Stainless trailer???

[cormorant]

http://yachthub.com/index.html?page=....html?de=46010

Saw this boat advertised with a stainless trailer - surely they mean aliminium ??

Enough issues with Ally trailers without the weight and problems of the way stainless work hardens or have I got it wrong?

There seems to be some cheap boats going at the minute as well.

[BGG]

Must be one big trailer! And what would you tow it with?

[Noelm]

there have been numerous attempts at making stainless trailers, but there is a few drawbacks, stainless will rust badly were it is welded, it needs to be "pickled" and to do a trailer is just not worth the effort, also most stainless will get brittle at the weld and it does not have a very high "sheering strength" as in a stainless bolt will break way before a mild steel one of the same size if it is exposed to some sort of shearing action, like in two pieces of flat bar bolted together and then moved as in like a scissor action! OK in a straight pull and so on though (or use a bigger bolt)

[cormorant]

Pretty much along my thoughts Noel and it is a road going job as well so lots of stress in something that size. They do have those portable pickling machines but not sure it is the same as a tank

That would be one heavy rig on the road .

[tunaticer]

They have developed two grades of Stainless Steel that are very similar to the work hardening characteristics of steel however the corrosion protection is not the best being equivalent to grade 304. Nearly double the price however so that alone kills the prospect of a stainless trailer. It will not be too far off in the future though when titanium could be an expensive but viable alternative to steel or alloy.

In saying that though, a 3 or 4mm plate stainless steel hull in about a 6m to 7m length would certainly be comparable with fibreglass for ride as it will have equivalent weight and possibly 3 times the structural integrity. Often wondered about a properly desinged SS boat in comparison to alloy would stack up. Would have to overcome the harshness of the ride and probably alleviate a lot of the pitching alloy can give.

[Charlie]

I've seen a few ss trailers getting about owned by ski or wake board owners, if you have the money your can certainly have one.
They are also quite common in camper trailers in South Africa where a lot of stainless is used in the mining industry,these are cheap grades I'm not sure how they handle the welding issues

[Angla]

Yes I have seen one under a high priced Ski boat. The owner found out all of the cons of sharp edges with a gash down to the bone while washing a raw edge on the trailer.

Chris

[Whitey81]

A stainless trailer? ramp trailer ok. Road trailer no. The flex and vibration will cause it to crack. There are a lot of exotic grades of s/s made but you could probably buy 10 trailers for the price of it. So stainless steel trailer you would have to be crazy!!!!

[Steboe]

Galvanized I beam trailers would last a long time, I think a lot of trailers made from square and rectangular tube rust out from the inside.

Ken

[TonyM]

I had a S/S trailer years ago under a 4.5 tinny - it was brilliant and no rust ever, including at the welds, had no cracking problems either although I understand that's a greater possibility than with mild steel

Would cost a packet to make I imagine, I got it second hand and imagine it was made by someone with access to materials at work - e.g. I know a lot of stuff used to roll out of bhp from time to time

[Noelm]

spot on there Tony, I know of two stainless trailers built as "foreign orders" at BHP, but both cracked at the welds after a faily short time.

[TonyM]

spot on there Tony, I know of two stainless trailers built as "foreign orders" at BHP, but both cracked at the welds after a faily short time.

They used to do great wet weather gear too

[Noelm]

funny you should say that, I was just sorting out some raincoats that I have hidden on the Boat for emergencies, and 2 of them are BHP branded. No idea were/who I got them from though!

[boatboy72]

I'm into trailers and i see a lot of polised stainless trailers under the yank boats they love em

[oldboot]

Certianly there are issues with stanless as there are with any material... but if the trailer is build with an understanding of the problems and appropoiate methods... I can not see why a stanless trailer would not be a wonderfull thing.


There are always people with plenty of money or access the materials it low cost.


I'd believe it, and would not be a bit surprised.....afterall they are making them out of plastic.

cheers