Manning Trailers
 

Has anyone had a trailer built by them? What was your experience? I'm considering them for the new boat. Any help would be appreciated.

They built the one for the SCARAB34. It was a steel trailer and I was happy with it.
I had them build an aluminum one for my 26Daytona and I am real happy with that one also.

Had one built recently. Good people to deal with and delivered as promised. Aluminum build and I went with the dual spares with 1 of the spares fully loaded containing rotor, bearings, etc.. Also had them custom build some transom strap mounts with inner bias to keep load off of the tabs, they now will do the same if you ask for them. After build was completed and boat loaded I did have them make 1 adjustment with the bow stop "V" and winch heights. Nothing big just wanted more beak clearance from the winch strap (too high) and the v blocks were a bit high so swapped out a shorter "V" block bow stop assembly. Quality and option choices are very good, the trailer pulls true and smooth. I shopped them against Myco and Loadmaster, we have also owned Eagle and I would say Manning is a great choice. I would contract them again. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...3235941a2b.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...11bd1d3a7c.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...271f876d56.jpg

At Manning before pick-up
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...f238235f70.jpg

Custom transom strap mounts

I had them build one for my 31Sonic. Aluminum. Tows and loads great. On time with delivery date as well.

I have one under the Cig. Has been a good trailer. 2 spares and tool box. Tool box was Junk I will say. If you do there just have them install mounts then get nice box.

VooDoo- I really like those transom strap mounts. That is one complaint where the tie downs are currently on mine the straps hit tabs. I might have to retro some of those.

I had one built for my 42 Hypersonic Great quality, Great people. I loaded mine up, Aluminum, Spares, Tool Box ,Drive Guard, and probably the best option, a bow ladder.
My 39 Cig Gts came with an aluminum Myco, and honestly, I can't tell the difference in quality. Manning was a much better value.

They are one of the top 3 builders that I would consider for top of the line welded aluminum trailers. And I would only build/buy/want an aluminum welded trailer.
Myco Manning Evolution

I have had 2, a steel for my 35 Fountain and an aluminum for my 33 Renegade, both were very nice trailers. I have a Myco under my Nor-tech now, only because i got a used but never in the water one for a great deal. Welds are finished nicer on the Myco but if I was buying a new trailer i would get the Manning based on price, then quality.

Can I suggest checking out Broward Trailers (Google Broward Trailer). We build the absolute best all-welded steel and aluminum trailers around. We build our famous line of gooseneck trailers and tagalong (bumper pull) trailers in all sizes and configurations

What boat are you looking for a trailer for? If you'd like to contact me tomorrow at 800-517-5508 we can discuss your requirements.

Jim Nall
President
Broward Trailer Co., Inc
www.browardtrailer.net

...and Broward Trailer

Nice trailer. Except the tie wraps for the brake lines on the axles, surely there is a better way.

One more post and I'll actually be able to post pictures, lol...

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...496a2e6e55.jpg

Broward Trailer for Statement 380 #browardtrailer

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...591a45f4b2.jpg

Broward Trailer for Statement 380 #browardtrailer

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...eddccbc3c4.jpg

Broward Trailer for Statement 380 #browardtrailer

I had a aluminum built for my 400SS. Its a gooseneck. It pulls great and actually stops. Im at 32K combined gross. My only issue is the fit. It carried the boat well but the bunk placement could be a bit better. I think this laser fit that others advertise may be the thing of the future. Manning is family owned-operated builder. Really great folks.

Whats the owners name of Manning " I forgot " I need to call him

Thank's
mike

Matt

Broward Trailer is the only company I am aware of that employs Laser Hull Scanning Technology to perfectly map the bottom of a boat. This assures that the bunks on our trailer fit your boat perfectly every time! You can read more about this technology by clicking here

Many boat manufacturers are hesitant to release 3D CAD files for their hulls so it became necessary for us to come up with a better way to accurately map the bottom of these boats (some with 2, 3 and 4 steps, various deadrises, etc) than laying underneath them and measuring which is highly innacurate.

