I am looking for recommendation for a trailer manufacturer.
I do not have indoor storage for my boats but I have lot’s of outdoor parking available. I want to store all my boats inside a trailer but not have it so large that my smaller pickup cannot pull it. The trailers I see a lot of manufactures pulling are converted auto haulers at 8.5’wide, but they are doing it with a large diesels. Can anyone recommend a good 7’wide by 24’long lightweight trailer? I need it big enough to store my eventual purchase of a Valley Aleut Sea II. At the same time I’m hoping to find a not-so-expensive trailer so I can still afford to buy an Ultra-Kevlar version which with Valley’s USA May price increase, makes that boat really expensive ($6700!!!).
If you can afford that boat, and others
build an extension on the garage for them. I wouldn’t feel secure storing any $6700 item plus the value of your other boats in a trailer that could easily be broken open or hauled off.
no one needs to know what’s inside
I live in a densely populated area. I have no garage, or basement, or attic. No place to store boats other than outside. A locked trailer seems like a good idea. I have a place to park it near where I paddle and when I move, I can take it with me. I even looked into storage units but per month big enough for a boat would pay for a trailer in a couple of years.
A full sized rig
is what you will need to pull the type of trailer you want. Try braking going downhill on a gravel road that has washboard with a heavy trailer pulled by a light car or truck. That is a sure fire reciepe for a jack-knife wreck .
DiY
The trailer doesn’t need to be terribly heavy, just reliable. However, you would need a pilot’s license to drive a lightweight 24’ fully-enclosed trailer on a windy day.
All that being said, I would seek out a used Hobie 18 trailer, replace the axle and bearings, then build a light frame out of aluminum and sheath it in sheet metal. If someone wants to steal your trailer and/or boats, they will. Not much you can do to stop them. You will definitely have to lock the hitch and put U-locks through the wheels.
All THAT being said, you may be better off to make friends with a neighbor and rent some garage ceiling space from them.
trailer info
I want information on trailers.
Not Garages. I cannot have one.
Not new vehicles. Mine will pull large trailers just fine, but I am looking for a info on smaller trailers.
This trailer will be light, just boats inside.
It will need to have trailer brakes.
It will need to have sway bars and load lifters.
Try Blue Mountain Outfitters?
They make custom trailers for kayaks/canoes. They may be able to work with you and your particular needs.
http://bluemountainoutfitters.net/trailers.htm
717-957-2413
Humor me here…
why can’t you use a storm drain pvc pipe mounted on an aluminum trailer to do this?
http://www.willco.net/StormDrain.htm
http://www.castlecraft.com/canoe_trailer.htm
pipe up to 36" even my poly Perception Carolina would fit in…
Then all you have to do is cap the ends, and they may have caps for the pipe already…(if not, say a metal drain pan or even a trash can top may work…or how about the bottom four inches cut from a plastic barrel?)
to use the pipe, add nylon slings to the inside by drilling a few holes and bolting through the pipe and nylon…(Might even use longer bolts so you can mount the slingsthrough the pipewall and secure the pipe to the trailer all with the same bolt…)
secure storage, limited construction effort and cost, low wind resistance and weight, I can think of lots of bennies…
okay, it doesn’t provide storage
…for gear or multiple boats, but it’d be light and secure…
Just joking but,
– Last Updated: May-17-07 1:19 PM EST –
What about setting up a sting, using your boat as bait. Hidden video camera for evidence. A good light beam alarm (silent) and rid your area of any potental boat thieves. Catch the bastards in the act.
I leave my Garage open over-night quite often and also leave stuff in my yards. Never once have I lost anything to dirt-bag thieves. The ones in my town don't even try. They know what will happen to them if I catch them.
But you live in Montana
and I suspect you know BOTH people that live in your town. Nermal lives in a “densely poopulated area” (intended misspelling) and likely his valuables left outside unattended wouldn’t last past dusk.
My boats are on a rack built on to the outside of my shed in the back yard, and while the fence is paddlocked to the yard, if someone wanted them, they’d be gone. But I my boats combined aren’t worth the seat in a $6700 boat, and my neighborhood has little crime.
He needs something more secure. I like SuperTroll’s idea. A flat bed trailer could hold a half-dozen of those pipes easily, stacked & secured correctly. And the boats would be protected in a crash. 
I love it here
and when we moved from San Diego it took us awhile to give up the car alarms and “The Club”.
Oh boy was it rough getting settled. It took me awhile to develope the markets for my products. We produce a line of seasonings like steak rubs, as well of many handcrafted items, mostly cut-out-coins and a few bone and horn hand-carved items. The first year we had neighbors offering us bags of groceries, not asked for of coarse but willingly accepted.
I’ve always wanted to visit . . .
Will someday. Will also promise to make best attempt at NOT being an average tourist.
Thanks for being a good sport about the “both people in town” comment. I’m more envious than demeaning about stuff like that . . . .
And BTW, I’m surprised you didn’t answer my trivia question on the other thread . . . .
Featherlite now owned by Universal
Grab your check book and click on http://www.featherlitemfg.com/specialty/
I suspect that these folks can accomodate you. Featherlite had a production facility in northern Iowa, but since they were bought out by Universal, not sure where they are made.
more details
Cost less than $5000
Enclosed storage for my fleet of about a dozen boats
This includes tripping canoes with 36" beams.
Must fit a 22’ boat with a rudder.
Okay…so just where are they stored …
…now?
What you need is a TRUCK…just combine the trailer and Tow vehicle…no weight issues, and no problems with where to park the trailer…
Featherlite
Featherlite has closed at least one plant already, not sure where they are planning moving manufacturing to.
Buy an old school bus
Take out all the seats on one side and make some racks to hold several boats. On the other side remove the back half of the seats for storage of paddling gear and use the seats in the front half to take all of your paddling buddies.
Dasteely
– Last Updated: May-20-07 5:46 PM EST –
No offense taken. I am learning to grow a thick skin and I try not to take anything too seriously. I have my blood pressure to think about ! The B&B doesn't help ! I didn't see the triva post. My wife and I are baby sitting two children of a neighbor for a few days and it is very distracting. We offered when we found out that a really bad drunk was going to be watching them.
“Toy hauler” OR multi-snowmobile trailer
– Last Updated: May-20-07 6:05 PM EST –
We see toy haulers around here for people to transport Harleys, water lice, and other toys inside (wouldn't want to DRIVE their motorcycles to actually get someplace!). You might need a FS pickup to haul that due to large frontal area and wind resistance. And toy haulers seem to be expensive.
If you are willing to build some mods, you might be able to start with a multi-snowmobile flatbed trailer and add locking sides and top to that. Probably an expensive proposition if somebody else mods it for you. We have a one-snowmobile trailer that is about 4.5' wide and 9.5' long (cost about $1000 in 2000 or 2001). There are bigger ones made that might do the trick for you. Because they are made from aluminum, they are relatively light for their size. You don't actually need one that is 24' long, because if you add a long-enough box on top of the platform, that will work. The tongues on these things are fairly long and can be easily extended.
I don't understand why you need trailer brakes or load distributors for hauling a few kayaks, though. It varies by state, but trailer brakes are required for loads over a certain weight. A few hundred pounds is under that requirement, as far as I know. Load distributing devices are for heavy loads, and you would use one with a higher-class hitch like Class IV. Which means you should already have that FS pickup with the torquey engine.
Is there something else you intend to carry that is driving up the payload requirements? Because if it's just kayaks, payload isn't the problem--length is.
One other thing: check your owner's manual's towing section on what the frontal area limits are for your "small pickup." A boxy trailer that holds a dozen kayaks and canoes can be lightweight but too much bulk against the wind for a small truck. At the least, your mpg will drop abysmally. At the worst, you will have a handling nightmare with crosswinds on highways.
You are getting some advice you don't want to hear, I know, but better find out now than after you spend the bucks for a towing combo that won't work well.