Offroad boat trailer builder?

[wayno1984]

Hi flex majority of the work it will do is fraser island over ngkala and up to sandy cape for a couple of weeks at a time. But in saying that we plan on doing a trip from the cape to darwin then onto the Kimberlys in a couple of years so i wanted to get something that is a bit of an allrounder beach,bush and corrugations. Majority will be beach and ramp launching with the occasional river bank. I do like the look of the belco trailer. My tow vehicle will carry most of the weight i would say max 250kgs being carried in water, fuel fishing gear etc in the boat. And i can't weld at all

[Dan5]

I do a fair bit of dirt track towing on corrugated roads and over the years the most common things to fail and fall off are the guards and winch posts.......conveyer rubber as guards doesn't look pretty but it certainly is practical....I've found that most things bolted on will generally be the first things that fall off.

I have modified a few trailers and have built a few trailers over the years keel rollers can be a real pain in the ass if you stick with the spigot style adjustable I run 75 x 50 4mm uea rails with as many rollers as I can fit through the center of the trailer hard bolted with U bolts to the trailer crossmembers and custom make my own winch posts with 75x75 4mm shs fully welded non height adjustable......

The trailer I have under my 435 tinny is a Redco sportsman that I have put a 1.5t 45mm solid axle and 1250kg slipper springs into........(slippers are ok on dirt roads but not for real 4wding).......i'm in the process of strengthing up the trailer frame by building another frame which will be welded on top of the existing outer frame with a 50mm separation so essentially 2 trailers stacked on top of one another........I built one about 5 years ago for a mate and his 6mtr custom plate boat which he takes bush and carry's a Yamaha Rhino inside the boat......so far no issues.

When I get my ass into gear and do my trailer i'm going to look into making a different carriage frame for mine set up with eye to eye springs bigger guards running 5x150 pcd hubs that will take my 200 series 33'' wheels and tyres for more serious bush trips and for everyday use just keep the 14'' Falcon wheels on...........

Also with the trailer skids what I have done in the past and got the idea off of the pro crabbers up here is to put Blue Stripe poly 50mm on the skids.....put some some alloy flat bar through the polly drill holes through that and your existing trailer skid and bolt the lot together with pan head/coach bolts this takes all of that hull/trailer noise away while towing on corrugated roads and give some cushioning effect also........it works well and is tuff as nails.

Dan

[Flex]

Hi flex majority of the work it will do is fraser island over ngkala and up to sandy cape for a couple of weeks at a time. But in saying that we plan on doing a trip from the cape to darwin then onto the Kimberlys in a couple of years so i wanted to get something that is a bit of an allrounder beach,bush and corrugations. Majority will be beach and ramp launching with the occasional river bank. I do like the look of the belco trailer. My tow vehicle will carry most of the weight i would say max 250kgs being carried in water, fuel fishing gear etc in the boat. And i can't weld at all

In that case I don't think you need anything 'hardcore'. maybe look on gumtree for a second hand one built by someone . But a Belko offroad would probably suit honestly.

Id slap a treg coupling on for extra security. You could probably get away with a stock standard trailer for fraser. Maybe slightly bigger tyres for clearance and load spreading/deflating. Make sure axle is rated higher than normal. Bouncing over ruts can easily bend normal trailer axle.

For cape trip, id get shackled springs minimum(preferably double wrapped but not required) and extra keel rollers. pressed tinny's don't link skids up the sides taking weight.

You could honestly get a stock standard trailer to the cape if you took it easy enough. extras are for peace of mind.

You could maybe have two sets of tyres? smaller set for fraser and shallow launching. larger set for cape York.
Remember you can always dig a hole in the sand/mud to back your tyres into for launching.

[Fish_Two]

I had my FMS trailer to the cape and the gulf 4 times, it's a great bit of kit, complete with 180l water tank,dual spare wheels, tilt drawbar,carry rack, roll out awing,6x Jerry can holders,gang way,
the only think I would change is go a dual axle so you can lug more gear
Attachment 114844

[bigfella23]

Mackay have been doing them for many years. Custom made for the boat.

[NomadNoosa]

I am building an offroad box camping trailer at the moment.

Yep independent suspension, preferably painted fire engine red is all the go, but it you have dramas with it in the middle of nowhere....i.e fracture or blown shockie etc then you may have problems getting going again.

Leaf springs are simple and effective, the longer you can go the softer the ride and maybe even look at a rebound spring set up.

For rims I have just bought 5 x 17 inch Prado rims with coopers tyre with 50% tread left for $700. I'll run these tyres for a bit and then swap them over to the BFG's I have on the car before I go to NT and WA next time. 3 steel rims with very average AT tyres will cost you around $800 to $900 and won't be a perfect match for the tug. Have a search around gumtree for some second hand ones to match your cruiser.

Good luck with it.

Those FMS trailers look the ducks nuts.

[GBC]

You'll want at least the 275 70's to get through ngkala. Trailers really have no business going through there. You'll drag it on the rails more than the tyres through the first coffee rocks so make sure there's nothing hanging down. At least you'll grade the track a bit.