Info on Tilt trailers
 

Looking at tilt trailers for my Nor-tech. Want to know pros and cons from people that have them or have had them? Thanks

I have not owned one but did some research. They are very heavy and very expensive. Salt water is hard on them like any steel trailer. You will need a large truck to pull one such as a midsize. The boat will need to be dry sump engines or you will need to drain the oil each time on a wet sump. The gas tanks need to be vented to the high side. More bow eyes need to be added in the tunnel to hold the boat in place. The drives should be strapped to keep centered.
They look badazz and attract a lot of attention. You are legal width.

Just get the "oversize" banner and permits to the states you tow to. What truck do you have?

I am curious about the oversize laws and fees. Especially going from the midwest to loto or florida

When I got my boat it was on a tilt. After a month I had to get an aluminum as well. The tilt can not be put in salt water. The bunks are so high you need to have a very long ramp with deep water to launch it. It is very heavy and you need a big truck to pulll it.

The positives are:
You don't need wide load permits. It looks very cool.

If your going to get a tilt you should probably find a flat trailer as well if you use the boat locally.

Brad pretty much summed it up.

However I know Pure Platinum's tilt trailer (and others I know of) is dunked in saltwater all the time... and the bunks arent any higher than a standard trailer, and it goes in about every normal ramp. Never any problems that I know of...

Make sure you get one that allows you to pull flat as well. Some of them dont allow for the boat to be supported properly for towing when flat. You will find that you dont want to tilt all the time... its a little more effort to get it tilted up (moving everything inside the boat to one side, extra straps, oil line valves, cant get in and out of it, ect.). Not really a big deal, but sometimes you dont want to do all that just for a short pull.

They are heavy, and the upright boat acts like a wind sail on the highway when its windy, so you'll want a stout truck to pull it.

Overall though, they look amazing! Theres really nothing that makes a statement more than a big cat pullin into the poker run up on its side! Plus no overwidth, and visibility is much better in the mirrors.

I would just make sure you do your research on which trailer you buy... some are much better than others.

I spoke to Tobin at Heritage trailers this morning about parts for my trailer (flat tow). During our talk he mentioned they are now building their steel trailers completly sealed and "charged" to make them more rust resisitent. They were currently working on a tilt one.

Sounded intriging.

My tilt has been dunked in salt many times with no problems.You have to be diligent in giving the trailer a good thourough wash down as you would do on any steel trailer.My trailer has a hydraulic ,remote operated control to raise the front up and drop the rear for shallow ramp launching or for going up or down steep driveways.
You can call Paul Lugo @ 951-206-5939 for more info .

Salt water is not a problem. Also it's not only about being over width as much as the boat is much more safely manuvered in tight places when it is tilted. Here is our facebook page and YouTube video on the custom trailers we build :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjRuZ1UJ0eo

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fontan...1506312?ref=ts

Paul Lugo 951 206-5939

That is one nice setup!

Have you built one for the big boats?
46 feet 12 wide 14000#,s

i put mine in salt a bunch of times

I have a brand new Heritage for sale, 5th wheel set up, hold up to a 44 foot boat. Extremely nice trailer, I have owned an American as well, but the Heritage seems to be much nicer.

Randy Kent 913-908-7223

Looks like they built one according to the facebook page:drink:

Aj do you have to do any extra maintance to your trailer after dunking it in the salt?

Just beacause you put the trailers in salt water does not make it ok. The trailers mentioned above are a couple of years old at most. Lets see how they look when they are 5 or 6. The problem is not the the outside of the rails. The salt water gets inside the rails and they rust from the inside out. The outside of the trailers are primed and painted. They get washed off regulary as well as get rained on. Unless the entire trailer is sealed (most are not) the salt water gets trapped and there is no way to clean the salt off. The inside if the rails are not painted or protected.

If it's a steel trailer tilt or flat and it does not have sealed rails, it dosen't matter whos trailer it is, it will rust from the inside out over time. That is why they are making sealed trailers and aluminum tilt trailers.

Hey Randy,
PM me the info. I'm looking for a nice used tilt for another project.

I love your trailer! It's proabaly one of the nicest I have seen!!

Thanks for all your input. I have a brand new full size Freightliner Toterhome to pull it with so that won't be an issue. I was just wondering if anybody ever had problems with them. Sounds like people that have them love em. I already have a myco under it, so this would just be for road trips. I will give you guys a call that have them for sale. I have been talkin with American tilt trailers seem to have a good name from what I have heard. But would be nice to buy one out west a little closer to home.

