Hey Guys:
I have had a week from trailer hell to be nice about it. About 3 or 4 weeks ago I took my Magic Trail alu - min - e - um trailer to my local trailer guy to repack bearings. Now mind you I live in rural western NC in the Smoky Mountains so we do not have like a thousand boat dealer and trailer guys here. Anyway, I planned in advance knowing I was leaving town today, June 14 for the Florida Keys.
Monday as you may have read my kodiak vs tie down post, I was informed that my breaks are shot, froze up and so forth. So I spend the day findng parts and get them here. Yesterday I was informed Magic Trail uses 5/16 mounting bolts and holes on their hangers and the trailer guy said he could not get hangers with half inch mounting holes for the kodiaks. I started to search for parts once again and could not find them locally and locally for me is Greenville, SC about 2 hours a away or possibly Atlanta. He told me it would be over a week before he could fix the trailer. The trailer guy may be slow and he could have been more on the job for me but he is honest. He said if drilled them the backing plates would fail on me and if used 5/16 bolts instead of half inch they could fatigue and shear.
So with my family vacation in jeopardy, I did what my hero and possibly yours, Clark W. Griswald would do, I started to look for a new trailer, extreme maybe, but I was staring down putting over $2,000 with parts and labor in fixing my old trailer. I found a trailer down in Charleston after searching "locally" which included Columbia,SC. Seel's Outboard, a Grady dealer, had a number of them available and they are made by a company out of Maryland, Venture. They seem ok, it has Tie Down G5 stuff on it so forth. Al Seel, the owner stayed late for me to make the 4.5 hour drive to get the trailer and they are really good people there.
So now I am going to set up the new trailer and then make my way to Fla. In my haste, stress and fatigue I failed to notice the lights are not LED which while minor in the grand scheme of things, I really like the hassle free or hassle-less, kind of like stainless, nature of LED trailer lights. But hey, the trailer came with Al- u - min - e -um wheels which are quite shiny and sporty and unlike my Magic Trail my Grady should a bit better because the trailer is larger. I have 2 feet of stern behind the end of the bunks of the Magic, then the bracket on top of that and this is perhaps why Lockwood is out of business?
Perhaps if time were on my side I simply could have hung new axles and so forth for a lot less than buying a new trailer. I dont know. My Magic Trail in need of new brakes is for sale if anybody with 20 footer needs a mostly nice Al-u-min-e-um trailer and is handy. I am shipping all the kodiak stuff back today to e-trailer for a refund.
I have had a week from trailer hell to be nice about it. About 3 or 4 weeks ago I took my Magic Trail alu - min - e - um trailer to my local trailer guy to repack bearings. Now mind you I live in rural western NC in the Smoky Mountains so we do not have like a thousand boat dealer and trailer guys here. Anyway, I planned in advance knowing I was leaving town today, June 14 for the Florida Keys.
Monday as you may have read my kodiak vs tie down post, I was informed that my breaks are shot, froze up and so forth. So I spend the day findng parts and get them here. Yesterday I was informed Magic Trail uses 5/16 mounting bolts and holes on their hangers and the trailer guy said he could not get hangers with half inch mounting holes for the kodiaks. I started to search for parts once again and could not find them locally and locally for me is Greenville, SC about 2 hours a away or possibly Atlanta. He told me it would be over a week before he could fix the trailer. The trailer guy may be slow and he could have been more on the job for me but he is honest. He said if drilled them the backing plates would fail on me and if used 5/16 bolts instead of half inch they could fatigue and shear.
So with my family vacation in jeopardy, I did what my hero and possibly yours, Clark W. Griswald would do, I started to look for a new trailer, extreme maybe, but I was staring down putting over $2,000 with parts and labor in fixing my old trailer. I found a trailer down in Charleston after searching "locally" which included Columbia,SC. Seel's Outboard, a Grady dealer, had a number of them available and they are made by a company out of Maryland, Venture. They seem ok, it has Tie Down G5 stuff on it so forth. Al Seel, the owner stayed late for me to make the 4.5 hour drive to get the trailer and they are really good people there.
So now I am going to set up the new trailer and then make my way to Fla. In my haste, stress and fatigue I failed to notice the lights are not LED which while minor in the grand scheme of things, I really like the hassle free or hassle-less, kind of like stainless, nature of LED trailer lights. But hey, the trailer came with Al- u - min - e -um wheels which are quite shiny and sporty and unlike my Magic Trail my Grady should a bit better because the trailer is larger. I have 2 feet of stern behind the end of the bunks of the Magic, then the bracket on top of that and this is perhaps why Lockwood is out of business?
Perhaps if time were on my side I simply could have hung new axles and so forth for a lot less than buying a new trailer. I dont know. My Magic Trail in need of new brakes is for sale if anybody with 20 footer needs a mostly nice Al-u-min-e-um trailer and is handy. I am shipping all the kodiak stuff back today to e-trailer for a refund.
