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had aluminum trailer built for old waterman

3K views 24 replies 11 participants last post by  Capnredfish 
#1 · (Edited)
I posted an ad in the classifieds looking for a good used Ram-Lin as my galvanized one has some rust at the stern. I then approached Ram-Lin about buying just a new galvanized frame and bolting all my parts on and rewiring, etc. At first they wouldn't sell me one or even quote one until HB sent them an email releasing them to do so. I got a quote of $1,350.00 plus tax for a new frame but they would not do it with a serial number and I felt that was high anyway. I did some research and decided to go with a custom built aluminum trailer instead and sell the Ram-Lin to pay for some of it. I emailed Ram-Lin that I was going to move on and the guy then left me a voicemail offering to do a galvanized frame for 1K "give or take 100.00". I left him a VM in return that he might have given me his best price the first time and thank you.

I did some research on various aluminum trailer companies. Many only do small skiff trailers with C-channel frames and the ones that do use aluminum I-beam are pretty expensive. Many do not even use stainless steel hardware unless you pay for that option.

I found some good reviews on a small custom builder in Ocala (about 50 minutes from home) and drove up to look at some of his work. His stuff looked good and he had given me a good quote so I ended up leaving my boat with him and a deposit. We went over what I wanted done and he agreed to do some of the things my Ram-Lin had which I liked. he hadn't done a dry launch trailer before but said it would be no problem

I picked it up this afternoon and really like what he did. I will qualify that by saying I have not had the opportunity to launch and retrieve yet but I drove it home and it handled and pulled great. It feels a lot lighter than my galvanized one.

Options I chose:
Tie Down Engineering 2200 lb drop center torsion axle
welded on side guide bunks
spare tire holder with spare hub

He threw in at no cost a welded aluminum walk board.

Vehicle Boat trailer Bass boat Skiff Trailer
 
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#14 ·
It all looks very well done, but, wondering why everything is bolted together rather than welded?
JC
 
#15 ·
Nice work.

Not a bad idea to drill a small drain hole at the bottom middle of each cross members for drainage as well as the bottom of each of the vertical tubes that support the bunks. Those square tubes are the one major cancer spot on all RamLins because they hold water.
 
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