Matt Thomas
2010-05-03T19:03:04Z
I am considering upgrading my trailer for my PArker 21. Does anyone have any suggestions where I might go?

Matt


Matt
GeoffTurner
2010-05-06T09:45:21Z
A couple of years ago, I replaced my 20-year-old trailer's axle and couplings - cheaper than buying a new trailer. I went to Hayling Trailers , but the parts all came from Bradleys 

Geoff

Parker 21 / 18 Dawn

Geoff Harwood
2010-05-07T09:32:47Z
Having arrived home one time to find the winch post of the original trailer dangling from the bow ring by its strop (good job I didn't have to brake on the way home!) I took the whole rotted thing to the dump.

I went to RM trailers in New Arlesford (www.rmtrailers.co.uk)and got them to make me a new one with divided axle (so I can drop the keel through for scrape and paint) and tilt-back (so I can launch without getting the brakes and bearings in the water). Came to £2276.

Only snag is that it has 24 little rollers so antifouling is a multistage process pushing the boat back and forth to get under them all.

Geoff Harwood P21/30 Cygnus

geoff.sheddick
2010-05-07T20:15:42Z
Don't assume that purchasing a new trailer will automatically result in reliable brakes.

My experience with different types of boat on different trailers, but which is with over-run operated brakes with wire [as opposed to rod] operated brakes, is that they are extremely sensitive to adjustment.

I suspect that rod operated over-run brakes are slightly less sensitive to that adjustment.

However, whichever you have, the principle of over-run brakes is inherently crude, and if you set them up to give good response, you will always be on the verge of having binding brakes = overheating = bearing failure. If on the other hand you set them up to avoid risk of binding, the towing vehicle brakes will always do the majority of the work, and you can expect to be smacked up your tail end every time that you have to brake hard.

Even what I have to say above assumes that you have not only ensured that your linkages are all free, but that you have also ensured that the bowden cables connecting the wire or rod linkage to each wheel are equally free. In reality, they are very often the cause of poor brake response in an otherwise apparently well serviced and adjusted system. Disconnect them, and check that the internal cable is moving freely within the outer. If not, some have grease nipples in their mid-section. My local farmer, who owns five trailer boats ranging up to 50ft! swears by immersing the bowden cables in diesel to free them off.

Lastly, I endorse Geoff Harwood's recommendation of RM Trailers - the owner, Richard Gifford-Hall, has extensive experience of making and altering trailers for a variety of Seal/Parker models. They converted a Seal26/Parker 27 trailer for me so that it could be simply switched between carrying a 26/27 and a 22 as required.

Geoff Sheddick


Geoff Sheddick

Parker 27/146 "Stroller'