Trailers??

[aojesus]

Good Evening,
We spent the day shopping for enclosed trailers today. We looked at everything from 16' to 24' long. The brands we saw that fit our needs were Featherlite and Freedom. Does anybody have any thoughts or recommendations?
It is a good amount of money to spend so I welcome your suggestions and advice.

Thanks!

[Phil Fronce]

Russ,

I have spent the last two months looking for an enclosed trailer. I have found that most all of them are basically all alike. It's like buying a car with no options. Want the options, the price sky rockets. Ebay seems to offer the best deals if you're willing to pick it up in Georgia, although there is a dealer in Lake City FL, about 2 hours from you, that had some good pricing. I have contacted 3 sellers on ebay for a 8.5'X16' with standard equipment and there is not $100 difference between any of them. Fortunatley, I came a across a used, one year old, "Cargo Star" 8.5'X20' V-Nose, just yesterday that I'm going to go ahead and buy. The price was about $1,800 less than a new one from the same manufacturer. I know it's a tough decsion and a lot of money, much more than I anticipated. Also check Craig's List if your willing to buy used.

Phil Fronce
27-F

[runaboutralph]

if you can you are a lot better off getting two big doors on each side for air , light and away in , some times it is a lot better loading up on one side verse the other. if you spend the extra money on alum plate for the rear ramp it is very slick . plain wood with carpet works better for us.

[Mark 72@E]

Four Thoughts

Russ,

Now that both of my sons are racing I've been shopping for weeks for a larger enclosed trailer and I've taken in a lot of info. For big ticket items I tend to gather a lot of information, study it for a long time, then purchase something that I'm truly happy with that I'll keep for a long time. I haven't made a decision yet. It seems that what I want, what I need, and what I can afford are three different things.

Four thoughts:

1) The very first trailer salesman I talked to years ago before buying my first enclosed trailer told me, "I've never had a customer tell me he bought a trailer that was too big. But I've had plenty of customers return and trade-in trailers that were too small".

2) You don't have to buy off the lot. Every dealer I've talked to will custom order any trailer with a 50% deposit, 6 to 8 week delivery time. Most manufacturers have at least 11 colors but only stock white and black because they are the biggest sellers. Get the color you want and order the accessories you want. But sometimes you have to pry option information out of the salesperson. For example, most enclosed trailers come with roof vents. I prefer side vents because they provide air flow through the trailer when it's moving to help dry boats and disburse gas fumes.

3) As much as I would like to buy a premium trailer like a Featherlite it finally dawned on me that every dollar I spend on the trailer is a dollar I take away from a boat, an engine, or a propeller. Since I don't have all the equipment we need for next season, a fully-loaded trailer will have to wait. On the other hand, if a premium trailer is in your budget, then take a look at the Pace American Silver Arrow series which are built in Georgia. There are distinct differences between the cargo series, http://www.paceamerican.com/trailers/silverarrowcargo/ (7 ft wide, V-nose)
and the auto hauler series, http://www.paceamerican.com/trailers/silverarrowauto/ (8.5 ft wide, flat front) but both are exceptional.

4) As this thread progresses you'll learn that everyone has a different opinion about which trailer is "the best". I'm now looking over brochures from Car Mate, Wells Cargo, Haulmark, and Pace American mostly because these four have the closest dealers to me. But at this point I'm not eliminating buying a lesser-known brand if it has the minimum features I need or want.

[aojesus]

Options

Thanks for the responses.
The one I am leaning towards has a ramp in the back. The walls and floor are bare wood so it would need to be sealed. There is no aluminum at all in the trailer except for the siding and the stone guard on the V nose. That should make it easier for me to weld in brackets for shelves and racks. I am curious about the back doors. Do you ever find that the ramp is a hassle when the pits are crowded?

I took Phil's advice and checked e-bay and found a comparable trailer for about $1,000 less with a very good warranty. I will check into that one as well.

My trucks are a GMC Sierra 2500 diesel and a Ford F250 super duty so hauling it would not be a problem but I would prefer to use my wife's Expedition. The Expedition only has the 5.4 Triton so I don't know if that would pull it well or not. Anybody using anything similar to the Expedition? If so, does it handle the trailer well?

Thanks again for the responses.

[Mark 72@E]

But seriously

Do you ever find that the ramp is a hassle when the pits are crowded?

