Trailer repair?

[Nick Hearne]

Hi all moved my trailer for the winter and got there in one piece just!

Do I try and get this welded up, I’m a bit worried it’s rotten from the inside out.
But apart from this it’s all in a1 condition,
Thought about trying to get a new a frame and swooping all the other bits over.

[Nick Hearne]

No photos

[beamishken]

It looks like the rear swing beam has been too far back putting a large percentage of the boats weight behind the upper support beam
It's repairable but would need reinforced once welded if the swing beam jas to dtau whete it is but ideally the rear swing beam should moved to infront of the upper support
Then move the axle forward to keep the balance if practical.
Maybe a side shot of the whole rig would give a better idea

[breezeblock]

that looks like a poor design I would repair that by welding on reinforcing plates top and sides and do something with the way that tube finishes in the top of the main frame

[Orwell boy]

Be nice to see a picture from tow hitch to number plate with the boat on , looks like it may be a 6metre boat on a 5 metre trailer ,in which case I would definitely cosider new a frame ,you could lengthen the drawbar to enable you to bring the winch forward and what you gain would get that swing bar forward of the doubled up side rails ,I think it would be sensible to have no more than two rollers behind the double railed area with the transom directly above the last roller ,jmo good luck

[Nick Hearne]

Trailer is the original that was supplied with the boat witch is a 6 metre trailer by Bramber!
The winch post could be changed or altered to bring the boat further forward.

[beamishken]

If you alter the winch post and move the axle forward you should get the carousel ahead of the twin rails. The winch looks too low as it's pulling down on the bow eye and the bow stay could be shortened and tipped up to fit just below the bow eye to give better support you may need to fit a single keel roller just under the bow to stop the front of the trailer flexing . Can't understand why the bow stay is like that it seems unnecessarily long which is pushing the boat back for no good reason . There is currently a large percentage of the total weight hanging on the two sections intended for the trailer board stays

[Orwell boy]

Yes looks like at some stage somebody wanted to carry the boat further away from the car so the winch post was modified to push the boat back a foot ,consequently the rear swing beam has been moved back to suit ,hence the reason for failure ,
my thoughts would be as others have said ,get rid of the long winch post idea ,add a snubber post including winch mounting to the top of whats left of winch post or buy or make similar to ebay 221895897118 ,
in saying this I note in picture 1 it does rather look like metal fatigue is similar at a frame junction on drawbar to the previuos failure point and may be a shortlived fix ,
ultimately I would take trailer to local blacksmith or metal fabricator and ask them to build (copy ) you a new framework ,metal is cheap and the boat looks super so well worth it to keep it safe on the road , scale it up by a couple of feet ,after all you have the expensive bits in hitch ,axle and rollers and frames which you say are all a1
whatever you do remember the most valuable thing you have is the bramber label you can always have a refurbished trailer ,as was said Triggers broom was refurbished ,new head and new handle

[Last Tango]

As has been said.
I,d measure the distance the swing beam would have to come forward to bring it within the "ladder frame" and take a measuring tape from the front of the boat to see what the consequences of moving the boat that far forward would be.
Assuming the nose weight is right at the moment, the axle will have to go more or less the same distance and the front swing beam will probably need to be moved as well. (hint...new U bolts, the old ones come off much easier and quicker with an angle grinder.).
It varies from one setup to another but I'd guess moving your boat forward will cost about 40-50Kg per foot on you tow hitch so the you're not getting out of moving the axle.

I priced getting a pair of ladder frames made for my old trailer and it it wasn't worth it. From memory they wanted about £1,400.

[Orwell boy]

even easier solution ! speak to bob at Rollerbunk ,I bought an rb32 roller system on Friday for a trailer I am refurbing £415 , you can have quite some overhang on the back and it will fix on a new piece of 60x40x3 going across the trailer within the ladder rack area ,I can winch my boat off a couple of milk crates on the back lawn onto rollerbunk system and never dunk my brakes when launching or retrieving . you can sell your old rollers on ebay ,and poss the swinging arrangement as well ,you cant beat it ! the ally mounting arms are on 3metre ally stretcher supporting system have to be as stong as the sides of your trailer so should double up on side strength
nb I am not related to rollerbunk ,just happy customer ,if you want to see I will demo for you ,in suffolk

[Tim M]

Here's another Bramber, also supplied new with a Ribeye....

[Last Tango]

Originally Posted by Tim M

Here's another Bramber, also supplied new with a Ribeye....

Looks much like my old Admiral Trailer but I had both rails broken.
Basically it was the boat ratchet strapped to the trailer that was holding it all together.

[Tim M]

On the above trailer we inserted a long piece of steel inside and then welded lots of reenforcement on the outside. Looked pretty hideous after but seemed to hold it together!

[Chris Caton]

evening Nick, hope that SR4 is still going well

if the rest of the trailer frame is still solid I'd strip it down, get the cracked section repaired and reinforced, then regalvanise the complete framework, then rebuild it with new u-bolts etc, and replace the winch post with a shorter one so you can move the weight forward. I stripped, regalved and rebuilt the trailer for my Revenger a couple of years back, and added a 3rd swing beam/roller set, over cost around 1/2 the price of a new trailer, worth doing if you've got the space to get the rib off the trailer I'll have a look for some pics

[Nick Hearne]

Originally Posted by Chris Caton

evening Nick, hope that SR4 is still going well

if the rest of the trailer frame is still solid I'd strip it down, get the cracked section repaired and reinforced, then regalvanise the complete framework, then rebuild it with new u-bolts etc, and replace the winch post with a shorter one so you can move the weight forward. I stripped, regalved and rebuilt the trailer for my Revenger a couple of years back, and added a 3rd swing beam/roller set, over cost around 1/2 the price of a new trailer, worth doing if you've got the space to get the rib off the trailer I'll have a look for some pics

Hi Chris SR still going strong thanks, how’s yours going?

Thanks for the tips

[Nick Hearne]

Thanks for the input all I’m thinking of getting a new winch post to move it forward! If I’m lucky I can move the swing beem forward enough to remove the broken section altogether, along with moving the axle forward!
If I can’t get the boat forward enough then go the route of getting it welded and strengthen too.

[Chris Caton]

Originally Posted by Nick Hearne

Hi Chris SR still going strong thanks, how’s yours going?

Thanks for the tips

still makes me grin every time I go for a blast Nick

[Orwell boy]

Originally Posted by Tim M

Here's another Bramber, also supplied new with a Ribeye....

no wonder that failed ,axle should be mounted to 30 inches of 50x50 x5mm angle iron first and then the side rails are u bolted to the angle iron with preferhably m12 u bolts (3 each side) ,one of the beutys of the genuine boat trailer axles is they have a massive 30 inch long channel welded on each side of the axle so side rails are well supported even today these short bracket axles are being used because they are cheaper but not without the angle thank goodness
in days where following road accidents people are often arrested for various reasons ,then running a ton and bit of boat on something as badly engineered as that is asking for trouble

[Last Tango]

Originally Posted by Nick Hearne

....... remove the broken section altogether,

I'd still get it welded up. It's not going to be an issue if all it has to support is your light board.