# Raft trailers



## jalthage

Snowmobile trailers are fine. Your boat will hang, but the trailer typically has a long enough neck that you can spread your overhang over the front and rear of the trailer.


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## OregonRafter

They work well. You may have to extend the tongue. The little wheels might be an issue if you drive on access roads with clearance issues. If you can find one with a tilt bed that can come in handy for some putins and takeouts.


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## SKeen

I am thinking about modifying one of these. I have heard that the wheels/ tires may need upgrading for long trips, but at these prices there is some budget room to play with.

I saw one in person built up with walls for hauling stuff and it looked decent. Does anyone have experience with these to share?

600 Lb. Capacity Boat Trailer & Other Small Boat Trailers

1195 lb. Capacity 48 in. x 96 in. Heavy Duty Folding Trailer


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## Koffler

My prediction: You buy anything from Harbor Freight (as shown in the link in the previous post)-- in 1-3 years it will start falling apart..................................


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## zercon

*Snow mobile trailers*

Get an aluminum one with the torsion axels. They only weigh 400lbs and can haul 1500 lbs. I've had one 8 years and changed the tires once. The only problem I see is on wet dirt roads the front of the boats get covered with mud.


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## cataraftgirl

I've been using a 9.5ft X 6.5 ft Echo ATV trailer for about 5 years for a 14 ft. cataract and now a 14 ft raft. Works great. My friend who helped me find the trailer had stake pockets welded on the frame and had 2 foot high panels with metal mesh built for it. There are 6 panels total so they aren't super heavy for me to put in place when I want to haul cargo. Most of the time I haul my raft inflated, rigged & ready. I haven't added a roller to it but it's never been a problem, as the lights are all sealed and I can back into the water to float the raft on & off. 13 inch tires. I've trailered my raft & gear all over Utah & Idaho with no issues on the highway or off road.


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## elkhaven

As has already been said, lots of people use snowmobile trailers. They work fine to a point. I ran one for about 4 years. Went on a 1500 mile road trip lightly loaded and went through 4 tires, 2 were brand new halfway through the trip and trash when it was over. If you don't pull long distances they hold up fine but you need to go slower or you'll overheat them (experience). 

Those trailers are typically pretty easy to modify - add tongue length and sometimes even deck length. You can also usually modify to take 12" or 13" "normal" trailer wheels by shimming under the axel or flipping the axel. Look at what your going to buy and see if it will be relatively easy to modify.

I think the best thing is to modify utility trailers, like Cataraftgirls, or other folks that are sure to reply. They usually take the simplest mods and are easily converted back to utility mode for your random trailering needs. That's what I have done most recently.

Another option is to modify an old boat trailer. It can be relatively simple depending on your skills and imagination. If you or a buddy doesn't weld, it's probably not going to be cheap though. I did that for a friend 2 years ago and he loves the trailer, has $700 into it all told. It's simple, light (like 300 lbs) but less flexible than a modified utility and harder to adapt. It runs on 12" tires and is lower than most modified utility trailers.

Look at the trailer porn thread. There are lots of ideas there if you're the tinkering type.


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## Rockgizmo

Took an old boat trailer an modified it into a deck trailer for my raft.















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## yesimapirate

elkhaven said:


> Another option is to modify an old boat trailer. It can be relatively simple depending on your skills and imagination. If you or a buddy doesn't weld, it's probably not going to be cheap though. I did that for a friend 2 years ago and he loves the trailer, has $700 into it all told.
> 
> Look at the trailer porn thread. There are lots of ideas there if you're the tinkering type.


This is what I did as seen in Trailer Porn thread. Well, my retired Dad (that's in constant need of new projects) built it for me.


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## elkhaven

This is partially through my boat trailer mod.

Same base trailer as rockgizmo's I think (Calkins?). I just happened to have an old heavy duty gate that I adapted as a deck and ran stringers across the trailer frame vs length wise as he did. I decked mine with ply wood over the whole gate. There certainly are many ways to skin a cat.


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## UpThePoudre

*Our Harbor Freight Trailer*

For what it is worth, we have a 4x8 Harbor Freight Trailer that we have used for three years without issue. Don't pay full price, or even the sale price. Make sure to use the 20% off coupon on top of the sale price.

1720 lb. Capacity 48 in. x 96 in. Super Duty Folding Trailer

These trailers are decent for the cost, but require a few modifications. First of all, make sure you remove all the grease from the wheel bearings, and replace it with quality grease. This is the single largest point of failure on these trailers. The grease that comes on it is simply a shipping coating to prevent the bearings from rusting. 

Here's a list of things we did:
-Welded the frame together
-painted it black to make it look less like a HF trailer :mrgreen:
-Replaced the tires with new tires meant for a geo metro - $36 each on amazon, mounted ourselves with a lot of groaning and lighter fluid.
-Built a 7x8 frame out of pressure treated 4x4s
-Decked it with 1/2 plywood, sealed with some outdoor coating.
-Added a spare wheel/tire

In total, we have about $500 into it, and we built it in three days before a trip we hauled it on a 1200 mile round trip loaded with raft gear.

