Weighed up by the Constabulary

[Graham W]

With a BR20 and unbraked trailer coming in at around 750kg, it's not just the constabulary that you should worry about.  One of my unbraked trailer bearings failed just as I left Inverness on my way back from Sail Caledonia in 2014.  I stopped as quickly as I could but couldn't get the grease cap off to see what had happened and had to call out a recovery truck.  When they got the damned thing off, the grease looked normal (ie no water ingress) but the metal bits inside the bearing case looked like small bits of twisted shrapnel.  Despite stopping quite quickly, this had generated enough heat to weld the bearing casing to the stub, so although I had spare bearings, it couldn't be repaired at the roadside.  The upshot was that I drove home but my BR20 and its trailer were delivered on a truck several days later.

The recovery driver said that he had had an identical case the previous week with another dayboat.  Of Turaco, he said that it was a "bonnie wee boat" but that in his opinion, the trailer wasn't big enough for the task.  In other words, the bearings were being asked to do too much work.  To be fair, at the time I was doing about 5,000 miles with it a year and that bearing hadn't been changed for 18 months.  Another SailCal participant had a similar problem the day after me, except that he had also welded fast the castle nut, which I suspect would take some doing!   

There's also the issue of 10" wheels and sometimes not very good quality tyres on the unbraked trailer being asked to take a lot of weight and rotate more frequently than the 13" wheels on braked trailers.  If you search the forum, you'll find posts about unusual tyre wear patterns on 10" wheels.

And finally there's the wear and tear on your tow vehicle's brakes.  Crossing the Alps and, nearer to home, the Berwyns with an unbraked trailer caused my 4WD brake disks to heat up and dish, which meant that they had to be replaced at significant cost.

I now have a braked trailer but even post-conversion there have been problems - the wheel bolts loosened on one of my new 13" wheels and the wheel nearly parted company with the trailer on my way home from Bala; and because of the small increase in height in swapping from 10" to 13" wheels, my boat's stem would jam against the swinging arm cradle when I tried to winch the boat back on the trailer.  Both now solved but not exactly contributing to a joyous trailering experience!

[Julian Merson]

Graham, these points are all noted.  I'm still curious as to why the BC20 was ever sold with the unbraked trailer - and, from what you say, the same question could be raised regarding the BR20.

Regarding the stem jamming against the swinging cradle, what was your solution?  I know that this will be a problem for me too.  It already is to a certain extent and, with a braked conversion, it's only going to get worse.

[Graham W]

Julian,

I don't know about the the BC20 but the GRP BR20 was supposed to be many kg lighter than it turned out to be.  But even at, say, 700kg all in, it's still asking a lot of an unbraked trailer to lug that lot around.  The much lighter epoxy ply version of the BR20 can probably get away with it.

Here's the solution to jammed stem misery https://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/smf/index.php/topic,1141.msg9835.html#msg9835

[MarkDarley]

Matthew,

I sprung for a braked trailer last year as my old trailer was pretty much shot. The new trailer has larger wheels out of necessity in order to get the braking gear clear enough of the centre ridge of a farm trail where she spends the winter. (I had bent the hand brake guides of the old trailer in the past, and all the conversions I had seen dropped the braking gear even further). Side benefit is that the trailer wheels better over rough ground and potholes.

The whole rig is certainly overkill for our wooden BR20s (mine weighed in at Matt's yard fully loaded at 327kg) but I did it to be sure to avoid any problems on a trip to Western Spain this summer...which of course did not happen. I had heard that the Spanish are very particular as you arrive by ferry at Santander.

The down side is that the trailer itself is heavy, and so on anything other than tarmac, with all the gear which includes outboard and fuel, does really require a car or dolley with small wheels to move the rig around. 

However it does an excellent job of winching the boat out of shallow water.  I was able to use the trailer to recover the boat at the Exmouth Imperial Recreation Ground slipway an hour before a neap high tide despite locals telling me I would not be able to!

[MarkDarley]

See photos of my overkill SBS trailer for those who are curious.

[MarkDarley]

Ray,
Missprint!! 327kg!

I am a few pounds heavier now as I have substituted my scarily bendy carbon fiber boom for one of Matt's production booms.

I have received a new Epropulsion (19.3kg) motor today, so my weighty 4 stroke (Yamaha 6hp, 27kg) and the fuel (10kg) will be gone, saving me noise and about 17kg overall.

