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Buying Your First Boat & Trailer on a Budget: PART III
Boat trailers are often overlooked when purchasing used boats. But this could be a very expensive mistake if steps are not performed to protect yourself.
New boat trailers are not cheap and finding a used one to fit your particular hull can be a very daunting task. If you do find a trailer that's the right length, you'll still have to take it to a trailer repair, service and fabrication shop to have it modified to fit your particular hull design.
Important note: When it comes to boat trailers, one size does not fit all. Also, deciding whether you want a Bunk Trailer or a Roll Trailer is another issue.
So let’s not get burned on a boat trailer that's in poor condition. For all intents and purposes, we're going to stay with the 1998 Bayliner that I suggested in Part I. If you haven’t read Part I, please give it and Part II and a read.
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Protect Yourself And Don't Be Ashamed
You're probably going to think to yourself that by asking all of these questions and requesting these pictures, the seller is going to think you're a pain. The truth is that whether you're 10 or 100 plus miles away, you really need to protect yourself.
If you get into asking for pictures and questions and the seller gets defensive with you, then that is your first red flag. Just tell him you are serious but you need to make sure it’s the right boat and in the right condition before you load up your truck and grab the cash you just spent a year saving to come and look at it.
If he's still defensive and doesn’t want to send you the pictures or answer your questions, then walk away. If you get any red flags from him or your gut says this seller is not honest, walk away and look for another boat.
There are thousands of boats for sale, and this one is not the only fish in the sea.
If the seller says, "Yeah, no problem. What pictures do you need, and what questions do you have?" I already feel better dealing with this seller. He sounds honest and upfront and is not hiding anything.
That's what you need when dealing with a seller.
Questions to Ask the Seller About the Trailer
Get a tablet and take down notes before calling or contacting by email.
First Question: Do all the lights work on the trailer? If not, which lights don't work? If the seller is not sure, ask him if he can hook his tow rig up and find out for you.
If all the lights are out on the trailer, this could be a very expensive repair. I found that 95% of people do not take care of lights or wiring on boat trailers. Very few even check for brake lights or marker lights before going underway to go boating.
Depending on how the trailer was taken care of, all the light fixtures could be broken, rusted and non-operational. The driver could have snagged the trailer wiring on something, jerked it all loose and broken every bit of the wiring.
Lots of boats run the wiring inside the tube on the frame. The rotten wiring will have to be pulled out, and all new wiring will have to be pulled back inside to be repaired.
Electrical work is going to be by the hour unless it's just one tail light and everything else works. Then they can give you a quote.
But if all of it doesn’t work, expect the worst. Depending on the trailer and condition, it could easily cost to $1,000.00 or more.
So don’t skip this important step.
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Second Question: Is there any rust damage on the trailer?
Service rust is okay as long as it’s not rusted through the trailer and is ready to break apart in the middle. In areas with salt water, this is really a problem.
A lot of boaters will back into salt water and use their boat and not bother to pressure wash the trailer or boat to get rid of the salt after they're done with it for the day. This eats up the drive on the boat and the trailer big time.
Depending on how bad the rust is on the trailer, they may be able to cut out the rust and weld in a patch to repair it. If you have more than one rust repair, this could get very expensive.
There comes a time when, if the trailer has too much rust, you have to throw in the towel and say to hell with it and get another trailer. It's just not cost-effective to repair it.
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While we're on rust and not taking care of things, another thing to look out for is owners that don’t flush out their engines after saltwater. This allows salt water to sit in the block of the engine, which is extremely bad for engines.
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There are some owners that take care of their boats and flush and clean and wax but most of them don’t. Those are the ones you have to look out for. We'll get more into issues dealing with salt water in the engine later when we get into testing the boat.
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Third Question: How are the brakes?
Surge Brakes
Most trailers will have surge brakes. The way surge brakes work is that the master cylinder has a reservoir for brake fluid. When you apply the brakes on your tow rig, the weight of the boat and trailer goes forward with the inertia and weight of the boat and trailer.
When this happens, it causes the trailer to move forward on your surge brake actuator, which pushes a rod up into your master cylinder. This pushes out brake fluid to the brakes on your trailer.
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This expands the shoes on your brake system and helps you come to a completely controlled stop. Most smaller trailers do not have a brake system. This usually comes in bigger boat trailers.
Tandem axle configurations
Most people do not take care of their trailers or brakes so you need to look at tandem axle configurations closely.
Most trailers out there will have broken brake lines, bad actuators for the brakes, bad brake shoes and lots of rust. Additionally, people don’t get their bearings repacked.
It just amazes me how people will hook on the trailer, not look at the lights, not put on new tires, not have the bearings repacked and drive clear across the nation and not have one problem.
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Do Your Homework on the Trailer and the Boat
You need to be very careful about this and do your homework. Ask questions beforehand and get pictures. If everything needs rebuilt brakes, master cylinders and brake lines from rust, this could cost thousands of dollars.
It needs to be addressed and repaired because the lives of not only you, but your precious family are on the line. Don’t skip the brakes because the one day you think you won’t need them is the day you will.
In a panic situation, when you have to slam on the brakes, a trailer without brakes will come around and jack knife on you. This will not only cause you to hit the car in front of you, but it will also cause you to roll over and kill everybody on board. It’s just not worth not having it serviced and repaired. It doesn’t cost; it pays.
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Every Repair Ads Up
All of this will come into play on how much you offer the seller on the boat and trailer. In the next part, we'll cover what to look out for and check when we finally go look at the boat.
Here is the next part of the preowned boat buying guide, along with questions to ask about the motor in part IV.
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