Since we built it three years ago, we have put over 5000 miles on it, and the only issue we had was one of the bearing covers fell off, and it is a weird size, so none of the auto parts stores had the right cover. We ended up using a slightly smaller one with grocery bags zip tied around it until we could get home and order a replacement. I recommend ordering a spare hub assembly and these covers to have some spares just in case.

Here are some photos of it loaded. You can see our rudimentary panels we made with plywood and pool noodles to contain gear stored under the cat.


































Is it the best trailer out there? No. Was it cheap and got us by? Yes. Do we plan to buy a nice one this year? Yes- we need a second trailer. This one will stay in service, though I may build a nicer deck for it.


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## SKeen

Thanks for the info!

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## COcfs

http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f41/super-cheap-trailer-37145-2.html


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## All4ward

Anyone else have trouble opening COcfs' link?


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## PhilipJFry

All4ward said:


> Anyone else have trouble opening COcfs' link?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Mountain Buzz


it's a link to another post on this forum (harbor freight trailer turned raft trailer)


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## Mtnbuzzer

*Raft trailer from old camping trailer*

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Made this trailer for a total of 600.00. Bought an old camping trailer, completely stripped it to the frame, raised bed height to clear tires with angle iron, laid down a wooden deck using 4"x 12' decking material from Lowes.

Good frame and tires a must. Handles well with 2 14' rafts on deck.

Similar product will run you close to 1,200.

Good luck.


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## curtis catman

Good looking rig on the cheap. I hate to even type this but I would cover you tires with fenders. Either build the deck over em or buy some fenders. They are going to sand blast your boat. Just trying to be helpful and not a know it all.


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## Mtnbuzzer

Good point. Did consider fenders but as you suggested, covered the tires with the deck. Have had no problems with sand blasting the rubber.


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## elkhaven

curtis catman said:


> Good looking rig on the cheap. I hate to even type this but I would cover you tires with fenders. Either build the deck over em or buy some fenders. They are going to sand blast your boat. Just trying to be helpful and not a know it all.


Curtis, I think that's great advice and I was going to throw in another reason to cover them, but I think its an illusion on the photo. It looks to me like the deck does over hang the tires, if you look closely. 

If I'm wrong on that, the other reason is a tire coming apart. All kinds of tire parts (including wire) go flying - it could really mess up a boat.


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## COcfs

Yes, Philip is correct- search "super cheap trailer" on MB. Good ideas/pic's on HF trailers.


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## grin1

Koffler said:


> My prediction: You buy anything from Harbor Freight (as shown in the link in the previous post)-- in 1-3 years it will start falling apart..................................


I would have to say it depends how you do a Harbor Freight trailer......rather than just bolt it together, weld the critical joints and strengthen that way. That is how I built mine with 2" tubing enclosure and "platforms" for the tubes on either side. Floor rests on equipment in trailer or I string a couple of long straps between the two sides. Absolutely affordable (got it done for roughly 1200) and it works great. Kept the tilt bed and that is a help as well.


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## Andy H.

I've been running a modified snowmobile trailer (Sledbed) I've had for about 14 years. I've replaced the axle on the trailer after making the mistake of having the spindle rewelded. I put about 10K miles on each set of tires and run it on the highway at 75 - 85 mph. If you've got the little wheels, lube the bearings about every 500 - 750 miles, use marine grease because I like to back into the water to load up where boatramps allow. I like having the torsion suspension thats rated at ~2400 lbs because when I've got a heavy load on bumpy roads, that 1000 lb load probably doubles when hitting a big swale-type bump at 65 mph on the freeway or that bump that gets your trailer airborne on the rough road to the put-in.

Welcome to the Buzz! A lot of times you can find some great answers to your questions by checking out the search feature - searching on "raft trailer" returned a wealth of information you can find here.

-AH


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## efis

I use an old snowmobile trailer to haul a 14' with a 12' raft on top. It is 8.5' long and fits the 14 fine. Originally it was 8' wide but I narrowed it down by 18" making it easier to drive and park in garage. My experience with the tires is that they work well as long as there is enough tongue weight. When going on multiday I am careful to put heaviest items up front and nothing but life jackets in the very back and have had no issues over many miles. I have gone through tires twice on day trips with just the fourteen and a very light load, I believe that is just due to not being able to get enough weight forward on the trailer. I have steel to extend the tongue which would allow me to place rafts further forward, that will help just need to find the time. Could also move the axel back. Would prefer a drop deck utility trailer in some ways, larger wheels and tires, rearward axel for more tongue weight, beefier but would miss the low deck especially for double stacking.


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## All4ward

Yeah fenders are mandatory. And mud flaps. 


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