Utility trailer for boat - tilt or non-tilt

[breeves2245]

Got a TwinTroller X-10 boat. The fancy one with twin trolling motors mounted underneath and pedals to use for steering. It's my small lake rig. The package could be bought with a universal trailer but I don't want that trailer mainly because it has 8" wheels. Looking at a 5x10 utility trailer with wood floor. The boat is 4'x10' about 200 lbs. This gets me both a boat trailer and trailer for other uses. Trying to imagine launching and loading with a tilt vs non-tilt. With the tilt I would not have to get as close to the water when launching and when loading, would not have to hump up the boat over the trailer edge. Read where tilt trailers may fishtail due to axle being located further forward. Not sure if this would apply to my situation. Boat will only have a battery in back, no outboard motor. Or would a non-tilt with a ramp make more sense?

[TableRock Coral]

You could install bearing buddies on the axles and back the trailer in far enough to float your boat. You need at least 10 percent trailer plus load weight on the hitch, to prevent trailer sway.

[huntertn]

My thoughts;
When using as a utility trailer - a tilt trailer will allow you to load stuff (lawnmowers etc) without a gate. I recently bought a small 5x9 and bought a tilt version for that reason. If you got a nontilt with a gate you will have to make sure it is one that has an easily removable gate. If you have a nontilt without a gate it is a little more difficult to load mowers and heavy stuff on wheels.

Tilts usually have the axle a little further forward where nontilts have the axle further back. Normally, boat trailers have the axle further back to compensate for the weight of gas, batteries and the engine. Since you will not have an engine on the back that may not be as big an issue. But, depending on how it is balanced it could be that when you put the boat on the trailer it may not want to tilt back because of the pivot point.

You will need to swap the lights to submersible type and use bearing buddies like TableRock mentioned if you plan to back it in the water for loading. You might consider finding a local trailer place to see it they could build you one. It might not be too much of a price difference.

The last thing is if you are going to just put it right on the trailer floor and you are going to be dragging it against the floor you will want to have some kind of carpet or other soft material to keep from wearing the bottom of the boat. It would take a while but it will wear the boat bottom over time. The wood probably will not cause too much of a problem but any metal that is proud of the wood surface would be an issue.

[bluebullet96]

Having a tilt trailer is great for fishing small lakes and ponds that don't have a ramp! Back up to the waters edge pull the pin and let her slide in! To load just pull the pin and winch it up! Been having a tilt trailer for my 14 ft tin for years