2 or 4 wheel

[Xk59D]

hey folks,

as some may know, i have a new boat sorted and i still can't decide on the trailer.

couple of things that bother me to varying degrees and looking for some expert opinion based on your own experience.

ideally i want to put the ribcraft 6.8 on a single axle trailer for a few reasons, but namely-

1. my dads current car will be legal to tow it and staying under 2000kg will be important for my own needs in the future. i have an xtrail just now but i do 60 miles per day so a big car to tow is not an option. 1800-1900kg single axle means more choices in cars for work duty and towing.

2. if i buy 4 wheel trailer my storage fees instantly double, i need to keep the boat where it is now, i like the place. but is it worth paying double for?

3. i would buy the tyron bands on a single axle to protect against blowouts or punctures.

4. if i buy a single axle it will be damn close to the max permissible weight (the boat will be weighed on forklift before i buy anything so i know exactly my overhead. but it will probably be circa 1350kg with fuel on it and normal bits'bobs based on what i can find. i am concerned about the life expectancy on a trailer so close to the limit...i.e bending???

so....the question really is, what should i do.

thanks gents for the help...appreciated.

cheers

[willk]

My advice based on personal experience: Man up and buy the twin axle

[Ian M]

Seems to me it is ease of maneuvering and lower cost versus redundancy and high cost (both purchase and maintenance). Do you intend to tow long distance regularly? Do you need to manoeuvre in tight spaces?
My single axle under a 'big' heavy build 6.5m has been fine, no 'bending' or reliability issues.
Happy New Year

[Xk59D]

Hi Ian,

In reality i probably won't tow more than a few hundred miles per year. my "normal" towing distance is circa 10 miles to the river clyde or 20 miles to loch lomond.

but i would like to take the boat further afield if the notion takes me.

where the boat is kept can get tight for space yes (hence the double price charging). what i normally need to do is phone and they get the boat ready for me to take away.

cheers

[mick]

As we mentioned last week twin axle all the way for me

[Ian M]

Originally Posted by Xk59D

Hi Ian,

In reality i probably won't tow more than a few hundred miles per year. my "normal" towing distance is circa 10 miles to the river clyde or 20 miles to loch lomond.

but i would like to take the boat further afield if the notion takes me.

where the boat is kept can get tight for space yes (hence the double price charging). what i normally need to do is phone and they get the boat ready for me to take away.

cheers

So, you are not normally towing far, occasionally further, and you need to manoeuvre in tight spaces. Sounds just like my normal use. Single axle and carry spares if towing further. Never needed the spares with proper maintenance.

[Hightower]

Weighing the RIB fully laden will ultimately tell you what route you're going to have to take. If you go for one of the renowned trailer makers using the maximum load weight of the trailer shouldn't be a problem. I know that if you asked Arthur at degraff for instance to beef everything up, he would.

[SW Boat Transport]

I would personally go for a 2000kg twin axle for various reasons:

1. It will be more stable to tow than a single axle.
2. You have redundancy in case of a blow out, bearing failure, etc.
3. I expect you will be pushing the weight limit for a single axle by the time you add the weight of the boat, engine, fuel, accessories, etc. While this shouldn't cause any problems for a properly built trailer, you risk being overloaded if you are ever stopped or worst still involved in a accident which could then have insurance implications.
4. There are plenty of diesel hatchback/estate cars on the market which will happily pull 2000kg and still give good economy for your normal driving.
5. For manoeuvring by hand in a tight space, the jockey wheel can be would up high lifting the front axle off the ground and effectively making the trailer as manoeuvrable as a single axle.

We could offer:
South Coast Boat Trailers - R4/2000EL Twin Axle Multi Roller Boat Trailer

[Chris Caton]

we've towed our Revenger 715 (7m+) on a SBS 1800 EL single axle trailer for approx 7 years with no real issues, certainly no punctures or blowouts, we went for a single axle for the same reason you have mentioned, storage at home was a bit tight for manoeuvring with a twin axle, I've looked at replacing it with a twin axle but have decided to refurbish the original trailer

[paintman]

Originally Posted by SW Boat Transport

I would personally go for a 2000kg twin axle for various reasons:

1. It will be more stable to tow than a single axle.
2. You have redundancy in case of a blow out, bearing failure, etc.
3. I expect you will be pushing the weight limit for a single axle by the time you add the weight of the boat, engine, fuel, accessories, etc. While this shouldn't cause any problems for a properly built trailer, you risk being overloaded if you are ever stopped or worst still involved in a accident which could then have insurance implications.
4. There are plenty of diesel hatchback/estate cars on the market which will happily pull 2000kg and still give good economy for your normal driving.
5. For manoeuvring by hand in a tight space, the jockey wheel can be wound up high lifting the front axle off the ground and effectively making the trailer as manoeuvrable as a single axle.

I've done a lot of towing over the years, boats & caravans, single & twin axle & prefer twin axle every time for the reasons given above^^
Point 5 is especially worth taking on board if you have a twin axle!
I've had a tyre go on a twin axle caravan - delivering brand new - on the motorway & only realised when people passing me were pointing downwards. No effect on the stability whatsoever.
If you can't get the front axle off the ground - more of a caravan thing due to their layout & not now so much of an issue as many have motor movers - then you will need to move it around by using the towing vehicle as you will be trying to get one wheel on each axle to slide sideways. That said, if you're on hard standing - concrete or tarmac - a tray under one wheel on each axle helps them to slide.

