To Upgrade My Trailer or Not
 

Ok, I have been kicking around the idea of upgrading the trailer for my Donzi. I have a decent aluminum Loadmaster under it now but because I store it on the trailer and when I do tow it is long distance, I would like the security and solidity of a C-channel trailer custom fit for the boat.

That said, who has what and can give some feedback on their Myco, Manning, Etc. Pros/Cons, prices, Etc.

I am definitely looking for a welded aluminum trailer, with a drive guard, LED lights, spare tires, Etc.

Also, what do you think a real world price would be for my 2003 Loadmaster w/ Aluminum wheels, torsion axles, dual spares, all recently gone through and in very good shape?

Tom talk to wrinkleface about his new Myco and even go read his thread. Myco should have fixxed his problems long ago but they are not stepping up to the plate on this one. Bunch of BS on a brand new trailer.

I've had my personal 37AT on both types of trailers, aluminum bolt together I-beam and now a Myco welded C-channel. The bolt together trailer offers no pro other than cost and a slight weight advantage. The Myco is built laser straight, and you can tell this by watching the tire wear over time.

I've also loaded dozens of 37ATs on dozens of trailers. The Myco wins hands down. It loads right, every time. The bunk trailers have a tendency to miss on the back of the boat, and the boat lands off the designated chine/contact point. I've never had this happen on a Myco. EoH brakes is a must, even though Tracy is having issues with his.

Your trailer is worth at least $3000.

Thanks Brian.
When my Friend Bob owned Typhoon Performance Marine, they were a Donzi/Cigarette/Baja dealer and they worked with many different trailers. As you said Myco's were always top notch, but they also got real nice stuff from Manning. Seemed that most of the high end Donzis went out on them.

Ok, aside from Tracy's brake problems, there is no other feedback, information, or prices people can give me?

I guess what I am curious about is:

1. Real world "out the door" prices
2. Other manufacturers that I may not be thinking about
3. Long term ownership issues/problems

I know Myco is "king" and respect their product 110%.
I also know that there are a couple others equal or almost equally as good.

Just ordered a loadmaster bridged c-channel in painted steel. Triple axle, upgraded wheels, led, dual jacks.. $12k new. That's steel though, but just to give an idea of price difference.

I have 3 friends that ordered brand new Mannings, under 32 Sunny Dominator, 32 Sunny SS, and a 33AT.

I would say Manning's trailers are 98% of Myco's.
What's the other 2% you ask?

I don't like the bow stand as much on the Manning. They used wood blocks covered in carpet vs. the soft grey poly used on Myco. Also, the winch stand on one of the Sunny trailers rusted up within a few months and had to be blasted and repainted.

From what I am told, Manning is somewhere around 85-90% of the price of Myco on comparable trailers.

McClain also builds a welded aluminum C-channel trailer, but IMHO, they have a ways to go to compete with Myco and Manning in quality. A friend has one under a 37AT, and it's had to have some welds redone and reinforced, that looked less than stellar when the trailer was new even. I had a bolted together I-beam aluminum trailer from McClain which came under my boat. It was a LOT better than my Rocket trailer from years ago (Rocket is truly bottom of the barrel), but it was similar in quality to the rest of the bolt together trailers. That said, I REALLY like my Myco.

Also, Myco will build you an Aluminum C-channel trailer that is sanded, prepped, primed, and painted; and looks as good or better than a steel trailer, being painted to match your boat. That there is some high dollar add to the cost of the trailer. I do believe Manning will do the same for you.

When you start to nickel and dime the trailer manufacturers together in a bidding war, they are going to have to skimp somewhere to be competitive. The quality of the lights installed, the number of cross beams, thickness of cross beams, wheel and tire "caliber" are all things that can be ratcheted up and down, often without the consumer noticing until long after delivery.

When I am consulting someone who is buying a boat from AT, and they ask me about trailers...
1) I only recommend aluminum for weight, longevity, and resale audience.
2) I relate it purchasing tools:

You've got Snap-On and Craftsman at the top of the list. {Myco and Manning}
You've got Wal*Mart and Harbor Freight at the bottom of the list. {Rocket at the bottom, and the rest of the bolt-together aluminum trailers start from there and go up.}

When I bought my Manning it was almost 1/2 what Myco wanted. Very happy with it had to do a real fast stop Friday coming down a mountain and had a tractor trailer jackknife right next to me. Trailer stayed strait and did not sway, glad I had "too much" truck.

Love my Manning, but have to agree w Sydwayz-- the bow stop needs better design.

If you decide to sell your trailer I would be interested in talking to you about it. I need something to handle a 39'.

Thanks guys.

Great info so far!

The welded trailers can and will crack. There are plenty of posts about it and even more posts that were deleted about it.

I'd have a hard time selling a perfectly good trailer to upgrade to a new one. Do your research, they aren't necessarily better.

We ordered a Myco for our Hydra-Sports 3300vx fish boat a couple years ago. Welded aluminum, triple torsion axles, EOH brakes, LED lights, Kodak s-cad discs, aluminum wheels was around $15k out the door with tax.

Welded trailers are night and day better than bolt together I-beam, anyone that says otherwise must haven't experienced the difference yet. Some things to note with Myco, do not put the crap chrome plated steel axle covers on as they rust immediately and hold water. Also, they have to be towed perfectly level due to the torsion axles. The Hydra-Sports is at the upper end of the trailer capacity and if your tow ball isn't high enough you will overload the front axle and blow through tires. Experienced this when I used the ball mount I normally tow my Velocity with while towing the HS to Islamorada a couple weeks ago. I have a 2012 Ram 3500 mega cab with air suspension on the rear and even though my truck wasn't sagging at all, after blowing two tires I measured the beam height at ball and rear of trailer and there was a 5" difference. The weight distributing ball mount I usually use with the Myco wouldn't slide all the way in the receiver on my new truck, so I just used my other one...still rated at 16,000 lbs. Big mistake as the ball height was different enough I guess. After changing one of the blowouts with the nice State Farm road assistance guy I had the same wheel (port front) break all 8 lugs off and fall off the trailer going 60mph. The trailer pulled straight as an arrow while I slowed down and watch the wheel roll past me. Now I don't know why the lugs sheared off, but guess they were either over-tightened at some point or the wheel wasn't fully seated properly when the SF guy changed it.

What would I do differently? 1. Go full stainless with the brakes, you'll spend the money replacing the rusted s-cads anyway. 2. Use ceramic brake pads, the metallic ones disintegrate after repeated dunks in salt. 3. Tell Myco to carefully separate the paired wire they use on the trailer. The only other problem I've had was with the lights due to corrosion on the wire. Sometimes when they pull the paired wire apart one side will pull all the plastic sheeting off the other. This leaves exposed wire that corrodes quickly and eventually fails. Took me a while to find the problem because all my connections were good.

The boat loads perfectly on it and the weight is distributed much better on the hull than on I-beam trailers.

I have no experience with Manning so can't comment on those.