Another tale of a trailer (and boat)

Zoom's story got the better of me... and he is not alone; anyone thinking of a purchase needs to either do some home work or spend some money... here is my journey...lolol. And now; I have a great boat........
I purchased my boat and trailer after seeing the ad online through a Marine business in Perth (Hillarys) who "locate boats" for people.
I still have the original advertisement... Ready to go the other side of Rotto etc.
MMM no it wasn't, NOT AT ALL!!!!
So muggings here, goes and has a look down near Fremantle; nice hull, trailers ok- not great, engines a bit old but it had good bones and breeding, (Chivers).
Went to the sellers house in Hamilton Hill had a look, and decided after talking to him it was a go.. Asked about the trailer and was assured the bearings (tandem axle) were fine and the boat was a gift, (he was into racing cars now)So I bought it. KA-ching $$
Took it home on his word; and didn't bother to check bearings, one run in the river went ok so decided to take it to Hillarys and go for a fish.. Travelling down Gnangara road, I look in the rear view mirror and see the outside rear wheel started to "wobble" I slowed down but was unable to stop before it let loose, the wheel crossed traffic (thankfully not hitting and one or thing) and wound up in the sand on the opposite side of the road. Not happy!!
I went home and spoke to my neighbor who is always ready to help, he's got a spare set of bearings and hub in the shed, and he calls a mate, we did a repair/ replaced bearings on the side of the road.
Went home... Replaced all bearings etc(4 ea) out the back on the ground on a tarp with the boat on stands. First time I'd done it by myself, looked it up on the net spoke to the neighbour, and not a problem. After a few months trailer was just not what I wanted.
Trailer was looking a bit sad, rust wise, so decided to replace it, and got a great deal and great trailer from Wayne at "Trailit".
Sold the old one for about $950 in the quokka. It probably would have done another few years after my work but I'd had enough of it.
Then there was the boat "that was ready to go out wide and easily take you out the other side of Rotto" Caveat Emptor (buyer beware)..... lolol so get the boat in the water on an ordinary day with it's OVLOV AQ145 (Volvo), off the ark, but reliable, just a bit long in the tooth.
Now in the slop I can smell fuel, mmmmmmm I'm not doing this, so decide to go home... which I did.
Could not find a leak from built-in under-floor alloy tank, nor could marine workshop.. but the smell was always there, and often a sheen in the bilge water.... and I just was not happy with it or the smell of fuel. Was also not happy with the $1600 bill for a "service" from the engines authorised dealer in Fremantle, but that's another story....(We settled on $800 in the end)
So I did an upgrade to the old tub.
In the end it was fitted with, New 5 litre V8 mercuiser, took it from 25 knts flat out, to gutsy rumble at 43/44 Knots WOT, new seats, new pedestals, new dash, new built in fiberglass fuel tank and capacity going from about 110 litres to 280 litres. New electronics and engine management EFI system Smart craft, Also replaced a host of other items to get it to where it was ready "TO GO TO THE OTHER SIDE OF ROTTO". Having done all this I contacted the "middleman dealer" via email and told him of his advertisement and of my journey; I did suggest that perhaps he should temper his advertising a little. I received back a very unpleasant email including accusations of being half full of beer when sending them emails about my boat.. which was not the case.. I did explain their advertisement and claims were "a little wide of the mark", and that now, after I had spent a bucket of money; the boat was indeed ready to go to the other side of Rotto or anywhere else... I could have done it cheaper and sold it but as I said; it had good bones and good breeding and now I'm happy with it... so for people buying boats and trailers it may pay to do a bit more homework than I did; and perhaps other have done..... I'm still spending because it's a good boat and does everything I need of it...next is the screen, canopy, and targa/ rod holders...

