150 SPORT Trailer

A conversation among Whalers
truebaca
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150 SPORT Trailer

Postby truebaca » Mon Apr 02, 2018 5:24 pm

Does anybody use a trailer rated for 1,250-lbs with a boat weighing 1,200-lbs?

A 2003 150 SPORT 150 weighs 1,200 lbs with engine. The trailer that came with my Boston Whaler boat is in bad shape, and I need to replace it. Most trailers I see have a capacity of 1,250-lbs and then jump to 1,500-lbs.

jimh
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Re: 150 SPORT Trailer

Postby jimh » Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:06 pm

I don't know the answer to your survey question. I wouldn't worry about how many people do something right on the edge of limits. I'd concentrate on deciding for myself if 50-lbs is enough reserve load capacity for my boat's trailer.

If a trailer has a rated maximum added load capacity that is only 50-lbs more than the load you plan to carry routinely on that trailer, my opinion is there is not enough reserve capacity and the next larger trailer size would be better. With a 150 SUPER SPORT going up one size in trailer is not like you're going to move to a tandem axle trailer and make a huge jump in total towed weight and trailer cost. Most likely the only change in the trailer construction will be larger wheels, tires rated for more load, and maybe a bigger axle.

On the other hand, if you are just towing the boat a few times a year to a ramp a mile away and travelling about 25-MPH, then a 50-lbs margin on the trailer might be tolerable. If you are going to tow the boat around the country, you'll be better off with larger wheels and tires and a higher trailer rating.

Boats always weight more than you think, and there is a good chance the boat weighs more than the specifications call for. If the boat is now on a trailer, take the boat and trailer to a certified scale and weight the combination. Then take the boat off the trailer--maybe put in a nearby launch ramp and have someone keep an eye on it--and re-weigh the empty trailer. That is the only way to find out how much the boat weighs.

With a trailer for a 15-foot boat you might be able to measure its empty weight with a regular bathroom scale. Just measure the weight at each tire and at the jack stand. To keep the trailer level, roll it onto some lumber the same thickness as the scale, and then replace the lumber with the scale at each measurement point, putting the lumber back when you are done with the scale at that spot. Then add up the three weights. With a bathroom scale probably good to 250-lbs, you should be able to weight the empty trailer for a 15-foot boat. I would be surprised if its total weight were more than 750-lbs.

By the way, 50-lbs in a 1,250-lbs load is only a 4-percent margin. Would you drive your car around 100-percent of the time with the engine running at 96-percent of maximum engine speed?

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Phil T
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Re: 150 SPORT Trailer

Postby Phil T » Tue Apr 03, 2018 10:48 am

The price difference between a trailer rated for 1250 and 1500 is marginal.

In determining the correct weight, add the hull, engine, equipment, fuel (full load), anchor, cooler and electronics. Add 20%.

Shop prices and features hard because trailer pricing varies WIDELY.
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Dutchman
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Re: 150 SPORT Trailer

Postby Dutchman » Thu Apr 05, 2018 8:02 am

Call Karavan (the trailer supplier) and get a 150 Montauk or Sport trailer. The hulls are the same and you'll get a trailer set up for your boat. You don't have to worry about the weight as the trailer was designed to handle it.

Another option: check with a Boston Whaler dealer. The trailer quite often is an option, and some (very few) people don't want or need a trailer; therefore one might be available.

I would go with [a trailer rated for] 1,500-lbs as the dry weight of the boat is always more than you think, like Jim said. Hey your cooler with ice and some beers could take care of that 4% real quickly.
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Ridge Runner
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Re: 150 SPORT Trailer

Postby Ridge Runner » Thu Apr 05, 2018 9:27 am

As stated above the price difference will be minimal, between a 1,250lb and 1,500lb capacity trailer. Do you have any other factors that need to be taken into consideration? Like the length of the trailer?

Karvan makes two models of a 1,250-lbs capacity spring suspension bunk boat trailer:

KB-1250-56
Tire Size: 4.80 x 12C, Carrying Capacity: 1250-lbs, Width Between Fender: 56-inches, Overall Width: 75-inches, Overall Length: 17-feet 8-inches, Weight: 320-lbs

KBL-1250-56
Tire Size: 5.30 x 12C, Carrying Capacity: 1250-lbs, Width Between Fender: 56-inches, Overall Width: 75-inches, Overall Length: 21-feet, Weight: 325-lbs

The KB-1250-56 being 40 inches, or ~3.3 feet, shorter could be a factor in parking the boat and trailer in some garages.

