Trailer improvements? or are they not really needed?

[OCMD]

I found a place to store my 230, indoors. Very happy. It is a marina away from the water, and the owner bought a few adjoining properties. One of which used to be a Potato Chip factory. The place where they stored 1000s of potatos was partially underground, and this is the new boat storage place. I inspected it. Nice and warm, underground, and sealed from the elements so there will be no animals crapping in my boat. The photo is my boat on rollers before it gets loaded into a slot. At 90 bucks a month and 12 miles form my house? A no brainer.

Now, unfortunately, I have a perfectly good trailer to screw with. I drove the trailer home and noticed how loose the bow stop is when it does not have the weight of the boat pressing on it. The bunk boards look in pretty decent shape, with a bit of carpet wear. The roller strap (is this a word?) is old and looks like a replacement wouldn't hurt.

I don't need UBB's as my boat loads so easily on the carpet, and I never had an issue with this. With the UBB comments going both ways, I decided against this. My main question? What nice things can I treat my trailer to, since I now have it boat free for about five months. Should I have the bow stop welded? Would a weld actually be stronger than the current bolt set up? I'd hate to have a weld fail. The marina said they have a welder come by on occasion so I suppose they could do this. Does it require a special skill? What are the benefits of a welded bow stop? Or am i wasting my money. Thanks!

 

[Julian]

A welded bow stop would be better than a bolted one (usually). If your bolted one still wiggles, then I'd weld it (assuming they don't charge too much). Do you have LED lights? I just put them on mine when my incandescents failed this summer.

 

[Ronnie]

My 2 cents:

The closest water to me is only 10 minutes away but the closest water that I boat in often is always 1 to 2 hours away. The MFI trailers do the job but there is a lot of room for improvement. Simply stated I have to trailer my boat everywhere I boat so I've done everything I can think of to make it easier. This is includes installing:

1. Trailer guides (these are helpful in the wind and with the lights it is easier to back down the ramp when recovering the boat, I like the versions I have since they are single piece PVC except for the mounting hardware). $100 ish
2. Boat buckles (self retracting transom straps, I never lose them since they are bolted to the trailer and the length is always correct, basically no fussing with adjustments, "hook it and click it", press the release tab to loosen them up). around $80
3. Three bolts to the bow stop (the original only has one bolt that mates to a nut welded onto a short tab inside the bow stop post, I put two galvanized bolts all the way through the side and one front to back, it doesn't move at all anymore). under $20 with 1/2" drill bit
4. Fulton F2 Winch (honestly never had a problem with the stock winch but this one has a hard cover over the gears that I often use as a step, it's also fully adjustable (e.g. the handle can be placed on either side and the length varied, mine is also a 2 speed). $150 ish
5. Fulton F2 Trailer Jack (again I never had a problem with the stock unit but this one not only matches the winch you can tell it is built better, I have the singe wide wheel, a dual wheel is available as well as a fixed foot, a brake is available for the wheeled versions. $150 ish
6. Boat Buddy II (this makes recovering easier for me, that is, I power load until I hear the mechanism 'click' and push the retention bar through the bow eye, if I were to do it again I would probably buy the ramp n clamp device which is pretty much the same thing just newer, tougher and more expensive of course) around $100
7. Two different manual reverse lockout keys (one standard 'D' key and another magnetic one, I prefer the magnetic one but keep the standard (and tape) around as a spare, nickels (and tape) work just as well in a pinch). Under $15 including shipping.
8. LED lights (my stock rear lights leaked and failed within the first two years of my use, I've never had a problem with LED versions). $50 at Walmart for the rear lights and wiring, I'm not sure about the other lights on the trailer.
* I also added an always on rear view camera to my boat trailer as well as replaced the safety cables with chains with a spring clip on the 'S' hooks none of which is pictured.

