Sunfish Trailer

Hi Kendall ... You might want to save some money & have a look on Craigslist. There was a nice galvanized "jet ski/wave runner" trailer in Ft Lauderdale this week for $85 & a few more in the $150-$250 price range ... I've had one of those Harbor Freight trailers in the past & mine was poorly made & even with regular coats of Rustoleum paint it quickly had more rust than the Titanic
 
Hey Len, Im not sure if I want to buy it or not yet. Just wanted to get some reviews and show another option to anyone else on the forum looking for a new trailer. Also, did you submerge your trailer, I think that a sunfish is light enough that it can be picked up and put in the water. Than the trailer can trail (what it was designed to do) rust free.
 
The trailer I had was similar to the one in the picture you've shown. I got it from Harbor Freight. They are ideally suited for a heavier boat than a Sunfish & even though they aren't galvanized , they are also meant to be submerged ( you'd obviously have no choice launching a heavier boat ) ... I didn't submerge mine , I had a Seitech dolly on the trailer. It just rusted away regardless.
I always transported mine with the dolly on the trailer , or on a different trailer I made up a pair of plywood & fibreglass cradles for the trailer , which fitted the hull exactly.
I've heard of quite a few instances where people trailering a Sunfish on an unsuitable trailer , who have stuck a front trailer roller straight through the hull keel line .... ouch !
I've also seen lots trailered deck down.
 
I have this trailer, but I use it behind my Harley. I would not use it if you live in a humid environment (rust belt) and if you ever put it in the water while launching, you can the start the clock on tossing it away within a couple of years, like I said in other posts the frame is the worst metal I have ever seen.

If you can keep the trailer out of the weather under a carport or live in the desert like I do (New Mexico) and never put it in the water it would be ok. Also it has very stiff springs, so take out one extra leaf springs on each side and run about 18lbs air on the tires (for 12" tires).

I would not consider this trailer for a boat and would look for a used jetski trailer like the others said.
Erik
 
I have 2 sunfish. I bought a trailer for two jet skis and had them reposition the bunk boards for the sunfish. All I have to do is back the trailer into the water and pull both off the boards. No lifting. Works great. Others who have seen us launch have come over and commented on how great an idea it was. We love it.
 
I bought the trailer from Harbor Freight. Been using it for 2 years with no problem, always fully surmerged when launching boat. It comes as just the basics so you will have to add what you need such as winch, etc.
Springs work fine for normal paved roads. Have to slow down to 5mph for RR Tracks, Washboard dirt roads leading back to lakes and such to avoid bounce.
No problem with quality of steel but it is made in China so others may have not got the same quality steel I have. I live in Michigan but don't use it in the winter so I don't know how it would hold up in a salt enviroment. In short, I really like the trailer and use it a lot but then again, I'm willing to spent the extra money to add the equipment I need to it. Been using it for a Sunfish and 12 foot aluminum fishing boat.
 
I wrote a post about Harbor-Freight trailers a while back that you may want to look into... I had a pretty bad experience with HF and the trailer that you are looking at seems to be similar. Look for the post Stay away from this trailer
 
I was talking about the HF boat trailer and not the foldable HF trailer, Sorry! Personally, I can't see a reason to buy a HF fodable trailer. You can buy the boat trailer and build a removable cargo platform for it, then you have two trailers in one!
 
I bought this same trailer from HF a year ago, for $299 plus $19 (or so) shipping. I thought that it was a good trailer. I knew it was a China or Tiwan made, but I still thought it was ok for what I was doing. Just moving my Phantom or Sunfish up to 1 hour away day trips. I take care of my belongings, nothing is stored out doors, I have an '84 home made trailer that is a 4 place motorcross, trailer that I bought new. If you were to look at it today, you would be amazed! It still has the black paint on it, hardly if any at all rusty scale. It was not meant to last this long, but like I said, I store it in my garage, on it's side on a home made hindging stand. Also I have a painted '96 Shore lander trailer, for my 18' bowrider. I have owned it since new, it only sees sun light for up to 2 weeks a year while I am on vaca. It still looks new, aside from small useage scratches, here and there. BTW I sold the red HF trailer for $550 soon after buying it. Only because another galvy trailer popped up and it was what I really was looking for.
I acually made a coupl hundred on the whole transaction! I know that the price for the HF one has jumped up, it still isn't that bad of a deal, if taken care of.
 

Attachments

  • P6180015.JPG
    P6180015.JPG
    150 KB · Views: 79
  • P6200016.JPG
    P6200016.JPG
    149.2 KB · Views: 79
  • P6230026.JPG
    P6230026.JPG
    150.3 KB · Views: 100
With any of these trailers you need to replace the front keel roller or V pad with something that doesn't support the boat on the keel. There is no interal support for the keel and it's actually the weakest point on the hull as far as supporting the boat's weight is concerned.
 
apparently for the Sunfish, the keel is a delicate situation,which is one of the reasons that I like the Phantom's hull over the Sunfish.
 
Easy way is to raise the bunks so the boat is not sitting on the rollers and replace the bow roller with a V-Block snubber. That stupid bow snubber roller was the first thing I got rid of. A better way is to lengthen the bunks.
 
Just curious if there is a decent trailer out there for my New Sunfish, was looking at the trailex, but some think it bounces to much, any help would be appreciated
 
The HF trailer is set up for a 600 pound max load. That is typical of most small trailers. A Fish is a pretty light load, probably talking 200 lbs with gear. Any light trailer is able to bounce the the fish enough to knock out the foam blocks. Creating transverse cradles that fit the shape of the hull from beam to beam is much better than the standard bunks. Another mod to try is putting coil springs between the leaf spring and frame. I use to trailer a fish with a trailer make for a 1200 lbs or so boat. It was quite stiff and bounced off the tires a lot on smooth pavement. I find the HF trailer works smoothly on paved roads. Just have to slow way down for RR Tracks and washboard roads. About 5 to 7mph for the former and about 3 mph for the latter. I you really wanted to smooth things out, a mod using small shock absorbers may be best. Also, check your local tractor supply store, they should have a supply of different weight trailer leaf springs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top