I would never own a big cat without a tilt trailer, I have a american and it pulls and works like a dream.

HE is building mike fuscos new 46 skater with a 4, bustel that is 12 wide.

Thanks Gino.See you at desert storm.GARY

He will be happy but if i was buying a new tilt it would most likely be a skater tilt.

tow it flat, buy some permits, use the extra cash for some bigger power. LOL

I got to crawl around Bob Teagues Skater while it was on the trailer and he gave a little demo of how the trailer works. It's a Skater trailer and it is bad azz!! The whole set up rides on air bags allowing the trailer to raise and lower via an on-board compressor and allows the boat to sit further down on the trailer due to no axles.

I've also seen Garys trailer that "Predator" rides on. Built by Paul Lugo (LUGOMFG), it is definately a master piece. Paul has been building car trailers and dealing with hydrolics for many years.

One thing to remember, if you do go tilt you have to re-rig some items on your boat to accomodate (i.e. fluids).

Thanks for the pics. Those trailers are bad azz.

The Predator trailer looks very low to the ground. Does he get hung up on railroad crossings or driveway entrances? I used to have a 35 boat with a low trailer that would get hung up on the crest of launch ramps.

You have a tilt trailer for your bowrider?

Aside from salt water issues the fact that it has a hydraulic
tongue is huge. I am currently 81 feet long and believe me the trailer
will hang on some ramps.
Pressurizing the rails with nitrogen would help the corrosion factor.

I would love to see Fuscos new setup:drink:

It has 17.5 tires and the bottom of the sponson sits 1" above the fender. With the hydraulic tongue,i never get stuck or have a problem launching.
Knot right-email paul and he can send you some pictures of fuscos trailer.

As Gary says, we are building a tilt trailer for Mike Fusco's Skater 46 which actually measures 49'-6" OAL. The trailer will have our own newly designed fully independant air ride suspension. We are also working on using the main structural frame members for fuel tanks which will have about 200 gallons capacity. About rust on the inside of the tubing LubeJobs42's response is correct. What we do is seal weld all tubing joints and pressure check for leaks. This ensures that water cannot get into the inside.
Paul Lugo

Lets see some pictures of the 46 trailer, im curious how it turned out.

Tom

How much do one of these tilt trailers for a 40' boat weigh?

10,000-13,000 lbs.

wow thats heavy.

Your trailer is awesome in person!


Lugo really makes a great looking trailer!

So would the customer. It's been 4 years in the making. 4 years of excuses and it's still not finished. Over Time and over Budget. Rumor is the customer had to buy the tires and wheels twice as another customer has got them on his 300 k mti trailer. . Depth of engineering seems to be an issue and it's taking forever to figure out the issues:poopoo:

The 52' Skater @ the Miami boat show - did Peter build that tilt trailer in house or is it from another company?

What's the issue with the over 40' engineering on the tilts - Geometry vs beam or ?????? Tborisch's Mystic was severly chaffed and Predator tilts like glass... I know it's two different trailer companies but is the Beam the complicating factor?

Yes, built by skater. It's not quite legal as its over length.. But that's not an issue really. Hight and width are what they watch for.

The only company that makes an "excellent" problem free tilt trailer is skater. My American trailer that tore up the mystic is working right finally. After 5 trips back to the factory. Now it looks like a scabbed together mess.

Skater could build a tilt for it, but the 12'3" beam would mean it would have to be over width or length to work, and still be usable.

Tom

Tom-you have been drinking Peters koolaid.The lugo tilts are far more engineered and offer more options than the skater trailer.Not only is the 52 overlength but it is overheight at 13'8.If it would have had the slide to it whereas it slides down lower between the wheelwells,It would have been under the 13'6 max height.

The 46 tilt you are refering to was over budget but Lugo stepped up and absorbed it.The tire "RUMOR' is untrue.This trailer has had tons of extras added to the original quote like gas tanks ,generator,water wash down tanks,led lighting,larger storage ect.The owner has been unreachable for 6 months at a time and quite frankly was not in a hurry.Ask Skater how long the boat has sat at their shop (started in 2006).The owner takes a long time to make decisions and that is okay because he wants it perfect.The trailer is now complete and should be leaving this next week or when ever the owner sends a truck to pick it up.I have seen it and it truly is a work of art -no other one like it.