posted 10-25-2001 02:15 PM ET (US)        

We also had the pleasure of the company of others on most of these trips, and they trailered as far or often farther than we did to get to our launch points. In total, our various groups probably trailered a combined 20,000 miles this summer. Here is a summary of some of this things that happened to the group along the way, which I think will provide a good survey of what can happen to you when you are trailering:

--had a trailer winch handle lost (or stolen?);

--had a trailer flat tire, in one case two flat tires on the same trip;

--had a radiator hose burst (upper hose);

--found a trailer wheel bearing with too much play;

--had a roller axle shaft loose an end cap;

--found the tow-eye on the boat bow was loosening;

--found the spare tire mount on the trailer was loose;

--found the winch post on the trailer was loose;

--burned out bulbs in the trailer lights;

--needed to add grease to the trailer wheel bearings;

--found the trailer wiring had some intermittent connections.

Fortunately, in most of the circumstances the equipment affected could be repaired on the spot or replaced with spares, either carried by the owner or borrowed from someone else in the group.

You might want to review the list of minor problems and think about how well you could have coped with them if they had happened to your while trailering 500 miles from home.

Also, additions to the list of problems encountered while on the road with the trailer would be interesting to hear.

posted 10-28-2001 06:36 PM ET (US)            

I'll second that--a separate area for cradles/lifting/trailering, etc., might be valuable. 'Performance/Mods' for in-water stuff, and a separate area for out of water stuff. Just a thought... (How about "Beached Whales" for a title?)

posted 10-28-2001 06:45 PM ET (US)            

I'd never done any trailering at freeway speeds before buying my 13' 'Whaler, but I now use a length of anchor chain to back-up the winch when on the road.

posted 10-29-2001 12:13 AM ET (US)            

I have seven of them! Four plus a spare on the tandem axle trailer; two on the single axle trailer (with a non-radial for a spare).

I have 13-inch tires on the single axle trailer; 14-inch tires on the tandem.

posted 10-29-2001 12:24 AM ET (US)            

Also, I have a bow tie-down that runs from the bow eye down, loops around the trailer central frame member, and returns to the boweye. This is so there is no tendency for the bow to bounce in the bow stop.

posted 10-29-2001 01:11 AM ET (US)            

I also often thought of tying the bow down while on the trailer to prevent bouncing. My conclusion is that for the Montauk, with it's bow/lifting eye design, it would benefit by not being tied and is better suited to being able to bounce up and down a little.

posted 10-29-2001 06:41 PM ET (US)            

1. Left Battle Creek starting the 520 mile trip to Little Current, Ont. towing my Montauk, which we use like a utility trailer; food, luggage, kids toys, dads toys, etc. - surely overloaded. Fifteen miles from home having just turned North on I-69, there's a loud "bump" and I look back to see one side of the trailer down like a tire blew. I stop and go back to find that the axle spindle weld had broken at the frame - I'd bought the Montauk and trailer used about a year before and never done anything other than make sure the bearings were well greased. Turned out upon inspection that the previous owner or someone had done some really poor welding and it just let go! I was able to reach some of my guys on a nearby jobsite by cell phone and they came over with one of our portable welders, we jacked the trailer up, got a long pry bar on the axle shaft and was able to align it while we welded it back up properly. Got back off heading North in less than two hours with not much more damage than a bent fender on one side of the trailer.

2. Heading back to Battle Creek from Ft. Myers, FL towing the same Montauk, loaded the same way nearly a year later. Driving up into the mountains North of Chattanooga, been raining cats and dogs all morning and it's not letting up. I'm anxious to get home, and am pulling around 70 or 75 mph and start to notice that when I go around bends there's a sort of harmonic vibration coming from the trailer. Too hard-headed to stop and try to see what's up, I'm going up another long incline, in the passing lane, divided highway, in the rain, Monteagle and the summit is up ahead about a half-mile, and BANG, just like last summer and the broken axle weld! I have to pull over on the median because of traffic and walk back in the rain to find that the entire tire and rim are MIA - gone - and the hub is dragging in the gravel and now the fnder on *that* side is bent, similar to the other side. The lug nuts had all come out - don't ask me - but they were gone, must have been coming out when I felt the harmonic vibrations, and now the whole damn tire and rim are gone, too. I walk back along the trench the hub dug in the gravel shoulder, then along the scratches in the asphalt and find a glob of grease where the rim must have parted company. From there I am able to see a narrow path of bent grass going diagonally across the median (I'm a half-mile back from the car and trailer now), where the rim and tire, like the little gingerbread man, had run away. I followed the path, guessed where it had rolled across THE ONCOMING LANE, picked up the path again and found the rim and tire down in a meadow on the opposite side, the tire apparently slashed by the fender when everything let go. I took them back with me, we borrowed some lug nuts from the other tire to install the spare and were able to limp up the entrance ramp to Monteagle where a service station cleaned and re-packed the bearings and installed the right number of lug nuts, torqued to spec. Lost a couple of hours here, too, but found some fabulous barbecue right down the road while the service station was fixing us up.

Cheers,

posted 11-04-2001 11:37 PM ET (US)            

I picked up the trailer and took it to the boat yard, where the resident wrenches declared it sound and ready for the 1500 miles back to Texas. Hah!

150 miles: broken spring plate and one tire shedding tread. 7 hours and $350 later (new springs, mounts, wheels and tires) I resumed the trip.

600 miles later: rust, scaling off of hub, allows wheel to loosen, destroying one new wheel. Put one of original wheels back on (jerry rig)). Limp to hotel.

4:00 AM: smoke alarm in my room. Evacuate to parking lot while local heroes extinguish laundry fire. 7:00 AM, allowed back in room for shower. Five hours later, resume trip with new hubs, bearings, bearing buddies and 1 new wheel. $250 poorer.

Arrive home with a mostly new trailer. I only paid $250 for it, so I am still ahead of the game at $850, except that it needs 16 new rollers @ about $10. ea.

Then I really will have a new trailer. I suppose great adventures are worth something, but what?