Have you put your steel trailer in salt water?
How long did it last or was there any damage?
I am thinking about fishing some brackish saltwater for reds and snook with my boat. It is a channel trailer NOT a tube trailer and it has armor coating so I can wash it or can dunk it in a freshwater ramp on the way home....or I can take it to a carwash afterwards..
What experiences have you seen or had with using a steel trailer in saltwater..... And what advice would you give?? Thanks for the help.
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The bitterness of poor quality is remembered
long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten - Benjamin Franklin
2013 RANGER RT188 - YAMAHA F115 - ULTREX - LOWRANCE GRAPHS
LOCK-N-HAUL Transom Saver, ALL ABOARD Emergency Ladder
1996 RANGER CHEROKEE - 40 YAMAHA
You'll need a new trailer within 3 years no matter what you do to save it. My advice is, sell your trailer BEFORE you put in in the salt and get an aluminum.
been fishing salt - brackish water all my life in south Louisiana. had several older rangers and they all held better than anything else. current rig is a 95 487vs and rangertrail tandem. just replaced springs and bolts . just good maint everthing else is fine
Saltwater eats EVERYTHING and nothing goes untouched.
I'd save your boat/trailer and do a charter or two.
The long term financial impact will be lower and you'll catch fish.
You could even find someone to split the cost with you.
The brakes will become a solid mass of rust very quickly .
THIS !!!Originally Posted by 21xTriton05
BULLET 20 XRD/250 Merc Sport XS
www.ncboatguy.com
Sell your trailer and buy one of these! You might break even on the price.
In brackish water, you will be fine as long as you thoroughly rinse after each use. All out saltwater, I wouldn’t. FIL had a painted trailer stored high and dry at the camp near saltwater (tin rig was on a boat lift), it rusted out and collapsed on itself in 2 years.
That Sporttrail is fine.
Them and Ameritrail are two of the best I've seen .
I had a Skeeter HP 120 that was on a Wishbone steel trailer,bought new in 1979 sold it 2007. Used it at least 20 times in La marsh over all those years. It was garage kept, babied, washed well after each use in salt water and during all those years I replaced tires, lights, wiring but never the axles, fenders or anything else structurally I recall. Sold boat for more than I paid for it.
My point being, use your boat wherever you want BUT be sure to wash it with soap/water and clean it up after using. Don't wait a week to wash and clean up. Salt will rust and corrode unchecked. JMHO
This is the best advice so far.
I even had the brackets and springs rust on a galvanized trailer used in salt water.
Buy aluminum, you will thank yourself later.
This is the best advice so far.
I even had the brackets and springs rust on a galvanized trailer used in salt water.
Buy aluminum, you will thank yourself later.
My 2004 Stratos cam with a painted steel tube trailer. It looked very nice. I fish brackish water and the trailer started rusting from the inside out. The brake lines rusted also. I replaced that trailer with an aluminum I beam trailer with torsion axle. Way better trailer for the areas I fishe here in coastal Virginia and North Carolina.
I've seen them rust so bad the tongue broke off .
Love my Ameratrail!! Call John and say I referred you, and he'll hook you up!
Trust me, I know due to experience. 3 different trailers. Rotted out FAST!
1st was my fathers old procraft trailer we used in saltwater maybe 5 times. Always backed into a local freshwater lake to flush it off and the axle fell out of it on 75!! Trailer was junk in less than 3 years.
The second was my current boats original trailer. The original owner used it to take his wife to the beach the last year he owned it 1 time! The tubes had holes in them a little over 3 years after I purchased it. Only 1 dip!
The third was my buddies Stratos trailer. There's a local brackish honey hole that we can consistently catch 25+ lbs from and his trailer was junk in 2 years! He put it in probably once a month. My trailer and the Stratos were tubes which made it even worse
Not to mention, all the rust spots that will be all over your garage..
I'm 100 miles from salt water. My neighbor takes his boat to the bay a couple times a year. I"m down wind of his rig, so I can barely sleep.
The armor coating makes it even worse- when it rusts apart you wont even get a warning
xpress x19, 200ho G2, aluminum sawtooth cut prop, paper sack tackle storage, ugly stik pro team, color c-lector
Mine enjoys the salt water. Long stretches to pretend it’s fast. But. The first thing I did when I bought it....replaced the steel trailer with an aluminum. That was 5 years ago. The aluminum still looks good.
and yes selling the original trailer offset the new one
currently boatless
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