SS930

I still to this day can't for the life of me understand why anyone would build a marine trailer out of steel. It obviously rots, weighs more, and limits the resale of the boat/trailer since over 2/3s of the boaters in the US will use it in saltwater.

As I told you in your other thread, you're looking at 3-4K to do what you want to do. Honestly, I'd sell it for whatever you can get for it and buy another one made out of aluminum. You can find them new and used and this would be money better spent IMO. Plus you wont be doing it all over in another few years, and the resale will be better.

Just my 2 cents.

tman

iTrader: (1)

Because steel looks better,tows better. and almost everyone buying used would like a fresh water boat.

davidmercury

I agree with that, even though my trailer weighs in at over 2 tons, it is a skater trailer, solid, and looks really good with the boat.

SS930

Steel certainly doesn't look better when it's rusted!!! In fact, it sounds like the OP is going to have to dump significant money into making has steel trailer look good again... and he'll have to do it again and again to keep it looking good over a period of time.

And while it's more rigid, I dont think it tows all that much better. In fact, I find the lighter weight of aluminum to more than makes up for that small difference in rigidity when it comes to pulling it down the road. Why pull 1000-2000 extra pounds down the road??? Furthermore, a well built aluminum trailer is PLENTY rigid for towing a boat. I've never seen or heard of anyone being stuck on the side of the road because their trailer was aluminum.

While almost anyone buying used would indeed like a fresh water boat, over two thirds of the potential buyers out there have no desire to own a steel trailer since they boat in salt water. Meaning the boat being sold with a steel trailer is less valuable to the majority of the potential buyers since they will have to replace the trailer when they buy the boat... $$$ I know I for one have passed on more than one boat because of the cost to replacement the steel trailer when there was another similar option that already had the aluminum trailer with the boat. Why limit your boat to potential buyers for no good reason?

A steel trailer is not only prone to rusting and looking like crap, but it's also heavier, and reduces resale value of your boat/trailer package when it comes time to sell it.

Just my 2 cents.

cig92

most people aren't buying the trailer, they are buying the boat that comes on the trailer. a nice trailer is just a plus. i don't think he is to concerned about the resale value, just wants to paint his trailer and get it looking good going down the road. most people are not looking to spend 18k on a new aluminum myco either. yes a steel trailer tows a little nicer going down the road, i have boat and would much rather pull the one with the steel trailer.

James

Soda blasting looks nice on Saturday morning TV car shows, but is not the best for blast cleaning a steel trailer. Blast clean using a 30/60 Black beauty or any hard abrasive that is 60 grit or finer and blast with 120 PSI at the nozzle. Resulting blast profile/ surface roughness should be 1.25 - 1.75 mils in depth with this combination. If this is a salt water boat or exposed to salts first steam clean/ power wash before blasting, then use salt away or equal to be sure salts have been removed before blasting. Blasted finish should be a uniform light gray color. Depending on use and trailer construction prime with a zinc rich primer with 60% + zinc by weight, if the trailer is simple in construction you can skip the zinc and use a polyamide epoxy applied @ 4-5 mils Dry film thickness, with double passes on welds and overlapping areas. Finish color coat will be a aliphatic polyurethane, Dupont Imron or equal. You will not find the zinc at an automotive paint store. Epoxy applied at this thickness is also best purchased at an industrial paint supplier, top coat will be 1/2 price at an industrial paint supplier, but the automotive stuff always lay out with less orange peel.

paint brand is not important, basic specifications are very important. When your tax dollars re-paint a ship or bridge this is what is used for long term protection and color and gloss retention. You will have $ 500.00 in paint materials, $ 1,000.00 in blasting and ??? $ 1,000 - $ 1,500.00 in paint labor as a target price and the poor bastard doing the work will make 2 cents . You will then have to also replace lights, brake lines bearings etc...

One poster talked about the tube - very important. grind or blast several areas clean and find a local welder that has a NDT non destructive tester for "wall thickens" . This electronic tool can quickly tell you how thick the steel is. Rule of thumb is if you lost 25% of wall thickness it is time to replace.

wananewboat

I saw a used 36 aluminum in the classifieds for only $3900.