Your trailers look nice, I'm sure they are quality and you have designed attributes to set your company apart. The OP asked about Manning trailers and now your turning this into a broken thread for someone looking into that brand.

He paid up as a commercial member, I am sure he will figure out the customs around here. :drink:

I think all the name brand trailer mfr's probably build a quality trailer because they have to; with the 'net and social media it's literally "oops" at the speed of light today.

Manning has a hydraulic lift for our 43 almost done and I gave them a deposit today for a new trailer to replace a 43' Myco.

The reason I chose to spend my $$ with Manning? Last summer my Myco needed some TLC (it's got some age and has literally been all over the country) and not only were they great to deal with but when I asked "Should that really have done that?" he said "Yeah, stuff happens, I might have done a couple of things a little different but Myco builds a good trailer". I thought that was pretty classy....perfect opportunity to throw rocks at a competitor and instead said "they build a good trailer".

I had done my homework and thought I knew exactly what I wanted on my new trailer. I sat down with Roland (I believe he's the owner & Matt is his son) and after we went over my list he said "We can do that, but if it was mine this is how I'd build it" and then he walked me around their shop and showed my several trailers in various stages of construction and explained his thought process on everything he suggested to me.

Just my .02, but I think that's what you pay for; the experience and personal service. They don't have a fancy website, aren't slick suit & tie salespeople, and don't have a huge hi-tech shop but I don't care about any of that. If that stuff is important to you, you might not make the same decision I did. Competition and choices are a great thing for the consumer. I looked at several trailers, liked what I saw and heard, and left confident they could build us a nice trailer. The fact that they're only a few miles from me is a bonus. They're also just up the street from Perrin Brewery; I'm thinking I'll be using "gonna go check on my trailer" quite a bit in the near future and, since I've got to go right past Perrin to get there........ :)

Call around. Ask questions. Spend your money where you feel the most comfortable.

Cheers

d

Almost forgot - if anyone is looking for a deal on a 32' v-bottom trailer, give them a shout, they just took one in on trade.

Thank you , waiting to hear back from him now

mike

VoodooRob, if you will notice about 3-4 posts above my post regarding laser scanning capability "fossil fuel" stated " I think this laser fit that others advertise may be the thing of the future" . So, am I not going to say something?? Not hardly. Broward Trailer is the only company doing it, it's the greatest innovation in trailer building ever and I do not want anyone to think that Manning, Myco, Evolution, etc. have that capability. We produce the best fitting trailers because of our laser scanning technology.

Its a great thing to participate in a forum and be proud of your business and accomplishments. As with anything constraint and tact should be taken into consideration when repping your company. You turned this thread into a Broward Trailer hey look at me thread. How many posts do you need to make on a MANNING TRAILER thread? A response is fine and welcomed but count them on this thread, you were not asked anything but decided to turn this into an ad for YOUR business. What would you think if Matt Manning came on a Broward Trailer thread and posted numerous times about his business? Not classy.

My wife and I recently ordered a new boat to be built, a cabin cruiser this time. I sent RFQ's with very detailed info on how I wanted it priced/ options to price to Myco, Manning, Evolution, and Broward. Evolution declined, as they didn't want to get into a custom one off trailer (I needed to keep my overall height as low as possible). Myco and Broward were significantly more expensive than Manning, and I was leaning towards Manning. However, my past relationship with Myco (We have built 5 trailers/ 2 cradles with them) as well as getting a significant discount due to being return customers time after time led to my decision to go with another Myco. All are good brands, so you cant go wrong. Myco being in Florida vs Manning up in Michigan made it more convenient too, as we have a vacation home an hour from the Myco factory. I also believe you do get what you pay for and the fit and finish will be a bit better with Myco than Manning from what I have seen. I have not seen a Broward in person, but from pictures they appear to also have a level of fit and finish superior to Manning.

