Wanted: Hobie 16' Trailer

Don't buy a Trail-Ex. I had one, hated it. Lookes like it was made from a erector set. Pulled like one too.

I am going to strongly disagree about the Trailex. I have one now and have had it for about 4 years. I have done at least one 500 mile trip each year. I love it. It is substantially lighter (the shipping ticket said 200 lbs). Much esier to attach things to it than a steel trailer and I don't have to worry about drilling holes into it that will rust during the first season. I usually launch in salt or brackish water. If you have a 16' boat I would get the trailer for the 18'. the toungue goes the entier length of the trailer and really stiffens it up. I naddition to my TheMightyHobie18 I also carry a trailerbox full of my hand tools for repairs, the sails/boom, 4 dagger baords, and the rudder assembly. It comes around 900 lbs with all my stuff on it (including the trailer weight).

One more thing, I had my delivered to my work in peices and assembled it myself in about 2 hours without evver seeing one in person before.

I couldn't be happier.

I will say it is possible that mine was just worn out, and I am all for aluminum trailers, but I like said I hated mine. I like trailers to pull straight, and smooth. Mine did neither. The boat rocked back and forth as you went down the road. I had numerous brackets that failed and I had them welded back together. The Extrusion on the tounge started to rip the hitch coupler away. Many people have said they like their's so maybe mine was just shot.

If you towed with a van or large SUV that may have caused the whipping I think you are describing. I've seen trailex trailers 30 years old that are still going strong.

Dodge diesel 3/4 pickup. And an S10 pickup. Actually worse behind the S10. The hulls stuck out past the sides of the pickup about an inch.

I used to tow my H16 with an '86 S10 2.3L. I then switched to a VW Passat 1.8L turbo. It was a huge improvement. But, when I bought my TheMightyHobie18 I noticed that the entire hull stuck out past my car. It kills my milage, but it tows very well.

It sound like you may have gotten a lemon.

It's very possible that it was past its prime. I have know idea how old it was. Just that I hated it. I'm hoping this spring I'll have the money to have a custom trailer built from aluminum. The frame alone is going to run about $1500 to have built. I'm going to use some composite decking, (like they use on houses), that I got for free under the boat and on the angled parts of the tounge for extra storage. A torsion axle which should make it ride quite nicely. And LED lights all around. I'm hoping it stays under $2500. Everytime I think I can have it built something comes up and I can't afford it.

Trailex trailers do seem to have softer springs. I have seen that on our trailers here. Steel trailers ride a bit stiffer and can jar the boat down the road. The Trailex is a softer ride and likely easier on the boat.

As far as side to side sway... Weight forward makes a better ride on all trailers. They say 60% of the load forward of the Axel. Heavier tongues are good.

in my extensive towing expirence anything with a shorter wheelbase will cause a trailer to

fishtail

the heavier the load the worse the sway, also if the loaded traier is significantly undersized for the vehicle then it will sway too. so the 3/4 ton was too big and the s10 was too small, think of Goldylocks here people the correct vehicle for the load is key, for example never use a 1989 Full size Ford Bronco to haul a 16 foot flat bed trailer with a skidloader and 3 tons of pea rocks!!!

Heavy loads on trailers, especially when too far aft on the trailer, are a problem. Most cats don't represent much of a load and if properly positioned on the trailer, they will only add drag. They would hardly be noticed.

We have a guy here that used to tow his Hobie 20 with an old MG. No problem.

Bigger vehicles... no problem.

It is mostly a poorly positioned load that causes problems.

I never really had much weight on the trailer. Box on the tounge for gear, a sailtube running the lenght of the trailer, and a cat-trax. As far as tow vehicles go, a 300hp, 560 ft/lb diesel pickup is a bit of overkill. But I can pull that skidloader no problem. My other vehicle is an 84' fiero. It's like driving a skateboard I don't even want to think of the consequences on a windy day towing the boat with that. I used to strap the mast crutch to the bow tangs to keep that from swaying too much also. I will say this, I pulled that trailer 2800 miles round trip to S. Padre and didn't have anything go wrong, except for running outta gas once in Iowa.

I know what you mean. The aluminum trailer frames twist more than steel. I too have used lines to the bows to keep the mast crutch from swaying back and forth. Allong with the softer springs, the whole thing can waggle around under tow.

If you are thinking about getting a custom aluminum trailer made, I would look at the Trailex again. I bought my trailer for and 18' cat for about $1300, unassembled. I added the aftermast stand and an aluminum box last year. I plan on adding teh composite decking down the road. All of this will be well under $2000 (if you get the decking for free, then it will be under $1500) including the LED's if I decide to add those. You will have the same issues with the custom trailer as you will with the Trailex. Plus, you will then have to worry about the welds failing. I am a fan of mechanical fasteners when I can use them.

I have been working with Trailex on a modification to my after mast stand this week. They have been extreamly helpful and the parts they sell are not bad on price. I told them what I wanted to do and they found the components for me. It's much easier to buy them from Trailex than to make them myself.

Just some food for thought.

Just some food for thought.

Aluminum when welded

should

be much more rigid than steel all said and done. I'm having it way overbuilt also. The tounge is going to run the lenght of the trailer, (like on the larger trailex), it will be .25

wall, 2

x4

. The rest will be same dimension just .125

wall. I've got so much bracing planned into it it's silly. Plus the trailer alone will be just over 20' long. I'm hoping that will add some stability with a longer wheelbase. My experince with other trailers, car, skidloader, enclosed etc. tells me I should have a torsion axle. Plus I have some cut-offs from comp tip refits for the mast crutch. How cool is that? I know its probably stupid to spend that kind of money on a cat trailer but I'm single, no kids, do fairly well financially, so why not. Fool and his money......what?

I remember those days... So far I only have a wife who, for now, loves the cat. I'm trying to buy all of my toys before we have kids. At least I should have a chance to keep them (I may be way off on that one).

Post some pics when it's done.