Fishing boat trailer problems

[Justme]

Hi,
Not strictly a project but I guess this is the best place to put it.


i have just bought a small fishing boat. Towed it home about 2 1/2 miles & just as we turn into the drive one wheel falls off. The bearing had seemingly failed & the other one looked very loose. On closer inspection I find that the hubs that are fitted are the wrong ones & only the innner bearings was fitted. The numscull. The problem now is I have a boat & trailer stuck in my entrance drive. I can get in & out as I can go through next door but its not ideal. I did think that it would be an easy pop a new set of bearings in & the local place had the ones I seemingly needed till I found the butcher job previously mentioned. The problem now is I will not re butcher it so need to sort it properly. No probs I thought you can pick up new hubs very cheap online. BUT they are all 19mm or 24mm or 1" & guess what my shaft is 31.5mm BUGGER. Cant find one any where. So do I now have to buy complete new suspension units or should I rip some bits of old kit I have lying around the yard & weld it on? Its only got to get the boat down to the harbour 3 miles away after its been sorted (the boat) & then once per year to bring it back for winter.

Justme

 

[Lippyp]

1: Bodge it so's you can get it out of the way
2: Find an old caravan and remove suspension units and weld to trailer!

 

[Justme]

When the wind drops I will move it with the tractor.
Whats size hubs to old statics have?

Justme

 

[shenion]

My choices in order:

1. buy a new axle/hubs to replace existing. Then you can have something you know is good and can get quality parts. No question if it will last long term.
2. Find a scrap axle. Swap it and get boat to water. The rebuild axle with good bearings and pressurized oil caps.

Most used trailer have never had the bearings serviced. Usually worn and probably overheated. Best to go with something new as it will be safer.

 

[Lippyp]

Not sure, its quite likely they may be car hubs, all sorts of odd stuff has made its way onto trailers over the years.

 

[morph]

Get a axle off a scrap escort van. Very easy to get off (well with gas anyway!!) and easy to work with.

 

[manus]

depending on the boat size, landy hubs work very nice fore trailers thy bolt on to flanges. cut the flanges of the rear axle and weld them to a nice heavy pipe. then bolt the lot together. you can get all the seals and bearings fore landys anywhere. bolt a plate over the hole were the side shaft normally fit,and pull a pint ore 2 of outboard motor gear oil in and you can run it into the water without worry about swimming bearings.

 

[Jeepster]

You can buy a complete stripped out rolling caravan chassis from a place in Wales for just £20...Pay your money and tow it away and you get a heavy duty axle (typically 1100kg or more capacity) with brakes and a heavy duty braked hitch...the body can be unbolted from the chassis and either used as shed in your garden or broken up and taken to your local tip.
On the later caravans the axle is galvanised so they will practically last forever but earlier ones are painted steel so its worth checking out the axles condition before you buy.
Earlier Knott 1100kg capacity caravan axles are heavy duty 80mm diameter steel tube with built in and independant rubber torsion suspension...They give a very smooth ride because caravans have to run smoothly to avoid breaking anything fragile onboard like china plates etc, so they are the perfect solution for trailer builders and for those who need a decent axle on the cheap.

 

[shenion]

As this thread is over 5 years old, I bet he has gotten the axle fixed and out of his driveway by now

 

[Justme]

5 years, good effort.


Boat has long since floated away & trailer is now prob part of a new car or bean tin lol.

 

[penfold]

Is it possible to have a banner pop up on threads once they get over a year old or something? Not that there's anything wrong with reviving a thread, but it should be for something worthwhile if possible, rather than offering solutions for a problem fixed 5 years ago!

 

[Robotstar5]

Is it possible to have a banner pop up on threads once they get over a year old or something? Not that there's anything wrong with reviving a thread, but it should be for something worthwhile if possible, rather than offering solutions for a problem fixed 5 years ago!

Or maybe change the colour of text or something?