Boat trailer?

[parnold]

I've been shopping craigslist lately, looking for a trailer for my next build and have seen several boat trailers. Has anyone used a boat trailer as a foundation. They look very appealing to me because they don't seem to be overbuilt like a typical utility trailer.

In particular, the one I'm looking at is 5' 6" between wheel, and is rated to carry a 20' boat. I'm thinking of a supersized tear, or a crouchy build. It looks to me as if using a boat trailer, I could start off shaving quite a bit of weight in frame weight alone.

[Cliffmeister2000]

Joanne's Desert Dawg was built on a boat trailer, but she modified it a bit.

http://www.asolidfoundation.com/dd_frame.shtml

[Dan & Julie CO]

There is a guy out of Texas that builds and sells on ebay.
He had one built on a boat chasis his was concave to support the boat
so it had a built in drop floor the entry was at the rear. I thought it was
cool how it turned out I have been thinking about a similar build ever since

[GPW]

Here's the boat trailer for my new Foamie ..
And my old 6X12X5 built on a boat trailer ...

[robfisher]

Don Ferdinand built the Call of the Wild on a boat trailer and he sells a nice set of plans.

I'm not sure if his website is up but PM me if interested and I'll forward your email to him.

Thers is a picture of his trailer in this link

http://www.teardrops.net/plans.html

[Loader]

Sonetpro used a boat trailer.

http://sonetpro.shutterfly.com/8

[gipsey]

i have used boat trailers for three of my seven builds and they worked great. an added bonus is they come with a title. roger

[Wild Bill]

I have a build started on a boat trailer. Most come with a boat on top of them that are hard to dispose of. Even harder than dismantling a popup.
I had to cut the fiberglass with a dust mask and sawsall into manageable pieces and put trash stickers on them. All Galv steel but the springs and U-bolts were rusted off of it. Replaced all that and the wheel bearings since they had been submersed in water so many times. I added all new brakes and tires to it as well. 8-900 bucks later, and hours of work It is a good trailer. Bill

[rebapuck]

Aren't boat trailer wheels set too far back for a camper? To carry a motor?

I guess you could build to that configuration.

[gipsey]

most boat trailers have several locations allready drilled so the axle can be moved to accomidate any of several boat lengths. It has worked out in the past for me. i cut the tongue length down to suit my tow vehicle. teardrops usually want to be 2/3 of the way back on the frame. roger

[rebapuck]

learn something every day.