 

[OCMD]

Will any new Stoltz roller work on my standard 2008 SX230's galvanized trailer, or is there a certain one I need to get? They are inexpensive, so why not? How about the strap which pulls the boat onto the trailer? Anything special here? My current one is looking kind of ragged, but works fine. Ronnie I like your winch set up I bet it is easy tu yank your boat out of the water. Curious as to the "ramp n clamp" because it seems you would have to power load all the time and drive the boat into the clamp. Am I incorrect about this? For some reason it seems just hooking the eye bolt and pulling the boat up a foot or two up would be easier than driving into the ramp and clamp every time in. Comments anyone? Thanks.

 

[Bruce]

This is the one you want - Stoltz ULT-4 Ultimate Bow Stop Roller

 

[KXCam22]

THE very first thing I upgraded on my trailer was the wiring and lights. Do yourself a favour and run a ground wire down each side of the trailer and ground all the lights to it. It will take away future headaches. Plus a ground jumper across the pivoting hitch. Plus its easy - 1 hour and 4 beer. The boat buckles are great, welded bowstop is a must (or bolted), LED lights are a must. The F2 winch was a great upgrade and I still need to add the F2 jack. I have a pdf wiring diag if you need it. I plan to add some LED lights down the center for loading in the near dark. Cam.

 

[mark_m]

Tom,

My winch strap broke snugging the boat all the way up to the bow stop on our last trip in the fall. I tied a knot in it and we were done for the season. For Christmas I bought myself a stoltz 4" roller and a fulton 2 speed winch from overtons. Will install in the spring! Oh yeah the roller was ~ 36 and the winch I can't remember. If you want I have 10% off coupon that expires 3/31 that I'll give you, check ur mail.

Agree on ramp and clamp conclusion I don't like to power load.

Mark

 

[Speedling]

I did electric brakes, fulton f2 winch, and welded the bow stop however the weld broke and will be reinforcing with some plate this time. I put on some new boards and carpet but they were just worn a bit is all.
The winch and electric brakes were best mods imo.

Electric brakes are as easy as ordering a kit online and just making sure you have the right size bearing for it. I actually stole them off my 1998 camper because it needed new axles and it was nearly the same cost to have brakes on them.

 

[OCMD]

Which winch do I need, the 3200 pounder? Are these an easy install and what does it mean two speed on the 3200 pound one? I thought these were manual. Is there a monkey in there turning up the speed for speed 2?

http://www.overtons.com/modperl/pro...Speed-Trailer-Winch-2-000-lb-Capacity&i=73277

It appears the roller is an easy off easy on. Any comments on replacing the winch and strap? Wonder about Fulton because the one I replaced on my LS was a POS, of course it was a simple low end model. Again, does this one fir in the same space the one I remove will? Easy off easy on? Or will I be drilling through metal?

Thanks again for the tips.

Damn I knew there was a reason I don't buy anything from Overtons unless it is a clearance item with a coupon! Same F2 50 bucks cheaper on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Fulton-F2-Spe..._sbs_sg_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=18QEMZKT68T0RFN42B1B

Would this be the one to get? This one from Amazon?

 

[mark_m]

@OCMD I'll cross check the winch I don't think I paid that much. I ll check it out and find the model #

 

[Ronnie]

@OCMD , I'd have to take a closer look at the ramp and clamp to see if I can use it with my winch like I can with the boat buddy. I bet Both auto locking devices work but they also require the trailer to be in a narrow sweet spot on the ramp to work well.

The two speed f2 is overkill for me. I never use the second speed. It works by pulling the handle and shaft out about 1/2" to engage the second gear. Some have seen metal shavings in their units meaning the gears didn't mesh correctly when they shifted gears (it's easy to do/ pull the handle and shaft out to far or not far enough). If I could do it again I'd buy the next model down (I.e., the highest rated f2 single speed) but I don't often need to use the power of the winch to pull the boat up the bunks. The new strap that comes with the winch is plenty strong.

Bolts or weld? Depends on what your comfortable doing. Bolts and a bit were cheap and I can't weld so it was a no brainier for me.

