What Roger should have built

[Patrick Gilbert]

After eleven years of trailering with the stock MacGregor trailer, having one tire blowout at highway speeds, modifying the trailer for 15 inch wheels and Goodyear Marathon tires, and still not confident that I was safe traveling with the boat weighted down with the provisions for 10-12 days sailing, I have replaced the trailer with a custom tandem axle trailer. I sail out of Marina Del Rey and Ventura Harbours with two trips to Lake Mead each year. I now feel comfortable to travel across the country when I retire in four years. Perhaps this is overkill, but I think that this is the trailer Roger should have built.

http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx15 ... CF1079.jpg
http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx15 ... CF1078.jpg
http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx15 ... CF1074.jpg

You can't control the wind,
but you can adjust your sails.
Blessed be the wind.

Patrick Gilbert
"Tropico"(99macX)
Canyon Country, CA

[Wetsocks]

whoa! I think I'm in love.

[1st Sail]

who is the trailer mfg?

[Rick Westlake]

who is the trailer mfg?

I can read "ABT" on the first photo, but I can't quite read the phone number. Is that a manufacturer who's local to you, Patrick?

Your trailer looks like aluminum, and definitely looks GOOD. If I didn't already have my new trailer, I'd shop for one like yours.

There is no question in my mind of the value of a better trailer, especially if you pull the boat any distance. This is especially true if you've got an older Mac trailer; they are pretty basic, and yeah, they get the job done, but if anything goes wrong it can be pretty worrisome. Even disastrous!

I bought a new Sea Lion tandem trailer last August; they're made in New Jersey, which is local to me in Maryland. The only problem is that it has an angled winch post - and that was catastrophic last November, when i made a mistake hitching it up to take Bossa Nova home for the winter. When I saw the trailer had fallen off the hitch, I hit my brakes - BAM - D'oh! Caused $2500 damage to the lift-gate of my 4Runner. I'd advise anyone who's having a new trailer made up for them: GET A VERTICAL WINCH POST; such a post would have hit my bumper and caused much less damage!

But towing Bossa Nova to her new home, last Tuesday, was comforting and reassuring. And, like you, Patrick, I plan to tow Bossa Nova cross-country and use her as a "funny-shaped house trailer" between sailing venues - starting this summer, I hope!

Good luck with it!

[Patrick Gilbert]

The trailer manufacturer is West Coast ABT (http://www.ABTrailers.com) in Southern California. It is aluminum, rated at 7000 gvw (I went overboard,my choice), stainless steel disc brakes on front axle and torsion suspension. I attended the Mead Madness event last week and I was impressed at the improved ride and stability traveling from Los Angeles to Lake Mead(Las Vegas area). I do intend to keep my Mac for a long time and my old trailer has severe rust on the four inch square box tube to the coupler. It is rusting from the inside out. Rather than weld in a new piece and replace the leafsprings and brakes, I splurged and bought the best trailer around. I won't have any reservations traveling any where towing this rig. I can load as much onboard the boat as I want and it will not be overloaded.

You can't control the wind,
but you can adjust your sails.
Blessed be the wind.

Patrick Gilbert
"Tropico"(99macX)
Canyon Country, CA

[David Mellon]

Hey Pat, very nice!

[Paulieb]

How much? Looks great, but looks expensive.

Paulieb

[argonaut]

SWEEEEEETTTT trailer!
I've second guessed a lot Roger did, but there's scarcely anything he did for no reason.
I wouldn't argue the trailer could have been better. Clearly that's the case. I replaced mine, eaten up by salt water and the new one... well there's no comparison. But I think the shipping container was a design requirement. Fitting 2 boats in a single shipping crate reduces shipping cost and complexity.
The factory trailer is functional for moving the boat and for lots of people like those with fresh water it's not that bad, even in salt water mine held up for about 10 years. MAC listened and now sells an aluminum trailer.
There's a trailer manufacturer in North Carolina and Florida that built mine and they have a MAC model they will customize.
I'm in central florida. PM me if anyone wants more info.

[mikelinmon]

hi Pat,

Where do you keep your trailer? I'll go look at it. Pic's are pretty.
Mike INmon

[Hovez]

It´s easy to make the same trailer based on the factory aluminium trailer.
Check my mod here:
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/modt/in ... ?view=1297

And some pictures from last journey:
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/5476/p3060737.jpg
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/3000/p3070742.jpg

I used 2 axles and the brake from KNOTT.

[dennisneal]

Pat,

Your new trailer looks terrific! You should feel confident to go anywhere.

Enjoy!

Dennis

[Hamin' X]

There is an advertiser here on the board that makes tandem axle, aluminum replacement trailers for the Macs. You can view their ad here:

http://macgregorsailors.com/cgi-bin/pho ... AdNum=1935

~Rich

[Patrick Gilbert]

Thank you everyone for the compliments on the trailer. The trailer was expensive because I did wish to load "Tropico" with lots of gear and not worry about weight while trailering down the highway. I could have purchased a slightly lighter trailer from ABT and still have adequate weight carring capacity. However, knowing that I will travel alot when I retire, I went for broke(LOL) and ordered the 7000# GVW model. With all my provisions and gear aboard for the Mead Madness trip, I still had 30-40% weight capacity remaining for safety. It is a better feel on the steering wheel while traveling. There was absolutely no sway.

To answer Mike's question, I have it at home now as I gave up my mast-up space at Marina Del Rey.

This is realy a good dream.

You can't control the wind,
but you can adjust your sails.
Blessed be the wind.

Patrick Gilbert
"Tropico"(99macX)
Canyon Country, CA

[mallardjusted]

There is an advertiser here on the board that makes tandem axle, aluminum replacement trailers for the Macs. You can view their ad here:

http://macgregorsailors.com/cgi-bin/pho ... AdNum=1935

~Rich

Yes, and I just bought one from him a couple weeks ago. Great trailer .... dual axle, alum, led lights, 5925 lbs rating, disc brakes, etc. It sure makes towing the Mac alot less stressful! And now I can put even more weight in the boat!!!! (which means my next major upgrade for next year hopefully will be a 70 to 90 O/B)!

[BK]

Patrick, I also bought an alumium trailor for my x. You mentioned you have a torsion bar instead of springs as I have. This is basicallly a flat bar with a 2x4 over it. Is this enough? I am wondering if springs were better.
Is the axel part of the torsion system? The axel looks like it is bowed up in the middle and maybe it has a little bounce in it?