[mremmfish]

I went to look at a newer trailer for my 19' skiff Saturday. Mine is a 2000 that was starting to show it's age. The one on Facebook that I looked at was a 2013 supposedly MD inspected. They were asking $2,500.00. It had rusty calipers and springs along with a frayed emergency brake cable. I googled Dave's trailers and they showed they had1 in stock of a new bunk trailer my size for $2,650.00. My son and I drove there to check it out. it was still in there storage yard in Pasadena. We got there at 12 noon, they went to bring it there. My son and I got lunch close by while we waited. They got all the paperwork done new tags on and out the door at 1;10 pm. They were great to deal with.

Mike

 

[J.A. Veil]

Congratulations on the new trailer and the peace of mind that you will have with new components. Hopefully you get many years of use out of the new trailer. It would be a good idea to check the tightness of the lug nuts to make sure you could remove them easily if you ever got a flat.

 

[SteveL]

I gave up on an older trailer and went to Daves for a new one--so glad I did that. Daves is also good about service on wheel bearings and other stuff.

 

[mremmfish]

Congratulations on the new trailer and the peace of mind that you will have with new components. Hopefully you get many years of use out of the new trailer. It would be a good idea to check the tightness of the lug nuts to make sure you could remove them easily if you ever got a flat.

1st thing I did when it hit the driveway. You want them tight but not the way they torque them on.

 

[Justintime]

She's a dandy. Hope you get a lot of use out of it.

 

[240 LTS]

1st thing I did when it hit the driveway. You want them tight but not the way they torque them on.

For anything I want to be sure I can remove.
.

 

[27 sailfish]

Very nice. Not to spend your money - upgrading to SS hardware was best thing I ever did with boat trailer.

Really did not add too much up front - pay back over years was well worth it.

 

[Market Price]

It would be a good idea to check the tightness of the lug nuts to make sure you could remove them easily if you ever got a flat.

Or hint for a 1/2" cordless impact wrench for Xmas...

 

[longtail]

For anything I want to be sure I can remove.
. View attachment 283969

That snake oil doesn’t work!

nice trailer, good luck

 

[Justintime]

Consider adding you guides on and moving your tail lights up keeping them out of the water.

 

[longtail]

Mrem,
Do have slick sticks or carpeted bunks?

 

[mremmfish]

Consider adding you guides on and moving your tail lights up keeping them out of the water.

I already have a brand new set on the old trailer. I'll have to add the lights to the top.

 

[mremmfish]

Mrem,
Do have slick sticks or carpeted bunks?

Right now they are carpeted bunks. I'm adding slick sticks before I switch the boat over. The old trailer had the complete boards wrapped.

 

[longtail]

man, night and day with slicks.

 

[mremmfish]

The question I have is how much clearance should I make from the bottom of my skiff to the trailer frame? I don't want to raise my bunks too high and make launching harder.

 

[Capt.Nick]

Right now they are carpeted bunks. I'm adding slick sticks before I switch the boat over. The old trailer had the complete boards wrapped.

I had slick sticks on my fiberglass Carolina Skiff flat bottom and they worked great. When I bought my 16 ft. Starcraft it had carpet bunks. I put slick sticks on the trailer and they don't work on alluminum. If you have an allumium boat get roller bunks. You can bolt them on top of your bunks then lower your brakets to adjust the height and you've got a roller trailer..I have a 5 star roller trailer for my 20ft. Angler and rollers makes a big difference.

 

[rock 'n load]

High enough that if you pull out with your motor down you don't have that WTF/Oh $hit moment. Done it a couple times and man what a noise.

 

[Justintime]

The question I have is how much clearance should I make from the bottom of my skiff to the trailer frame? I don't want to raise my bunks too high and make launching harder.

One concern is if your boat gets skewed loading on the trailer you don't want your boat to hit the wheel fenders. And It appears the wheel fender sit high on the trailer. If that's the case I would look into lowering the fenders. You also want to be sure your Keel doesn't hit the first cross member loading the boat. That said, you're going to have to find the happy medium with adjusting the height.

 

[shoot-straight]

I had slicks on my 19' skiff for many years also when i had my 18 privateer on the same trailer. Yes, you want them as low as possible without hitting anything. Both boats could be launched anywhere and without getting the trailer bearings in the water (or lights). You should not have to dunk your trailer, it will slide off with relative ease- depending on the slope. Then winch it back on. Only takes a second and your trailer- particularly your bearings will last forever.

Yes also to slicks not working for aluminum as well. I had roller bunks on my 17 welded years ago.

 

[Capt.Nick]

I had slicks on my 19' skiff for many years also when i had my 18 privateer on the same trailer. Yes, you want them as low as possible without hitting anything. Both boats could be launched anywhere and without getting the trailer bearings in the water (or lights). You should not have to dunk your trailer, it will slide off with relative ease- depending on the slope. Then winch it back on. Only takes a second and your trailer- particularly your bearings will last forever.

"Yes also to "slicks not working for aluminum as well." I had roller bunks on my 17 welded years ago."

Best invention since the Wheel for alluminum boats on bunks