I find that after I release the latch and step back, folks seem to clear out pretty fast as the ramp door is falling.

But seriously, no, this isn't a problem. Look at it this way. The ramp door is typically 6 ft to 6 ft 6 inches tall so you need that much clearance behind the trailer to open the ramp. But if your boats are 10 feet long then you need at least 10 feet clearance behind your trailer, otherwise how are you getting your boats out?

Ramp doors vs. double doors probably has close to a 50/50 split among boat racers with half preferring one or the other for specific reasons. The ramp has worked well for us and I'm including one on my shopping list for our next trailer.

[racer121M]

Russ...you seem a llittle undecided on the rear ramp. I have a small enclosed trailer with the rear ramp and find it to be far superior to doors. With the ramp I am able to wheel my CSR right in to the trailer during rainy weather or for over night. I have never found a problem with lack of room in the pits for the ramp.

Bob

[aojesus]

doors

I am leaning towards the ramp door but wasn't sure if it would get in the way.
My wife like the idea of the ramp because we can wheel the boat in on the cart and she won't be doing as much lifting. The 16' trailer would do the job, but darn it, the 24' trailer is really nice. The hardest part will be deciding whether to buy what I want or what I need.

I really appreciate all the input.

[Dan M]

Russ,

The Expedition with the Triton 5.4 should do just fine. I use a 2002 F-150 2wd with the Triton and it will tow all day.

Dan

[Blackhawkguy]

Have a quality used Edge

My exe's brother has a used Halmark Edge, this trailer has diamond plate floor, cabinets, lights inside and out. We used it for a ashfault latemodel. 28ft beaver tail, all white inside and out. I believe he is asking 8,000 to 8,500. It's in St John Mi. for sale on consignment where he bought it from. Make him an offer he can't refuse, nice trailer for the price, new they are now 14,000 to 15,000.

Kerry

[Rich Russo]

Trailers

I sold a Haulmark Cadet, which is a toy-hauler type camper trailer almost a year before I got back into boat racing. I used it for hunting and fishing. Sure Wish I had it now. All the luxuries of a camper, with plenty of room to carry a CSH and all my gear. I think it would have been handy for boat racing- camp right at the site, save on hotel rooms and obviously better than a tent. You could cook food, take a shower, heat and air. 3550K generator ran everything, or plug it in- if the site had a/c power.

[aojesus]

I sold a Haulmark Cadet, which is a toy-hauler type camper trailer almost a year before I got back into boat racing. I used it for hunting and fishing. Sure Wish I had it now. All the luxuries of a camper, with plenty of room to carry a CSH and all my gear. I think it would have been handy for boat racing- camp right at the site, save on hotel rooms and obviously better than a tent. You could cook food, take a shower, heat and air. 3550K generator ran everything, or plug it in- if the site had a/c power.

I looked at one similar to that yesterday at Flagship RV. http://flagshiprv.com/inventory_item.asp?id=364561 It had toilet, shower, stove, slept 6, and had a ramp door in the back. It was sort of concerned about not having some sort of barrier to keep the fumes out of the living quarters, but then I saw the price It was only $20,000 They had some really nice stuff and the staff was great but it was out of my league. They showed us a motorcoach/toyhauler for over a quarter of a million

I even considered a 2001 International 55 passenger bus to convert but I don't think I could handle all the teasing when I rolled into the pits with a Partridge Family mobile. The bus sold at auction for around $1,700 and had a DT466.

[jimmy112j]

Steve Noury a boat racer from N.H. is a dealer. he could set up one for you.

[Larry Mac]

My son Kevin bought a new Pace trailer about three three years ago and got the swing out doors in the back. At the time I thought the beaver tail would have been better but I'm glad he didn't go along with my thinking. The ramp is something you will need to walk around all day with cables to catch your head on. With the ramp down you need about twice the amount of room out the back. Also we sit up an awing out the back which a ramp would be in the way. We have doors on each side of the trailer up front which the motors swing out and it makes a nice breeze when they are open. I would suggest on getting 48 inch doors on both sides.
Larry Mcafee

[Joe J]

When I ordered my trailer, I asked for a 12 VDC winch to be installed in the upper rear corner, to be used to lift-drop the ramp.

The advantage is that there are no cables to trip over all weekend. once the ramp is down, I disconnect the hook and toss it under the trailer.

Joe