G'day Ron,

I went and had a look at the Spitfire Trailers yesterday. They certainly LOOK the goods, but there were a couple of things that terrified me. The two chaps in charge are very nice blokes, but admitted immediately to not knowing anything about boats, and not having a clue how to set the trailers up to fit a boat, the suggestion was to take it to a boat shop... They couldn't tell me which model would best suit my 6.2m Chivers Esprit (glass)which was a bit frustrating. The trailers as I said look solid enough, the two I looked at were all bolted together, not welded, which was interesting, and had torsion suspension, not springs. Is this an issue? I cant imagine saltwater getting inside the torsion suspension mechanism would be a good thing? The frames, winch post and draw bar were ally, and everything else stainless. The draw bar looked particularly short, a hell of a lot shorter than on the old Polmac I'm looking to replace in any case. I don't know how well they would tow? I'm not writing them off at all, I just have lots of questions, and unfortunately the guys selling them couldn't provide answers. I see Spitfire is based in QLD, I might give them a bell and see what I can find out.

 Hey Cowboy,

Thanks for the info. I agree, they look the goods but the info is a kinda full of holes. I spoke with the guy in QLD who straight up knew a hell of a lot more than the the guy I spoke with in Bullsbrook. I am keen to know how you feel after speaking the QLD outlet.

Cheers.

I have had some messages back and forth with Peter in Brizzie, one of the Directors of the company. All sounds fine, no alarm bells. I suppose what I was really hoping for was to find someone, anyone, that has bought one for some firsthand feedback. I did a quick survey of Woody's ramp on the weekend and the usual names dominate, Dunbier, Papas, Trailit etc. Not a single Spitfire unfortunately! I will continue to ruminate, perhaps I might get some inspiration at the Boat Show.

 Thanks for the feedback, good to hear. Mine should be ready in a week or so, so feel free to drop me a line and I will let you know how my experience plays out.

Cheers

G'day Ron,

Did you end up purchasing one of these? Any feedback at all? I'm, still firmly on the fence with my decision!

Cheers

 Hi again,

Picked it up yesterday. So far so good, it really looks the business although Im yet to put the boat on it. I guess at the end of the day it has a warranty double that of Dunbier, and has been assessed as road worthy by DOT. I will be taking some measurements from the old trailer ( roller spacing and positioning ) and then adjust the spitfire accordingly if neccessay, as the roller positioning looks ok but is probably a little bit of guess work on theior behalf.

Cheers

G'day Ron,

How's the trailer performing? Any issues?

Cheers

Big Ron and Cowboy, just read with great interest comments on Spitfire trailers. Would be keen to know about actual experiance using them especially any tips to avoid Thanks

I must confess I chickened out and purchased a new galv Papas trailer. Very pleased with it to date, very solid and tows beautifully. Great value I thought at well under 6k on the road.

 Has anybody else purchased one of these trailers ? Big Ron I sent you a pm !

 any news on these trailers. notice new models are arriving

 The list is too long. All I can advise that you read the small 

print of the warranty terms. For the trailer to

be repaired under warranty then it needs to be

unladen and trucked back to the place of purchase

at your own expense

message me if you want

keep on truckin  

Mad macs

 Agree with Mad Macs.  PM me if you need more info.  Its not pretty.

 I visited Spitfire Trailer in Bullsbrook a couple of weeks ago, and like Ron and Cowboy found the operator to be a nice fella, but was totally surprised by the lack of knowledge about many things, particularly appropriate axle for weight of boat.

I left there with strong reservations. Still keen on an ally trailer though. I will like to hear from anyone who has bought a spitfire trailer and what they think.

cheers Nomad T

 I visited Spitfire Trailer in Bullsbrook a couple of weeks ago, and like Ron and Cowboy found the operator to be a nice fella, but was totally surprised by the lack of knowledge about many things, particularly appropriate axle for weight of boat.

I left there with strong reservations. Still keen on an ally trailer though. I will like to hear from anyone who has bought a spitfire trailer and what they think.

cheers Nomad T

I bought a 7 metre tandem axle Spitfire boat trailer for commercial use a couple of months ago - for carting around my 6 metre Edencraft dive boat. 

Despite Spitfire trying to convey the imprssion that they are an Australian company, there are in fact a Honk Kong registered outfit - although some of the directors are Australian. As late as yesterday, one of the main dealers in Qld (who is also a Spitfire director) was advertising Spitfire as an Australian company, but I now see today (after I queried him) that he has withdrawn that incorrect statement.

The parts are all made in China and then exported to a base in Australia (plus other countries).

When you buy a Spitfire trailer, you are buying it from the guy in your local area who has had to register himself as an independant trailer manufacturer as part of becoming a Spitfire franchisee - although the franchisee usually use the name "Spitfire" as part of their business name.

The main Spitfire company only sell parts to the individual manufacturers (franchisees) who then assemble them based on your needs - Spitfire HQ do not sell completed trailers to anyone. If you have a warranty type issue, you are dealing with the local guy/manufacturer that you bought the trailer from, not Spitfire HQ themselves - they made that very clear to me when I phoned the (Aussie) boss in Honk Kong, and his partner at their Brisbane HQ. If it is a genuine warranty matter, the local guy/"manufacturer" fixes it at his cost, and he then chases Spitfire HQ in Australia for replacement parts to cover what he gave to you.

From day one, I had issues with the aluminium winch post and the attached SS bracket holding the roller that the boat presses up against. The whole winch post is a terrible design. Firstly I had to have a welding shop redesign the upper section and then later to strengthen the base when it started to crack (as expected) due to the totally inadequate (badly engineered) bracing at the base. All these repairs and modifications to the winch post were at my cost, as Spitfire would not help at all towards the work, despite their faulty design. (It was no use just replacing the damaged bits with more Spitfire parts, as the winch post design itself is faulty.)

I understand that Spitfire are now redesigning the whole winch post setup due to a number a failures with it. Even hard braking (causing the boat to put pressure on the winch post) will cause the winch post parts to bend and break.

When I started having troubles with the piss weak winch post setup, Spitfire HQ tried to tell me that their trailers are not designed to have boats driven on to them (as it puts too much stress on the winch post as the boat hits it). What a load of garbage! (The local guy who put mine together knew that I would be driving on.) Most experienced boaties drive the boats on.

Spitfire HQ are now (I am told) accepting that boats are often driven on to trailers, and are redesigning the winch post accordingly. And as I said, even just hard tow vehicle braking (let alone an emergency situation) will break the upper parts of the winch post, possibly leading to your boat coming off the trailer, if not well secured in other places.

Apart from the winch post problems, I do like the trailer - it tows very well, although there is a fair bit of flex in the side rails where they curve around towards the draw bar. According to the guy that certified the main components of the trailer frame for use in Australia (I called him yesterday), this flex is all OK tecnically.

So long as you modify the whole winch post setup, I would recommend one of these trailers, as they are a few thousand dollars cheaper than having one custom made.

R.

 I unfortunately bought one. Absolutely rubbish! Within 12 months the steel components of the trailer have rusted really badly. Of anyone is contemplating buying one, then don't. I bought mine in Sydney and they closed down at some stage after I'd bought it. I paid nearly $5k for it still... Big mistake. 

Happy to back it up with pics if anyone wants some to see how crap they are. 

 Hi garffield can i see the pics?  have you spoken to them about it? what has rusted?