Very happy with my Manning. Matt Manning is a good guy. Would pick up the phone whenever I needed to talk with him, Delivered my trailer right on time. Went with some upgrades such as 110 psi tires and 8 lug wheels. Talked to Broward. Nearly twice the price. Can't imagine that it's twice the trailer. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...030b32eba3.jpg

Geeze im still waiting for a call back from Mat " got it All good "

Interesting...I really do not remember ever quoting a trailer for a boat this small. We usually tell people we are not even remotely competitive for boats under 30'

Anecdotal review of an OLD Manning trailer for reference:

I have a 1999/2000 vintage Manning trailer under my 380 Powerquest. It is showing its age due to neglect from previous owner and needs to be blasted and painted along with new brakes. Now, I have yet to see a nearly 20 year old trailer that doesn't need some love. For its age and level of neglect, the trailer is actually in decent shape that considered. It is holding up FAR better than the 2002 Eagle I had under previous boat that was a total garage queen.

It is an extremely well built and probably the best balanced trailer I have ever towed. I used a 2015 lease 1500 silverado to pull it for short jaunts around the flatlands here. I don't think that undersized truck would have handled nearly as well if the trailer wasn't as well built and balanced.

Only issue I had was replacing bunks. Manning used countersunk torx socket head bolts into tapped holes in steel bunk pads. I ended up having to chip the damaged bunk into pieces then grind the bolts off, drill new holes, and lag bolt replacement bunk from underneath. That being said, there was no hint of looseness to the bolts or bunks that's for sure. Once again, lasted 18 years. Only had to replace 6 of the 14 bunks.

If I had the money, I would send the trailer to Manning to be restored in a heartbeat. I have had a few discussions with Matt through Facebook and he was always reasonably responsive. I consider it a very quality trailer.

Shopped around for a trailer for my Top Gun back in 2014 - Myco was about 10k more than the price that Manning quoted me. Went with a painted steel trailer with some options. Dont use their tool box, its cheap. Was extremely happy with the trailer and they gave me a decent trade on my old trailer.

Thank you everyone for the feedback. It does sound like there is quite a bit of support for Manning. I will reach out to Broward, however, as they stated for smaller trailers, they are not as competitive and I'm having a Sea Vee 29 built.
Anyway, the feedback is much appreciated. Thanks again.

LDIII

The first time I read this post I'd had a few adult beverages and thought "Did he really just say that? He really said "a boat this small" when talking about a potential customer's boat?"

About a Cigarette guy no less.... better off saying something about his mom... lol

Anyway....I figured I'd better come back when I wasn't under the influence of performance enhancers and re-read the post.

Did that & I still took it poorly and it's not even my boat.

It's great to be proud of and defend your product but I probably would have been a bit less condescending and said something on the order of "Due to the quality of our workmanship, materials, and the the hi tech nature of our measurement and assembly procedures, our pricing looks better vs our competitors as the trailer gets larger. We generally aren't as competitive - in terms of price - on boats 30' and under".

Why take a shot at the size of his boat?

If you spend much time here it should be at least semi-obvious that OSO isn't inundated with the kindergarten drama so prevalent on other boating forums.

I thought I had a gift of "open mouth, change feet" but damn, man.....makin' friends fast is all I can say.....

If OSO isn't inundated with "kindergarten drama" then why in the world did you just write a paragraph about this?

Apparently I'm not good at subtle.... let me use a little less filter.

Does "isn't inundated" mean "none" ? Not Hardly. (Yeah, the Duke's Jacob McCandles reply to Richard Boone's John Fain is one of my favorite movie quotes as well)

There is "some" drama here because boaters, especially performance boaters, tend to have egos and differing opinions about stuff. We're not as intense as soccer moms, but we can be passionate about whatever hits our hot button on any given day. However, the drama here is predominately good natured, almost never a "callout" or "shot" at another member, and from what I've seen is usually someone commenting in defense of someone else...sort of a "hey man, it's all cool but you might want to stay in your own lane". Wobble coming to your defense - and VoodooRob liking it - is exactly what I'm talking about. That's nowhere near the BS that other forums "enjoy".