Sorry about the missprint. Be reassured, we are not generally lighter than a Wayfarer!
Mark

[Peter Cockerton]

The yard proffered trailer supplier is CLH, primarily because they are local to the yard and incur little delivery cost, as mentioned many times before within this forum they are very heavy due to what some might say being "over engineered". The standard un-braked trailer for the BR20 weighs in at 310kg from CLH which leaves 440 kg for the boat and usual items we put in it. I upgraded my trailer for my first BR20 to braked and I agree it has its benefits on the towing experience but I primarily did it to satisfy the legal obligations and not have to use the car to carry the outboard etc to keep the weight down on the trailer. For my new boat I sourced a trailer from these people https://www.degraafftrailers.co.uk/centre-keel-roller-boat-trailers?lightbox=dataItem-jjoiezuy

The trailer weight is around 185kgs which leaves sufficient capacity for the boat and the usual things you need to carry in it, the design was modified to take the length of the BR20 at no extra cost to me. It is fitted with side, wheel guard and lighting board lights and extending arms for the board.

I did have to collect and deliver it to the yard and a change on a bow roller was required which the company sent out FOC to the yard to fit.

Being un-braked  I do not have to worry about annual serving on the additional drum items, rusting actuator cables, and brake shoes mysteriously locking up when the boat is stored despite ensuring the handbrake is off when I leave it. No flushing after sea water immersion either, I know you only need to get the tyres wet to launch her but waves do catch you out and it takes so little salt water to create havoc inside the drums

Peter C

[Graham W]

The yard proffered trailer supplier is CLH, primarily because they are local to the yard and incur little delivery cost, as mentioned many times before within this forum they are very heavy due to what some might say being "over engineered".

Agricultural would be another way of putting it.

So an epoxy ply BR20 with a De Graaff unbraked trailer would come in at a bit over 500kg.  My GRP boat with a braked CLH trailer weighs around 850kg.  My poor tow car feels the bloat!

[Sea Simon]

Peter,

Does your new degraff trailer have 10 or 13" wheels?

My CLH has 13, I have another dinghy trailer with 10".
I also have a quite horrid little Halfords dump trailer (maybe on 8"?) Which is borderline dangerous to tow, not least because you can neither see, nor feel it behind the car, and it will jackknife in an instant. That is probably due to it's short wheelbase, and very lightweight?

13" give me added peace of mind. Good quality tyres readily available, at reasonable price too.
I guess you must still be able to buy "proper mini" car tyres at 10"?

That said, I tend to agree with GW about CLH  agricultural! products. But, how did they get those winch posts so wrong?

[Peter Cockerton]

Simon

My trailer has 10 inch wheels and the tyres are rated at 437. Kg.
My old boat and trailer had the same and initially cross ply tyres, these I changed out after some years for radial, no trouble finding them with a rating around 500 kg at £45.00 fitted if I remember correctly from a garage in Oakham where I kept the boat at Rutland Waters

Peter C

[mark1]

I had my Bre weighed on the trailer with all my normal cruising gear, but without food, clothes, water. That includes two 7kg anchors with about 7m chain between them (plus rope obviously!), small inflatable dinghy, oars etc. Flares, cooking gear and general boaty stuff. It's on an unbraked CLH trailer.
It came out at 840kg, which is a bit more than I had hoped (!).
My options are I think:
1. get the trailer converted to braked hubs, then get a new vin plate put on it so it can carry more than 750kg.
2. get a lighter unbraked trailer built as Peter did to keep the whole weight below 750kg.
3. get a braked trailer built.
4. take absolutely everything out of the boat every time I tow it.
5. any other suggestions welcome!

My preferred option is 1 as I can get the work done locally, but I think getting a new vin plate might be a challenge. One issue is that I won't know if the trailer frame will pass inspection until I've had all the work done to convert to brakes and driven it 2 hours to the nearest place that can issue trailer plates.
Has anyone else gone down this route, or have any comments?

[Graham W]

In 2014, I had my CLH trailer converted from unbraked (10" wheels) to 13" braked (by CLH) for £700.  I had a number of other issues with the trailer following this but the decision to convert was sound and the most cost-effective of the possible alternatives. Bear in mind that there's a new and continuing servicing requirement from having brakes.  CLH provided me with a new VIN plate as part of the conversion.

[MarkDarley]

I went for a new braked trailer because I tow down farm roads/tracks to get to my friends' barns for winter storage, and those tracks have a raised berm between the wheels.  The old trailer with brakes added would not have had the clearance. 
The new trailer has larger wheels so that the braking gear is higher off the ground.  It is still close on occasion.
If you are towing your boat into camp sites, you might meet the same problem.

[mark1]

Graham, I think that sounds like the best way forward, though I'm pretty far from CLH (Scottish Highlands), I'll make a few enquiries and see if there's a way round that.

Mark, did you manage to sell your old trailer?

[MarkDarley]

Mark1,
I traded the old trailer with the dealer.  I cannot remember what I got for it. Probably not much because frankly it was only good for storing a boat on the waterfront.