. I paid for it and pick it up tomorrow (no hitch on my VW bus). 12" rims, but that's ok since I won't be towing all that far.

[Barry Pyeatt]

Looks like it should work. Tilts can be a little misunderstood. Unfortunately you still need to get the trailer into the water and ramps are all different.

Just remember to unplug the lights before dunking it and then to reconnect before driving off. Also well worth the investment to install bearing buddies and get a spare wheel for it. You just never know when it will prove to be invaluable to you. :roll:

[tomstock]

Thanks, especially for the reminder on the lights. Hadn't even considered that.

[Barry Pyeatt]

Can save a lot of frustration and burned out bulbs. :wink: Also Salt water can be a pretty darned good conductor.

[wkisting]

For others like Tom who are seeking trailers...

Watch eBay. There's an option on eBay to save a particular search combination and then have eBay e-mail you if a new item meeting your search criteria arises.

Before I built my 14' Stevenson Pocket Cruiser, I set up an eBay automatic mailing with the search criteria "14' boat trailer" (set "within 150 miles") and then started building my boat. About three months later, I found a like-new "Yacht Club" trailer for sale within 80 miles! I got it for $400, even though a new one retails for 4 or 5 times that. But, of course, I had the luxury of being able to "watch" eBay long before I actually needed the trailer, and the timing turned out perfect. For those of you who need a trailer soon, it might not work out so lucky.

Just a thought.

[tomstock]

Ebay is ok, but for me, $400 for a used trailer 80 miles away isn't a great deal when you could get a new 15' trailer for $595.. thats only a $200 difference before tax.

[wkisting]

It depends on the deal... The trailer I found lists NEW at $1600 - $1900, and I got it for $400 with absolutely no damage or noticeable wear except some surface rust on the adjustable brackets that hold on the tongue-lift-roller.

It came with 13" wheels, brand new tires, a spare tire, two enormous roller bunks (the top-of-the-line polymer wheels that are soft and roll really smoothly), a heavy-duty winch with a brand new strap, bearing buddies, sealed tail-lights, etc. And it has a payload up to 2000 lbs. Maybe the market has changed now (this was almost two years ago now), but at the time, the only new trailers that could be had for $600 or so were equipped with the little 8" wheels, no bunks, a payload of something like 800 - 1000 lbs., tiny brakelights, no tongue roller (or a fixed-foot tongue), and were built of channel iron (C-shaped) instead of rectangular tubing. Then there were shipping costs and tax, etc.

Boat trailers are one of those items where, if you can afford to wait long enough until a good deal comes around, you can get significantly more for your money by buying used. It just depends on luck and time.

[tomstock]

Excellent deal! Agreed, you CAN definately find them on ebay if you're patient... but I'd been watching ebay on and off for a year and hadn't found anything close enough or the right size to be worth the effort. I found one trailer in the paper but it was rusted pretty bad and came with a pile of trash called a boat that I'd have to dump. The drive across the state was a waste of an entire day... new seemed pretty attractive after that fiasco!