Trailer for Venture 26

H

haakebecks

New member
I'm very close to finalizing a deal for a Venture 26 without trailer. I've talked to EQ and Kitsap Marine in order to get an idea of pricing and both recommended a King Trailer and prices came in around 6500-8000.

I read on the forum that a lot of you folks don't care for King trailers. What would you recommend? EZ Loader? Pacific? Any others? What should I expect to pay? Any particular setup you folks recommend?

Any help you can provide would be appreciated!
 
On the east coast Float On Trailers out of Vero Beach Florida have an aluminum trailer with all stainless fasteners has worked well for us. They are a pleasure to deal with for parts etc. I believe they are sold only through dealers. Ask for Kodiak brakes. Ours came to $4270 for our 23' Venture in 2009 a dual axle with torsion springs, surge brakes and Kodiak disc brakes. We later converted to electric over hydraulic brakes. I would also ask about up grading to a name brand radial tire. Some of tires the new trailers are just trash (Maypops) . Get the wheels balanced.
D.D.
 
Go with aluminum if you can afford it. Mine is an EZ with torsion bar suspension and surge hydraulic. Plenty of braking behind my 2500 diesel truck. Won't ever get a painted or galvo trailer again.
 
Journey On rides on an EZ Loader and I'm happy with it.

There are 2 items you might want to check out with whatever trailer you select.

First, is how do you get parts. EZ Loader has a web site and a phone number, so parts have been easily available from the factory. That's great when you're in a panic, and they have them and overnight them to you. And they usually have a clue as to what part goes where.

Second, the mounting of the bow support. On EZ it's a well supported and braced bracket. As Pat Anderson found out, that's a good thing when you have to stop really fast.

The last comment is that EZ Loader standard is aluminum trailers. Mine is galvanized, though and is working well after (gasp) 8 years. Also, the EZ has rubber torsion suspension, no springs or bars to rust.

Oops, another comment. With the size boat you're getting, electric over hydraulic brakes are a very good thing.

Boris
 
I went through two ez loader trailers on our previous boat, and now have a king galvanized double axle on our 22.

It's 10 years old, used only in saltwater and shows absolutely no corrosion at all. For that reason I think the galvanizing and corrosion protection appears to be better quality then our EZ loader. It was a 2001 trailer and showed considerable corrosion on all hardware, areas of the galvanized frame and the suspension.

Is the complaints about parts availability? It seems like there is plenty of dealers around here, and bearings are avaialble at NAPA or most parts houses. Other trailer parts are interchangable.

I also like having a entire hub assembly attached to the spare tire, so if I do burn a bearing I just unbolt the entire thing and bolt that up. My EZ loader didnt have that.

Aluminum trailers are really nice, but are they worth the extra expense? All the hardware and other bits rust out before the galvanized frame shows any age in my experience. They sure look nice though!
 
After doing some research earlier in the year, I came to the conclusion that trailers are less expensive in Florida in come case by many thousands of dollars. If you happen to be in Washington State and have to have it shipped here, a good portion of the savings is lost in the process of having it delivered.

Im still hoping to come across a lightly used Cat trailer in the Northwest. If it doesnt surface soon, I might have to bite the bullet and purchase new.

Please do update us as to how your search ends.
 
I'm in Oregon so will be buying one in Oregon or Washington. I appreciate all of the input so far.

It sounds like King perhaps has become more customer friendly than they once were? Reading some of the horror stories was terrible.
 
Correction: Still Crazy is on a Magic Tilt aluminum and came from Weffings in Fl. with the boat when it was new. This is my first torsion bar trailer in the 45 years I've been boating and towing boats. The 22 rides easy and smoother than my truck pulling it.
 
Most trailer. Companies use other companies products exanple
Brakes. Kodiac. Tie down deemax titan etc
Tires carisle. Marathons etc
brake actuators. Tie down demco. Titan etc
So when looking for a trailer look for quality price and customer serv
Whether you go with continental floaton. Ez loader. King or whatwver find out what bearings brakes and lights you use these are the problem areas
 
my king is galavanized and very well made . If you are trailering on gravel logging roads, i would suggest galvanized steel. welded if you can get it.
 
Just wanted to let folks know that Gary Estes does NOT sell trailers, only services them.

That being said, what a fantastic guy and a great resource. I called up this evening and left a voicemail and had a call within 15 minutes.

He freely offered his advice on what brands he preferred and what he saw that worked best in his line of work servicing these things. It is no wonder that folks come from all over to have him service their trailers. Seemed like a real stand-up guy and a great resource for c-brats.
 
Those of you running EZ Loaders. What model are you running for a 25 classic or 26 venture?

I've been recommended the TEZ102B 7500 which is a trailer designed for 26-30' boat with a 7500 pound weight rating. Comes with 4 bunks, torsion axles, 225\75R 15D tires and comes in at 1913.

I've personally been looking at the TEZ102B 8500 which basically is the same trailer, but has a higher weight capacity of 8500 lbs, larger tires 235\80R 16E and weighs in at 2035.

Besides the extra 100lbs, any real negatives with going with the higher capacity trailer? Seems like having that additional margin would be a good thing, especially if loaded for cruising.
 
The only advantage for the lighter trailer is less expense to purchase.

You know that boat will be full of fuel, with water tanks full and camping and fishing gear. Should add 1k lbs+ to the towing weight for a real world situation!
 
I never thought this process would be so time consuming and expensive. Nearly $10k for an EZ Loader out with the higher 8500lb weight rating and that is without electric over hydraulic.
 
The King that was recommended was for 7000 lbs.

This whole process has been a real mess. It seems utterly asinine that I can buy a nearly new compact car for the price of a few pieces of galvanized steel or aluminum, some cheap tube axles, etc.
 
Yeah, good trailers are expensive. I think (and don't remember) that the one under Journey On was $7000, 6 years ago for a 7500# roller trailer. After swallowing the price for a $11,000 engine and 70 grand for the fiberglass shell, I probably wasn't as shocked as you are.

As to the carrying weight, you might want to consider a lower capacity trailer. I did a weight analysis for a 25' C-Doryhere:.

The weight estimate consists of 2 sections. At the top, is the weight where I weighed the trailer with the boat on it, as we were returning from a trip, so it was stocked for cruising, less the kicker and inflatable (which were in the truck.) Gas and water each about 1/2 full. That weight was about 6000#

Second, I did a weight analysis for a floating 25 C-Dory with everything I could think of and that came out to 7000# (subtracting out the 2 ea people from my estimate.).

The factory weights indicate the 26' Venture is ~400# heavier than a 25 C-Dory, so you should be somewhere between 6500# and 7500# when you're towing that boat (boat weight only.)

An 8500# GCW trailer sounds great, but that's more weight to haul around and then when you go to get new tyres, you'll get another sticker shock. The 7500# GCW one makes more sense.

And you might get an estimate on a King trailer from PaulNBriannaLynn above. Sounds like he's involved with them. Then you can compare trailer for trailer costs. Over the years I've learned that a good trailer is a worthwhile thing, because you don't have to worry about the trailer , just the boat. Have you talked with an EZ Loader dealer and see what they're getting for them?

Boris
 
Nope not involved at all. I've had both types of trailers and even had a caulkins trailer or two. Just giving my experience with different brands of trailers.

I had to look through the archives to see what the problem was with King trailers, hoping I didn't have a lemon or something :? I read about Pat's problems and that didn't sound fun at all. A lot of the negative feedback through the years I read is from you Boris. Have you had a King trailer? I never had a problem or breakdown from my 2 EZ loaders, they were great. The Caulkins were not that good in my experience.
 
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