Single Axle Trailers

D

Donald Tyson

Member
I’ve seen some 22’ Dory’s for sale with Single Axle Trailers. Normally I would say it isn’t a reasonable choice but I’m curious how many of you have single axles and how many of you like it that way.
Don.
 
Don,
I had a single axle under my 22 and owned it for 10 years. I paid attention to tires, brakes and other critical items. The tire size was larger than the two axle and it was 6 lug, vice the typical 5 lug, so it was made for the load that it was carrying. Never an issue and I loved it.
Would I have a single axle under a boat that size again, absolutely!
 
I had a single axle for the last 8 years. Upgraded that trailer to a 5200 pound axle, springs and 6 lug wheels. Never had a problem and always towed easily with no heat problems. 120 mile round trips to the saltwater boat ramp.

Just purchased a new double axle Kokopelli with stainless DeeMax brakes. We shall see, but so far I like it.
 
Over the last 50+ years I’ve towed a wide variety of trailers including boat, rv & commercial big rigs, such as logging & other big truck trailers. With boat trailers, I think Colby has more miles in total than me now towing his 22 & 25 & gives very good advice. With our CD 22, I’ve towed 40,000 miles on a single axle & close to 60,000 total on dual axles over the last 21 seasons. A lot of those single axle miles on the CD22 involved some pretty rough roads going to & from Alaska. We only had minor problems with our single & I think for many, especially if money is tight & they run a fairly light boat, for mostly shorter distances to launch, or for longer distances a very heavy duty single axle they can be ok, but they do ride much rougher & I sure prefer the twin axle trailer, I’ve run the last 15 years over the previous single.
 
So there seems a strong consensus that in a perfect world tandem axles are usually a better option. I currently have a 10000 lb rated tandem axle utility trailer that tows nicely enough. When loaded heavily it tows even better as far as directional stability is concerned. None of the tail end swagger that my single axle boat trailers had in the past.
Another member mentioned that sometimes the boats with single axle trailers were part of boat packages where economy was playing a large part. Where long term use of high quality components over vast distances was not necessarily the goal.
I've never had a single with surge or power brakes of any king but would like the next boat to have them.
 
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The single axle trailer is often sold to keep the cost of the boat package down. The cheaper ones are fine as a yard trailer. Short distances from parking place to ramp, or a few miles.

Some are built well enough. This 22 had the single axle trailer, and it failed. It was on I 10. Probably the up and down of the pavement. We were towing behind our 42' RV which had air ride suspension, so it was level almost all of the time. The boat would go up and down on the bumps. We traded it for a tandem axle very nice trailer for $2500.
 
Hi Bob,
that is a great testimonial. But one question, Was the replacement new and what year did you buy it. You see if there were two boat selling used for the same price and both were otherwise in the same condition then if one of them had a tandem trailer as the only difference nit would be essentially a much better deal. I reason that if both boats were at the same cost but one of the boats had the tandem trailer then I should hesitate, in a perfect world, to pay 1-2K more for the tandem?
 
The trailer traded for was older than the trailer the boat came with: A "Sport Trail". It was a premium trailer, and I put E/H brakes on it, (another $1000). The VIN was missing. I called the owner of the builder and he looked up the trailer and sent me a new VIN sticker with the proper numbers.

There are so many things that would make a C Dory better. For example I feel that for those who cruise should have a camper back with both screens and rain occlusive windows is essential. There are just no two which will be fully the same.

If I were doing the trailering back and forth cross country, I would definitely want the tandem axle trailer and pay for it. If I were only going a few hundred miles or less a year, the single would be fine, with brakes. Any trailer over 3000 lbs should have brakes--and are mandated are to have brakes (and many states, like Florida, require brakes on each axle.). My understanding is that you have to comply with the local law ref brakes. Calif. and NV require brakes on any load over 1500 lbs. I would probably upgrade the tires.

There used to be some rational, like age, accessories etc which determined the selling price of used C Dorys, esp the 22. Now there are some crazy numbers, but a new boat sells for crazy numbers also!! And it will go up with inflation, higher petroleum costs etc.
 
To me brakes are a no brainer. They're not terribly hard to install. They add so much to the drivers security and it shocks my how many folks go without (years ago, me included). These days it is not uncommon to be pulling boats that weigh more than the tow vehicle.

Like Jay was saying I too have hauled and driven every sort of critter over the trails from Florida to Idaho and back to PA and I've (knock on wood) not had any incidents. The law of averages does catch up someday.

