275 on a trailer

[Tashmoo]

I am in the process of purchasing a trailer to winter store my 275 on for the forseeable future. This trailer will in its life time see maybe 500 miles of travel. That is, it will be used to pull and launch the boat and to transport it from the ramp to my house (1 mile) then to storage (5 mile) and back. I have no plans or desire to trailer it elsewhere but never say never. The boat will sit on the trailer all winter.

I am looking at an Atlantic three axel aluminum I beam bunk trailer. The trailer has disk brakes on two axels, leaf springs, inlet guides and forward centering bunks. I plan to buy a model sized for 26-28 foot boats so that it will have enough bunk length to allow for moving the wench post to properly set the tongue weight. The trailer is rated for 8,600 lbs and according to my calculations the boat, engine & a full tank of gas weigh in at +/- 7,200 lbs.

Anyone have experience with this trailer (it is a private label made by Venture)? Anything that I am missing here? Anything that I should consider before pulling the trigger. Words of wisdom from those who have been here before? Cost for the trailer delivered new is +/- $5,000.

 

[chrisA.]

Tash,I would look around some more because you sure don't need a triple axle trailer for the 275,

 

[TunaT]

triple axle?

Tashmoo.....triple aixle for a 275....I basically have the same hull but in a center console the 273....I have it on a tandem axle trailer. I load and unload every trip out...Its a loadrite trailer. My question to you is why the tri-axle? seems like a bit of over kill.....fyi, I tow between 35 and 40 round trip and have easy 5K-6K on the trailer ans still rolling. just my 2 cents...just thought I'd ask

 

[Tashmoo]

TunaT

In the Atlantic (Venture) product line a dual axel will hold the weight with no problem but the length comes up short, their dual limits out at 26' then they jump to a triple. I could probably do the dual axel but the price savings is only $100 or so. The dual has much heavier duty axels and larger wheels compared to the triple.

PS, I have no burning desire for the triple it just seamed to be the best bang for the buck as it has more bunk room so I can move the wench post and set the proper tongue weight while having no unsupported length.

 

[CJBROWN]

Seems like a great buy for five grand. I don't know how you can miss.
For a new trailer?

And you're right, for a given GVW, a tandem axle will have heavier springs and tires compared to a triple. A triple will grind its tires a little more when turnng. And you have 6 tires to replace when the time comes instead of 4. Figure about every 6-7 years to be safe. But they are probably cheaper tires.

 

[jehines3]

I had a Brand new 2006 venture for my Seaswirl and it was a POS. I never could get them to replace 6 month old brake lines that failed. Junk, pure, junk. Tie down garbage all over it. Why not have the boat moved by a mover and blocked, etc. It would save you the endless work that goes with a hardly used trailer. I know I have one. It sucks at times. Mine is no longer road worthy and it does not have to be with a 14' high trailered load and 10'7" wide.....jh

 

[CJBROWN]

I had a Brand new 2006 venture for my Seaswirl and it was a POS. I never could get them to replace 6 month old brake lines that failed. Junk, pure, junk. Tie down garbage all over it. Why not have the boat moved by a mover and blocked, etc. It would save you the endless work that goes with a hardly used trailer. I know I have one. It sucks at times. Mine is no longer road worthy and it does not have to be with a 14' high trailered load and 10'7" wide.....jh

Ha...yeah, that Tie-Down Engineering stuff is pretty crappy isn't it? When my trailer was less than two years old the master cylinder started leaking out the input shaft seal. I called Road King (trailer builder) and they sent me directly to Tie Down. I also did some research online and found a few other folks that had trouble with their product and how crappy the customer service guy was.

It took almost a month to get a replacement, which remarkably they did offer. And they fired that stupid guy they had in shipping. I also ordered new pads because they had worn unevenly, and the rotors have alway looked like black metal. Guess that's from the salt, and no they aren't stainless.

BTW, my springs are all rusted too, luckily they are inexpensive to replace. Torsion axles are a much better choice.

Anyway, if I ever have to replace all the brakes on that thing again I'm going Kodiak. The stuff is far superior.

JH does have a point. If you're not going to really use a trailer regularly they can be a giant PITA to keep up. And the tires will rot right off of them if they just sit.

 

[bc282]

A trailer regardless of amount of use is not an area you want to save big bucks. Quality trailers will last and perform without headaches and worries. Saving a grand or even two doesn't seem like such a good deal when you run into problems. Even travelling only a mile or two can seem like a long haul when something unplanned goes broke. If your boat is on the edge of tandem or a tri axle trailer > go up in size. I haven't seen first hand, but have heard that when a tire or axle on a tandem goes, it can cause the other tire or axle on the same side to go too, this won't happen on a tri axle.
I prefer to go with torsion bar axles over springs (better ride, less crap to rust out eventually, cleaner look, and less squeeks).

I tow my 282 on a tri 15,000# trailer about 100 mi return trips. I also run elec. over hydraulic brakes on a Tekonsha T3 fully proportional controller which makes stopping and control superb (kick azz over surge brakes which are not allowed in canada for GVRW's over 2500 KG).

Loadmaster in FL might still have some very nice new tri trailers for a great price (new trailers but old stock from a dealer that when belly up) i think they were around $5500 very nicely equipped (new models are around $7500). If you can find a good price to transport trailer this would be a great deal.