What winch is that? I am needing a new one and that one looks HD.

Myco better watch out!!!!!

Noli, As soon as i mount the fenders, they are just sitting there in the picture.. Thanks Ron, i will take a picture of the winch. I welded the handle on. Sometimes they come up missing at the ramp?

Awesome work Kirk!!! So do you feel like tackling an aluminum (possibly steel hybrid) gooseneck or 5th wheel trailer for my 46 Cig??? :D

I have completed the project now. Here you go.

Completed.

I also installed Air Tite hub kits to the hubs. They work great..Few more pictures, now off the St John's River for the weekend to run with"High Risk".

That looks great, and you have a beautiful boat as well.

Pics look better than the text pics I got!! You did a heck of job Jim! Get the sharkhide on it before it gets wet!

Absolutely incredible. Completely jealous of the skills!

Jim,

the trailer looks great! Looks very strong for the boat she's carrying.

excellent clearance too!




Noli

Thanks for all the compliments, it was fun to build.

I notice you don't have a bow stopper. Is there reason why not ? I see the strap on the bow going towards that back.

A bow stop moves up and down against the aluminum rub rail on a Skater creating wear marks. To me that looks bad. The strap stops the hull in the correct location each time. I did not see any bow stops on cats in the race pits in Sarasota. My previous trailer had none also.

Here is a new fairing pad I had made to change the dash look.

My factory Skater trailer does not have one either. Just use the straps like Jim

Oh okay. Our Skater trailer has one. Like the fairing pad.

I fabricated a bow stop out of aluminum and added it to my trailer to serve as a point of reference when loading and to offer another level of safety when towing. I position the boat approx. 1" from the stop to keep the "rubbing" from happening and to allow the cover to fit around the front of the boat.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]529480[/ATTACH]

Trailer towed great, can not tell it's back there. Had a great run with High Risk.

I tried to get Double Rigged to trailer north a few miles, but he wanted to stay in the South a Florida RAIN. :)

You skater guys are all the same. Just a few miles/MPH. More like 400 or so!!!!
Mama always said I did not have a enough sense to come out of the rain!
Made progress on motors today....

.



ZP,

I see that you used C-Channel beams for this build.

Would an aluminum Box-Tube beam also be an option on your trailer builds?







< C-Channel >
http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/.../C_channel.jpg


< Box Tube and I-beam >

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/..._andI_beam.jpg

The trailer looks great ZP. Good job.

I like the fairing too. I'm Shocked you added that 20 lbs though.:D

Tell us about the 32 "High Risk". How does she run with the X's? How does she stack up to the 28?

High Risk is a cool boat, likes rough over smooth. Runs 92-94. Great history.
High Risk will be the Stock Class Pace Boat at the Key West Worlds in November, with the original owner at the wheel.
I tried the Aero Marine windshield. It left holes when I removed it, so the fairing pad was fabricated.

What didn't you like about the windshield? Just curious. Thanks. Awesome 28' btw

The problem I have with box tube is it can hold water unless it's sealed and pressurized (which will leak in time). The C and I main beams can also make it easier to fabricate and build the substructure with.

where did you buy the axles from?

http://www.rockwellamerican.com/
Quality Trailer Products, they have centers all over. The axles are special order, galvanized, long stud, 5200 lb., torsion, galv. Hubs, that take 3 weeks to get.

Do you have any cut sheet/plans for this build? I'm looking into a 28 and also would like to buildmy own trailer as well./

No, I just measure the hull and design my own. Here is a picture of my Cigarette trailer I built also. You can see similarities to the Skater Trailer.

same here, i use those guys and they have pretty good stuff. I get manufacturers pricing but it still takes three weeks min. I think pretty much any more all marine axles are custom build/order. Just got three 3500 pound torsions with brakes from them to spec delivered for under a grand.



Looking at the aluminum trailer above, is it me or does it seem like not a good idea welding it together like that. Dont the flex to much for that? Just curious but i figured thats why you never see them, they are always heavy I beam entirely bolted together.

.

I'm really impressed with my steel trailer. quiet and doesn't squeak unlike a bolted-together aluminum trailer

drives straight and can handle 18,000 lbs of anything

right now she's only holding 2,700 lbs but that will soon change --> http://www.offshoreonly.com/classifi...o58887-en.html


Ameratrail builds a lot of welded C-channel trailers and tube trailers. then powder coats it to any color you want

powder coat I hear lasts 5 years. Then the trailer needs another sand blasting and powder coating

curious now also if anyone has had welds come off of their welded alum trailer


http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/...ail/Amera1.jpg

We live in Florida, so a steel trailer is a lot of work to maintain every other year. I believe any weld could fail if not preped correctly, and or welded at the correct temperature with the correct filler alloy. If the structural design is not correct then stress can fail a weld also. I build my own equipment and take great care to overbuild. I use the "when in doubt- make it stout" philosophy. My Cigarette trailer is now 7 years old, and has about 14 k miles on it. It still looks great, and has never had a failure. The Skater trailer will also last a very long time.

Any coating on aluminum is temporary, just soak it in salt water to remove.

i just looked back at the previous pics of it, the welds do look nice. I had never seen one welded which is why i asked, i suppose maybe its a cost issue when building when aluminum trailers as to why we dont see them more often. Was purely out of curiosity and to maybe enlighten myself, looks good.