So why wait to install brakes? That one time when the road is wet and I need to apply the brakes harshly and turn out to miss somebody.....Whammo.....fishtail....crunch.

Thanks you folks. I guess I just wanted to hear it one more time, sort of stir the pot. There are no better folks to get good info from than folks with lots of experience.
 
Donald Tyson":3gqnovb8 said:
So why wait to install brakes? That one time when the road is wet and I need to apply the brakes harshly and turn out to miss somebody.....Whammo.....fishtail....crunch.
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Speaking on brakes, I credit our C-Dory build and trailer to the kind and knowledgeable folks of C-Brats. When we had our trailer built, I decided to go with Electric over Hydraulic brakes because of what I learned on C-Brats. Great choice and glad to have EOH. Our F-150 has an in-dash controller and I am able to use it to adjust the sensitivity of the trailer brakes while towing. Nice to be able to control the trailer while backing down the ramp, adjusting the sensitivity while driving on slippery road surfaces and to not have that constant bump on the ball with surge brakes. Gary
 
Trailers are not created equally...and that goes for all of them no matter how many axles they have under them. Bob's picture is a great example of an overloaded light duty single axle trailer that failed. Some of the EZ Loader trailers with single axles had identical frames to the tandem and were rated at 4500 or so pounds. They were good trailers, had 6 lug axles with 5200 pound axle spindles, and you could put 225/75/15 E-rated tires on them for an extra safety margin. I don't think I'd feel safe with a trailer rated for anything less and a tandem will just about always tow better. Anyway....the right single will do the job, but I don't think you'll come across many of them that will as the dealers bought lots of 3500 pound trailers because the factory grossly understated how much a CD 22 actually weighs.
 
Buy from a experienced dealer in your area, He will know your waters and terane, explain your plans for travel and approx miles you might trailer the boat. The truck or auto you plan to use etc.I made the mistake of buying a used trailer,although a reputable model it needed upgrades that cost me bo-ku.
Here in Florida There are many older used trailers available but the extreme weather rots them 'pretty Quick' and snow birds don't maintain them.
So.For me if you are buying a boat with trailer that is near ten years old, Discount the trailer in the deal and just use it to get the boat home.Order a New one and be done with it.
My wish list for this year is an aluminum trailer, dual axle with electric over hydraulic S/S brakes.
Just one of those hidden costs you don't think of when you are starry-eyed.
 
I have a dual axle trailer under my 22' Cruiser and would not have less. I regularly haul my boat across the Canadian Rockies from Alberta to British Columbia. I bought my boat in Whitehorse, Yukon and hauled it home down the Alaska Highway and then the next year I hauled it south to Lake Powell. So long trips are the norm for me. A few years ago we were hauling out to the coast and after crossing most of the Cocquihala Highway we pulled into a rest area. Somewhere west of Kamloops we got a flat tire on the trailer and while driving, there was no indication that we had a flat. This would not have been the case if we had a single axle trailer. I have also never hauled a boat on a single axle trailer, but I have other trailers with a single axle. There is considerably more rocking of these while hauling and depending on the tow vehicle it is noticeable. That being said, if I lived near my boat launch and only hauled a short distance to put the boat in the water, I would not hesitate to use a single axle trailer. But, for long hauls a dual axle trailer with brakes is the way to go.
 
Here in sunny california our freeways are so bad that towing with a single axel is just painfully bumpy for both the tow rig and boat, it can be done but a dual axel heavy trailer rides so much nicer :D
 
Since aluminum trailers were brought up, I have a question about them. Does anyone mount anodes on them to counteract potential corrosion near the steel axel?
 
Karl Konecny":24s4o9i7 said:
Since aluminum trailers were brought up, I have a question about them. Does anyone mount anodes on them to counteract potential corrosion near the steel axel?
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Not sure how anodes would help. Trailers are not usually in the water long enough for much corrosion prevention to occur. You can argue that there might be some dissimilar metal corrosion to occur when the Al touches the steel, but if that were actually a big deal, the trailer manufacturers would already have done something about it.
 
Karl Konecny":2z8vf36x said:
Since aluminum trailers were brought up, I have a question about them. Does anyone mount anodes on them to counteract potential corrosion near the steel axel?
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Most if not all of the hardware has nylon washers/spacers to help prevent galvanic corrosion between the steel hardware and the aluminum superstructure on the better quality trailers I have seen and worked on. I don't think putting an anode on a steel axle would help with corrosion as they were designed to work in the water and not the atmosphere. I have seen rusted axles that had to be replaced, but they were well over 20 years old and the trailers were at the end of the lifespan anyway.
 
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