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"Life wasn't meant to be a spectator sport"


ranmar850's picture

Posts: 2702

Date Joined: 12/08/12

Trailer bearings

Fri, 2015-03-20 19:14

 Never believe any seller( except me) about the state of the trailer bearings. I bought a tandem under the Navigator, was assured the bearings "had been done" They were done, all right--Luckily I only towed it to the freight yard, as I didn't have the 4wd with me , and had elected to freight it home. Full of emulsified grease, and stuffed. The couple of tiny spots of rust on the trailer turned out to be coming from the inside, and it was stuffed as well.  Bearings are something which must be removed aand repacked or replaced annually, oir at the very least, jacked up and spun to listen for a rumble--the axles fitted with brakes can't be checked properly unless the calipers are removed, as the noise generated by the pads touching the discs will hide the tell-tale sound.

I have recently bought an older glass boat--I'll be posting some pics soon. My story ( so far), is nothing like yours (fingers crossed)

Willlo's picture

Posts: 1490

Date Joined: 07/10/11

 B O A T - Bring On Another

Fri, 2015-03-20 21:55

 B O A T - Bring On Another Thousand, lol

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 Call Sign - BZ785

Haynes Hunter Prowler CC

 

Posts: 5738

Date Joined: 18/01/12

should be called a B O A M

Fri, 2015-03-20 21:57

should be called a B O A M

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 Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...

 

 

The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.

Everyone's just winging it.

 

Posts: 8026

Date Joined: 07/05/12

I also learned the hard way

Sun, 2015-03-29 11:03

I also learned the hard way with bearings too. Bloke assured me he'd done them 12 months earlier and had not used the trailer since then. I bought new bearings but in my excitement to go camping took my boy down to Waroona for some reddie fishing got back home and went down to east Freo one morning and when I pulled back into my driveway I saw that the bearing had been stripped and tried to push it up the driveway into my garage and the wheel fell off.

Lucky all it cost me was a new axle and hubs and I replaced the springs as well but I am so anal about bearing now I stop halfway when heading to Mandurah to check the heat of the hubs.

Now whenever I buy a trailer the first thing I'll do is replace the bearings regardless of what the seller tells me.

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Officially off the Pies bandwagon

tot's picture

Posts: 1148

Date Joined: 31/01/10

Its about $100 bucks

Sun, 2015-03-29 11:21

with new hubs to do it at home and takes about an hour a pair.
Basic mechanic 101 stuff that every boat owner should know how.

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Reverse cycle a/c supply and install - Ducted and wall splits

sea-kem's picture

Posts: 14833

Date Joined: 30/11/09

 Yeah do all my own bearings

Sun, 2015-03-29 11:47

 Yeah do all my own bearings now after I had a mobile trailer service guy do mine. I said I wanted them repacked etc. Taking his word that was what he did I had a look a few months later to see he had just smeared new grease inside the inspection cap. Lucky for him I'd lost his details. Do them myself now once a year before heading north, peace of mind boys.

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Love the West!

crasny1's picture

Posts: 6985

Date Joined: 16/10/08

Hate the bloody things

Mon, 2015-03-30 11:23

Just scares the shit out of me every long trip. Havent yet "done" it myself (to busy with other things) but have spares on board the boat, and a great detailed instruction on how to inside the boat. The Net is just great for the DIY minded.

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"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk

Posts: 8026

Date Joined: 07/05/12

I bought a spare hub and cut

Mon, 2015-03-30 21:12

I bought a spare hub and cut down the good side of my old axle and have my spare tyre sitting on a hub on the stub axle already packed so if a bearing goes heading down south etc it'll take me a matter of minutes to get back on the road with three small kids in the car.

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Officially off the Pies bandwagon

ranmar850's picture

Posts: 2702

Date Joined: 12/08/12

Use a hub and bearing on your spare

Wed, 2015-04-01 17:02

 As Jackfrost says above. You can buy stubs welded to a post and plate for bolting to your drawbar, so you have both a spare tyre and a spare bearing and hub ready to go. Do your bearing maintenance right and you  won't ever need it, but nice to have anyway.