boatnut
11-08-2007, 02:24 PM
Well this is about as basic as you can get esp. compared to Geo Carter's informative, daring episodes with his restorations. My 22 (which I've owned only a couple of years) is pristine --but the trailer needed help. The boat was dry stored for much of its life and I guess the trailer was left out in the weather -- plus some serious heavy weights must have jumped on the top of the fenders as both of them were somewhat caved in. Other than that it was a good trailer (Randall VIP) and custom built for the 22 which provides a narrower deeper vee'd trailer than some dealers try to fit a 22 on. It has 5" channel, is strong, no rust to speak of. So the initial question of rebuild or buy another one was fairly simple (a new one from Randall was quoted as 4200. plus tax plus freight). However, the more I got into the project the more I ended up doing (nothing is simple). For example, I thought the bunks were good and planned to recarpet them. They actually were rotten in each area where the carriage bolts were countersunk (provided small dams to hold water) and had to be replaced. About the only thing I didn't rebuild was the brakes/backing plates as they looked good and seemed to have been replaced before. The trailer was red which may have matched the boat originally, but as we know gelcoat and paint age differently, esp. red, so after 10 years about all you can say is that the trailer and boat were both red or something close to red. In trying to find a color that matched the hull, I finally decided to go with black. It was a great decision, I can't believe how nice it looks as the black ties in with the drive and black striping, decals, etc. on the boat --- I attached a few pics to show this but the sun was down and the pics do not do it justice. Again this is personal opinion but the black trailer (which is easy to touch up etc.) looks fantastic with the red boat. A list of the tasks I ended up doing with comments:
1) after removing everything, new fenders (scalloped style with rear enclosed to protect boat from mud etc. and provide a stronger fender) were installed
2)trailer was sand blasted, properly primed, and painted with lots of high quality enamel (not quite imron $$ level but good stuff)
3) after reading a recent thread on bunk material, I decided to go with some select douglas fir, I first dry fit the bunks and bolted them in place with hot dipped galv carriage bolts just counter sunk enough to provide a fair surface, I then routed the edges with a 1/2" roundover. I removed the bunks, primed with penetrating epoxy, epoxied each of the carriage bolt holes, painted the bunks so that the paint chemically combined with the epoxy, installed the carriage bolts, put filler over the bolts to eliminate any water holding, installed carpet without fully covering the bottom and then finally installed the bunks. Obviously I got carried away (overkill) on the bunks. I considered using the pvc type material that is on my boat lift but could only find 12' lengths.
4) I then carefully cleaned and checked what I thought were good bearings, 3 of the 4 sets were pitted so I replaced all bearings and races.
5) Tires were 10 years old, so 4 new Marathon tires.
6) Chrome wheels were still good, so I couldn't justify alloy wheels :confused:
7)After all of this I didn't want to put old wires and lights back on so all were replaced. (wiring & ground connections are a step up from the orig job)
8) I had a better front winch on the shelf so it got replaced, along with the center front bow roller.
Pro: It looks great and is essentially a new trailer, boat looks 100% better when on the trailer than it did before. Job satisfaction.
Con: I ended up spending close to $2k (most on having the sandblasting/painting done), not counting many hours of my time, but under 1/2 of a duplicate new trailer.
Trailer Comments: I happen to like open channel steel trailers (as this is). They are less bulky than an equiv strength aluminum trailer and less costly. They also work well when occassionaly used in salt as long as they are rinsed off well. Rebuilding a trailer is also environmentaly good as you don't have to dispose of the old one somewhere.
In summary, I'm not sure why I did this as I keep the boat on a lift most of the time and usually only tow it a 1/4 mile or so to launch it --- but it sure looks nice! Ed
1) after removing everything, new fenders (scalloped style with rear enclosed to protect boat from mud etc. and provide a stronger fender) were installed
2)trailer was sand blasted, properly primed, and painted with lots of high quality enamel (not quite imron $$ level but good stuff)
3) after reading a recent thread on bunk material, I decided to go with some select douglas fir, I first dry fit the bunks and bolted them in place with hot dipped galv carriage bolts just counter sunk enough to provide a fair surface, I then routed the edges with a 1/2" roundover. I removed the bunks, primed with penetrating epoxy, epoxied each of the carriage bolt holes, painted the bunks so that the paint chemically combined with the epoxy, installed the carriage bolts, put filler over the bolts to eliminate any water holding, installed carpet without fully covering the bottom and then finally installed the bunks. Obviously I got carried away (overkill) on the bunks. I considered using the pvc type material that is on my boat lift but could only find 12' lengths.
4) I then carefully cleaned and checked what I thought were good bearings, 3 of the 4 sets were pitted so I replaced all bearings and races.
5) Tires were 10 years old, so 4 new Marathon tires.
6) Chrome wheels were still good, so I couldn't justify alloy wheels :confused:
7)After all of this I didn't want to put old wires and lights back on so all were replaced. (wiring & ground connections are a step up from the orig job)
8) I had a better front winch on the shelf so it got replaced, along with the center front bow roller.
Pro: It looks great and is essentially a new trailer, boat looks 100% better when on the trailer than it did before. Job satisfaction.
Con: I ended up spending close to $2k (most on having the sandblasting/painting done), not counting many hours of my time, but under 1/2 of a duplicate new trailer.
Trailer Comments: I happen to like open channel steel trailers (as this is). They are less bulky than an equiv strength aluminum trailer and less costly. They also work well when occassionaly used in salt as long as they are rinsed off well. Rebuilding a trailer is also environmentaly good as you don't have to dispose of the old one somewhere.
In summary, I'm not sure why I did this as I keep the boat on a lift most of the time and usually only tow it a 1/4 mile or so to launch it --- but it sure looks nice! Ed