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TRAILERING KNOWLEDGE
Having a good knowledge of boat trailers may avoid breakdowns on the highway and save money too
by Terry Lacoss

I can’t think of any other fishing or boating equipment that gets misused as much as a boat trailer. A boat trailer gets dunked on a regular basis in saltwater and is left to rust in a fisherman’s backyard or storage barn. Boat trailers are seldom washed and maintained only be the most serious fishermen and often neglected to a point where boaters often blame the trailer manufacturer for building an inferior product when their trailer rusts or fails.

In fact it’s not unusual for a brand new boat trailer to begin to rust and the brakes fail in less than a year’s time without proper care. However there is also a livewell full of mishaps that often come when trailering boats to and from their homeport to a distant boat ramp. Many often happen right at the boat ramp!

Such was the case when I backed down my Triton 2850 boat on a steep boat ramp and prepared to accomplish a solo boat launch. As usual, I backed down the trailer until the winch was even with the water line, engaged my parking brake and put my truck’s transmission in park. Next, I climbed onto the tongue of the trailer and unhooked my 8,000-pound fishing rig. I soon found myself hanging from the boat’s pulpit as the boat launched itself! For a second I knew that I would have to finally let go and fall into the nasty marina water. Luckily I was able to hang on just long enough to land on one of the trailer’s cross beams, where my boat shoes and pride were the only things dampened.

And just a few days ago, I watched a boater launch his 23-foot kingfish boat right on the boat ramp! Unfortunately he had unhooked his winch strap before backing down the steep ramp, resulting in his boat sliding off from the trailer onto the cement boat ramp.

Flat trailer tires are also a hazard of every fisherman who trailers a boat. I once witnessed a kingfish team that had a flat tire only a few hundred yards from the St. Augustine, Florida public boat ramp. It was tournament day and they were not going to let a flat tire hold them up from reaching the tournament checkout site at the proper time. So they towed their kingfish boat, flat tire and all for the remaining distance to the boat ramp and launched their boat, flat tire and all!

However, today boat trailer manufacturers have come a long way in making trailers almost indestructible, even when the trailer is dunked in saltwater regularly and trailered several hundred miles each year on a regular basis.

Some trailer components that come under attack from saltwater and hard road use include wheel bearings, springs, axles, brakes and even the metals that trailers are made from.

“Aluminum is the best metal for boat trailers,” Ben Worthy of Loadmaster Trailers claims. Aluminum will oxidize over the years, but galvanized trailers will rust, particularly when they are scratched and the galvanize is removed.”

“We strive to make boat trailering simple and with fewer breakdowns. Recently we designed the “Spindle Hub,” which allows boaters to change their whole wheel, tire and hub when there is a problem on the highway. Simply jack up the bad tire or hub and remove the cotter key and nut from the spindle. The whole tire assembly is then removed with ease. The spare tire, wheel and hub then replaces the bad unit in less than 45-minutes and you are back on the road!”

A bad bearing used to be a major problem with trailering boats and in many cases it might take a day or so to find the correct replacement bearing while your expensive fishing rig sits on the side of the highway. This age-old problem has been eliminated with Loadmaster’s new spare spindle hub assembly.

“We have also designed a new “Turbo Lube” oil hub, which actually bathes the wheel bearings in oil,” Worthy points out. “These new turbo lube hubs are very maintenance free and actually run a lot cooler than the traditional grease filled hubs.”

Loadmaster Trailers also recommends disc brakes over drum brakes for longer periods of use without failure. If your trailer does come with drum brakes, make sure that you have a wash-down system installed so that you can flush out the drum brakes after each use. Disc brakes do not have a wash down system, but can be washed down as well from the outside with a freshwater hose.

Loadmaster also offers torsion bar suspension and aluminum cross members. Boat trailers still are constructed with galvanized axles and leaf springs, which is a less expensive option, but often rusts out in less than two years of heavy use. I might point out also that drum brakes seldom last a year with heavy use as well and often lock up when you trailer is allowed to set for a lengthy period of time.

Obviously tandem and triple axle trailers will not only carry a heavier load, but also afford for a smoother ride. However too much tongue weight will cause your boat and trailer to “Fish Tail” which is extremely dreaded by most boaters.

Submersible trailer lights are also standard on most trailers, which offer long periods of safe trailering at dark. Only a few fishing seasons ago, standard trailer lights would fail when the ultimate attack of saltwater was inevitable. Hooking up your trailer lights properly can also avoid problems on the highway. Once you have hooked up your trailer lights, make sure they work. If you have trailer brakes, make sure that the brake wire is hooked up properly to your vehicle’s backup lights. If the brake wire is not hooked up properly, your trailer’s brakes will come on when backing up your boat and trailer.

Obviously we all strive to remember to engage the trailer tongue’s locking system once the jack has lowered the tongue onto the tow hitch ball. Unfortunately we have all forgotten at one point or other during our trailering careers. With this in mind, it is of the utmost importance to make sure that your towing chains are hooked up properly to your tow vehicle in case you forget to latch the tongue lock.

Using the proper tow hitch and ball is also very important to your trailering success. Often times the trailer crossbeams will drag the top portion of a steep boat ramp and create horrible scrapping sounds. This can be fixed by purchasing a tow hitch that has a raised ball, so the trailer clears low obstacles. The elevated tow hitch also allows your boat to self-bail when you are washing your boat on the trailer. Make sure that you use the proper trailer ball as well. The correct trailer ball size is almost always stamped somewhere near the tongue portion of the trailer. Without saying, the trailer ball needs to be tightened with a large pipe wrench and checked frequently for tightness.

A good reliable trailer should also be backed up with a good hydraulic trailer jack, the proper lug wrench and plenty of tools to make repairs on the highway, including flares. Tire chocks should also be a big part of your trailering equipment as well.

Finally, make sure you know how to launch and load your boat properly on and off your boat trailer. A safety chain should be used to secure your boat to the trailer if the trailer’s winch fails, or you may find yourself hanging over the water from your boat’s pulpit!

For more information on Loadmaster trailer, call 813-689-3096. Loadmaster is a corporate partner of the American Striper Association and the Southern Kingfish.