Capisce? Or still too subtle ? OK....Here's the deal: VoodooRob lit you up a little bit for hijacking the OP's thread. Don't misunderstand; we all know OSO is a biz and takes $$ to maintain so we can all enjoy it. Nobody would have objected even a little bit your 1st very classy post. You're a commercial member, we all appreciate your money spent in support of the site. Wobble did the "it's all good, he'll figure it out" thing and VoodooRob graciously "liked" his post.

But you didn't quit...And then 28Cig made the comment he was happy with his Manning (it IS a Manning thread, after all) and that in comparison Broward was nearly twice the $$ of Manning when he was in the market & couldn't imagine Broward being twice the trailer.

You then admitted Broward is more competitively priced as the size of the trailer increases, but then threw what I perceived to be a shot at the size of his boat. A 28 Cig isn't exactly a 15' Bayliner. Even if it had been a 15' Bayliner ? If he wants to hang out here, good for him, at least he's boating and he doesn't need the comment about a "boat that small". I'm betting nearly all of us started in small boats. I thought, and still think, that was a ****ty thing to say. And...you're really expecting us to believe Broward has never gotten a quote request for a boat under 30'?

As I said, I read your post last after having a couple beers , reread it today, and thought "man, I'll bet he really didn't mean it to sound quite like that"

I used a smiley face, took a dig at Cig owners, and even mentioned my own propensity to end up with foot in mouth syndrome....all in attempt to convey the fact that my post wasn't meant so much as a shot as it was constructive criticism.

I threw a nice easy lob right over the center of the plate giving you the opportunity to hit it out of the park with a reply along the lines of "my bad, that didn't really come out right, what I meant to say was......."

And you whiffed.

So...my bad, my apologies, sorry I hurt your feelings.

We've got a place in Fl not all that far from you (my wife just sent me a pic of her and a girlfriend drinking my tequila on the beach as I write this...good tequila...and they're making margaritas with it...wtf) if I bump in to you down there I'll buy the first round.

d

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...9431cb406a.jpg

So after a lot of discussion i decided to go with Manning for Sea Vee 29 going into the mold in a few weeks. I picked the trailer up last week and I'm very pleased so far. Coming home to Md from Mi, I couldn't even tell there was a trailer behind me.

Congrats LDIII, great looking trailer. Hope to see it around MD this coming season. ...As far as the "J.A." from Broward....you can keep your trailers... All other trailer manufacturers will get my next trailer business before I would spend one nickel with you.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...0165c09a55.jpg
This is the trailer Manning built for me The wiring for the lights is not normally exposed like you see in the picture. This is a steel frame but is sealed and pressurized and this is simply where the wires had to go. After thinking about it for a while I'll probably run some stainless brake line or similar (maybe braided?) and route the wiring inside that. I did steel - at Manning's recommendation - for a couple reasons. It's a pretty good sized boat which occasionally gets run in salt water & we can put a lot of miles on the trailer. My previous - admittedly old - brand name aluminum trailer had developed several cracks; not from a manufacturing issue, but simply due to lots of flex over several years and miles. This trailer shouldn't flex - and crack - like aluminum, even after multiple trips from W. MI to CA. or FL. Pressurizing the frame should keep the water from the inside of the trailer and rusting.
I'll add that Manning was great to work with & after the season was over when we wanted a few things changed Ron and Matt just said "bring it down and show us what you want".
Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic

Oh geez...look at that...another NON "J.A." trailer pulling another small boat....guess they should get into the small boat market, eh? ....no I've not been drinking...because if I had I may call him a "D"head....

Gorgeous trailer and entire set up....CONGRATS !!!!

LOL

Thanks...we like our little boat a lot....

Ummmm.......A little late for me to respond but I asked you about a trailer for my 43 Scarab as seen in the above pic LOL.:picard1: