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I'm getting near finishing my Skerry Raid and am thinking of taking CLC's sale on the 250S offer. My concern is how strong is the trailer with only one long box beam from hitch to rear wheel platform? I would think it would twist easily and possibly bend. The small 8" wheels also make me wonder how well they would last in the hot summer on a long road trip. I had a trailer once with 8" wheels which gave me nothing by tire problems. My Peeler's regular size trailer with 13" tires was a dream to tow and never overheated. I am thinking if I removed a few of the springs from a standard alum. trailer with larger wheels it would be a stonger package. My Raid will weigh about 225 pounds when completed. What is your honest experience with the 250S on long trips and for strength?
6 replies:
RE: Trailex 250S
With that being said, I'm sure that any trailer that either Trailex or CLC sells will be more than strong enough. Especially considering half the people go with the cheap Harbor Freight trailers.
I just noticed that the SUT-1000 comes with 12" tire option and free spare tire/carrier.
RE: Trailex 250S
CaptainSkulley said, " .....I also agree that any trailer should be sturdy enough for you to load not only the boat and accessories, but also camping gear, provisions, etc."
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And two kayaks on the roof that might weigh more than the intended design weight.... Its always good to have a little extra capability in a trailer, truck, etc to cover the contingencies that arrise.
RE: Trailex 250S
Yeah, it's actually pretty easy to add an impromptu kayak rack to any trailer. Even with 2x4's if you don't have a welder.
RE: Trailex 250S
I will say "Amen!" on the 12" wheels. I had a Sea Pearl 21 for many years which saw many thousands of highway miles. Originally, the trailer came with 8" wheels. Had a *lot* of blown tires (and very warm bearings) until I finally got wise and upgraded to 12" wheels. After that, no flats and cool bearings.
I'm not so fond of Bearing Buddies myeslf, though I don't want give offense to Cap'n Skully. <;-) In my experience, through-the-spindle lubrication is a better way to go for serious over-the-road mileage bearing health, with or without submersion at the ramp. Keeps clean grease in the bearings so you can go longer between repackings. For a light-duty trailer, ordinary bearings will do all right if you repack them regularly, replace the seals (get double-lipped ones, if you can), be careful not to bend up the dust caps, and use some plumbers Teflon tape around the joints as you put everything back together to help keep the grease in and any water and dirt out.
With a light boat, you can probably keep the wheel hubs out of the water most of the time anyway, which is the beauty of small boats.
.....Michael
RE: Trailex 250S
No experience in the 8" vs 12" arena, but the 250S is plenty strong for your Skerry raid. I'm using its predecessor model, the 200S for my 18" schooner which weighs a tad more than your Raid (thanks to the 120-lb drop keel). I called Trailex to see about trailering the boat with the keel on instead of having it be separately carried in my truck bed and the support guy said that if I ran the tires at 20 psi instead of 15 it'd be fine and he was right.
My point is that even the 200S has enough structural strength to carry your boat, so the 250S should be fine.
Laszlo
RE: Trailex 250S
» Submitted by CaptainSkully - Fri, 2/23/18 » 10:28 AM
I have no experience with that particular trailer, but I highly agree that on any trailer that you will be taking farther than the closest local lake, you definitely want 12" plus wheels. I also always add Bearing Buddies, a spare tire, LED brake lights and a dedicated wrench the size of the lug nuts.
I also agree that any trailer should be sturdy enough for you to load not only the boat and accessories, but also camping gear, provisions, etc.