Killer boat storage, I'm jealous.

 

[txav8r]

I'd get the bow stop braced and welded. It was cheap and will prevent any weld breaking because it will be engineered correctly. Bolts will work, but you will still have some movement. I still have the stock winch and stock jack, they worked good on the dawg and they work good on the yonder, so far at least. But if your still cranking to load, I would consider the new winch for sure. I would definitely add the boat buckles, they are a big upgrade for cheap. I agree with either changing all the lights to LED and running new wiring or at a minimum, run a dedicated ground wire down both sides like @KXCam22 recommended. How are the tires? Might be time to do radials and balance!

 

[OCMD]

Thanks gentlemen. Ronnie that makes sense. It is only occasionally, when tide is low, that i have to fight to pull this beast onto the boards but the grinding of gears makes sense. If they have a single speed for 3000 pounds I think I may grab that. I'm only concerned because of the winch strap being old, and hearing how Mark's snapped - I want a new one. Might as well get a better winch also. Mel. as for radials and balancing? I'm only rolling about 20 miles to the ramp, so I will probably wait until they really get bad. The only miles on this trailer where the 400 it took being delivered to my home when I bought it. So when one looks like it is going to go, I will replace all four. With all this frigid weather and another foot of snow, I am so happy my boat is in the old potato storage facility, 60 degrees underground.....and not sitting under a collapsed cover and me 150 miles away! Can't beat 90 bucks a month!

 

[txav8r]

That is a great deal Tom! If your boat starts growing eyes though...we will know why!

 

[jawsf16]

@OCMD I use the single speed F2 and love it. Simple, safe and plenty of pulling power. Also, a drop in replacement on the MFI trailers. The 2 speed is a bit of overkill. I bought mine here...

http://www.trailerandtruckparts.com...ailer-Winch-W20000101_p_597.html#.VPsbhyniMW0

 

[OCMD]

@jawsf16 2000 pounds is enough, correct?

 

[jawsf16]

@jawsf16 2000 pounds is enough, correct?

Definitely. The one that I replaced from my MFI was a 900 or 1300 I believe - can't quite remember but I know it was an unimpressive MFI stock winch if that says anything. If you look on Fulton's site, they don't even sell a single speed 1600+ winch without getting into the beefy bases for them. This F2 handled my SX210 easily and does the same for my AR240. I replaced the AR240 winch right away and it was the exact same model as my SX210 trailer winch. I also have had no issues with metal shavings. My wife likes it much better purely for the closed teeth aspect and the simplicity of forward/reverse/neutral selection.

 

[mark_m]

@OCMD I oversized the winch capacity on purpose with my kiddo in mind. He kinda got motivated there toward the end of the season when he saw a boy about his age helping his parents at the ramp. If I remember right mom drove the boat on the trailer, the son cranked it up to the bowstop and the dad drove the tow vehicle and off they went.

I'm trying get my crew trained so I don't have to do every step of the process...

 

[scot71]

THE very first thing I upgraded on my trailer was the wiring and lights. Do yourself a favour and run a ground wire down each side of the trailer and ground all the lights to it. It will take away future headaches. Plus a ground jumper across the pivoting hitch. Plus its easy - 1 hour and 4 beer. The boat buckles are great, welded bowstop is a must (or bolted), LED lights are a must. The F2 winch was a great upgrade and I still need to add the F2 jack. I have a pdf wiring diag if you need it. I plan to add some LED lights down the center for loading in the near dark. Cam.

Hey @KXCam22, I'm really curious what kind of LEDS you used down the center of the trailer for night loading. I really like this idea and want to do something similar. It would make loading at night a breeze.

 

[Ronnie]

Here is where I've been buying my trailer gear lately, not always the cheapest but fair and great shipping and return policies.

http://www.etrailer.com/s.aspx?qry=Fulton+f2&x=-965&y=-69&furl=