The Karvan KBL-1500-56 a 1,500-lbs capacity spring suspension trailer has the same base spec's as the KBL-1250-56 (capacity aside):

KBL-1500-56
Tire Size: 5.30 x 12C, Carrying Capacity: 1500-lbs, Width Between Fender: 56-inches, Overall Width: 75-inches, Overall Length: 21-feet, Weight: 325-lbs

An interesting alternative could be the Karvan KDB-1500-71, this is a torsion suspension trailer instead of the leaf spring models listed above. It has a 1,390-lbs capacity and is very short in length at only 15-feet 11-inches but it is also 10-inches wider.

KDB-1500-71
Tire Size: ST175/80D13B, Carrying Capacity: 1390-lbs, Width Between Fender: 66.5-inches, Overall Width: 85-inches, Overall Length: 15-feet 11-inches, Weight: 410-lbs

As noted by others there are many choices in the market. Price should not be the major factor in choosing a piece of equipment with a long life span. You need to review your use case, your needs, and make an educated purchase that does not compromise safety.
Last edited by Ridge Runner on Thu Apr 05, 2018 11:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 150 SPORT Trailer

Postby jimh » Thu Apr 05, 2018 10:21 am

Dutchman wrote:...get a 150 Montauk or Sport trailer. The hulls are the same...


Are you certain the hulls of a 150 MONTAUK and 150 SUPER SPORT are the same?

Compare

https://bostonwhaler-8c1e.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Boston-Whaler-150-Montauk-Gallery-4.jpg

and

https://bostonwhaler-8c1e.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/150-Super-Sport-3-min.jpg

The hull designs look very different to me.

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Dutchman
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Re: 150 SPORT Trailer

Postby Dutchman » Thu Apr 19, 2018 3:18 pm

Top sides are different but from what I understand the wetted part of the hulls are the same.
You pictures would be more useful if shown from aft with rise and from the bow.
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Re: 150 SPORT Trailer

Postby jimh » Thu Apr 19, 2018 5:02 pm

Dutchman wrote:...You[r] pictures would be more useful...


I found BOSTON WHALER pictures--not my pictures--that show the hulls look quite different. Of course those pictures are not "useful" for you because they don't authenticate your claim of the hulls being identical. You can't really expect me to provide evidence that supports your claim, when I have the opposite view.

If the two boat hulls could use a common trailer, that is not quite the same as their hulls being "the same."

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Dutchman
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Re: 150 SPORT Trailer

Postby Dutchman » Tue Apr 24, 2018 3:57 pm

jimh wrote:...If the two boat hulls could use a common trailer, that is not quite the same as their hulls being "the same."


Correct--they can use a common (same) trailer-- must be my EAFL problem.
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jimh
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Re: 150 SPORT Trailer

Postby jimh » Tue Apr 24, 2018 5:34 pm

ASIDE: I am not certain what Dutch's acronym EAFL means. My best guess is "English as a foreign language."

ASIDE to DUTCH--you might like this anecdote. The famous physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer was teaching at UC-Berkeley. He asked one of his graduate students to fill in for him at a lecture, assuring him it would be easy because the material was "all in a book." The "book" turned out to be written in Dutch, and the student complained about this to Oppie. Reportedly, Oppie told him there wouldn't be a problem because the book was written "in such easy-Dutch."

Cf.: J. Robert Oppenheimer; A Life, by Abraham Pais, p. 35; this incident is also mentioned in several other articles.

I once read a description of the Dutch language as English spoken with a Dutch accent.

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Dutchman
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Re: 150 SPORT Trailer

Postby Dutchman » Wed Apr 25, 2018 2:36 pm

jimh wrote:ASIDE: I am not certain what Dutch's acronym EAFL means. My best guess is "English as a foreign language."

Jim you are correct with your guess.

jimh wrote:I once read a description of the Dutch language as English spoken with a Dutch accent.

Not true but there is a connection between "old English" and "Friesian" (middle ages) the Friesch language is spoken in the Dutch province of Frieslnd and most people in the other 12 more densely populated provinces can not understand it (as I can not), but for that matter I would have a hard time understanding Old English even though they all are Germanic languages.

I do want to say Jim your comments and stories on this and the old site are exemplary and top notch.
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jimh
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Re: 150 SPORT Trailer

Postby jimh » Wed Apr 25, 2018 2:38 pm

ASIDE to DUTCH: for even better stories, come boating with us and have a few beers. Then we get out all the really good stories.

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Dutchman
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Re: 150 SPORT Trailer

Postby Dutchman » Thu Apr 26, 2018 10:05 am

ASIDE TO Jim: Thanks, That would be great and after a couple of beers my heavy Dutch accent will come out and I have some stories after boating for almost 60 years.
EJO
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