[BruceB]

Twin axle for anything that heavy. I have seen too many wheels flying off single axle trailers and had three incidents where my trailer nearly came a cropper.
Once on my previous single axle the wheel cracked right across (heard a clicking noise going round corners and found it was the whole inner wheel just about to separate from the outer with no warning.
Had two punctures on my current twin axle over the years and no hassle to sort, if you do it right you don't even need a jack to change!
I also wind up the jockey and can manouevre it just as easy as a single axle

[kubcat]

Not all twin axles can be towed with a missing wheel. I have had a wheel fall off and the disc was scraping on the road.

Keep the maintenance up and you should be fine with the type of distances you do. The quality of the trailer is more important in my opinion. We have had an influx of Chinese made trailers in Australia. They have way to much flex and corrode very quickly. I have seen leaf springs rust to breaking point within a year.

[biffer]

Ok going to throw my bit in, i over spec trailers, under my rib I have a 4 ton capacity trailer and as kubcat said, some 4 wheel trailers won't run with a wheel missing, if you can afford to over spec do it, I don't mean just money also trailer weight.
One point I'd like to bring up, if you have a boat and 4 wheel trailer that is close to its maximum capacity be careful how you bump up kerbs, you can lift one set of wheels off the ground and put all the weight on one axle, they can collapse


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[biffer]

Originally Posted by kubcat

Not all twin axles can be towed with a missing wheel. I have had a wheel fall off and the disc was scraping on the road.

Keep the maintenance up and you should be fine with the type of distances you do. The quality of the trailer is more important in my opinion. We have had an influx of Chinese made trailers in Australia. They have way to much flex and corrode very quickly. I have seen leaf springs rust to breaking point within a year.

Happy new year Jim


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[Searider]

Regarding bending of a trailer being used at or close to its maximum capacity we have one of these under the 6.5 Scorpion. :ROLLER COASTER 10 | Roller Coaster | Marine | Leisure | Trailer Range
No problem with bending.
Bearings all good after 8 years.
Replaced wheels and tyres at 5 years old as a precaution against ageing. Never had a puncture.
I will admit that the brakes are now rusted out but that's not a single vs twin axle thing.
Tows well - I've never thought " thats unstable, I wish I'd bought a twin axle"
Tow cars have been old Range Rover, old discovery, Volvo XC70 ( max towing weight 1800kg) and currently a Volvo XC90.

Most of our towing is a mile to the slip and back and then a 20 mile round trip for servicing once or twice a year.

When we bought the boat we were supplied with much lighter trailer - similar in appearance to a roller coaster 3 with the single side rails. We towed down to Falmouth and back (from Hamble) with no problems although the trailer frame did have a noticeable bend in it. Changed soon after! I wouldn't advise overloading a trailer but we weren't instantly killed to death the moment we hit 60mph.

In my opinion a correctly specified single axle will be sufficient for your NEEDS.
However, I don't disagree that a twin axle will give some redundancy if you have a puncture. It's up to you to decide what you WANT.
It's fun buying new stuff isn't it :-)

[Searider]

The construction of the one that bent was very similar to this one:ROLLER COASTER 3 | Roller Coaster | Marine | Leisure | Trailer Range

As I said above it got us to Falmouth and back - although maybe we were lucky in that respect!

[Chris Caton]

Originally Posted by Searider

Regarding bending of a trailer being used at or close to its maximum capacity we have one of these under the 6.5 Scorpion. :ROLLER COASTER 10 | Roller Coaster | Marine | Leisure | Trailer Range
No problem with bending.
Bearings all good after 8 years.
Replaced wheels and tyres at 5 years old as a precaution against ageing. Never had a puncture.
I will admit that the brakes are now rusted out but that's not a single vs twin axle thing.
Tows well - I've never thought " thats unstable, I wish I'd bought a twin axle"
Tow cars have been old Range Rover, old discovery, Volvo XC70 ( max towing weight 1800kg) and currently a Volvo XC90.

Most of our towing is a mile to the slip and back and then a 20 mile round trip for servicing once or twice a year.

When we bought the boat we were supplied with much lighter trailer - similar in appearance to a roller coaster 3 with the single side rails. We towed down to Falmouth and back (from Hamble) with no problems although the trailer frame did have a noticeable bend in it. Changed soon after! I wouldn't advise overloading a trailer but we weren't instantly killed to death the moment we hit 60mph.

In my opinion a correctly specified single axle will be sufficient for your NEEDS.
However, I don't disagree that a twin axle will give some redundancy if you have a puncture. It's up to you to decide what you WANT.
It's fun buying new stuff isn't it :-)

+1

I also like buying new stuff, but on occasion refurbishing old stuff is equally is fun too, we decided against replacing the SBS 1800 EL as basically the frame etc was ok, just needed galvanising to bring it back to new, we've also replaced all of the U bolts etc and will be fitting a new axle as well, overall the cost will be less than half the cost of a new trailer, and has been reasonably enjoyable so far

[Xk59D]

thanks for the replies gents.

I'll update the thread once i know the actual weight of the rig, should hopefully find out mon/tues when it is put on the forklift. that ultimately will make the decision for me i would think one way or another.

cheers

[biffer]

Things just get bigger and heavier as you get older, I've put another 3 m in this trailer to take my sunseeker


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[Searider]

Originally Posted by Chris Caton

+1

I also like buying new stuff, but on occasion refurbishing old stuff is equally is fun too, we decided against replacing the SBS 1800 EL as basically the frame etc was ok, just needed galvanising to bring it back to new, we've also replaced all of the U bolts etc and will be fitting a new axle as well, overall the cost will be less than half the cost of a new trailer, and has been reasonably enjoyable so far

Looks nice.

Ours will be getting a new axle in a couple of weeks.