What's the best trailer for MK1 Family Four ?
Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2025 11:22 pm
Copying the subject from a previous post there...
Our Family Four trailer is in pretty poor condition. I "fixed" some bad rust by grinding away some of the galvanising back on the good metal and welded in some angle iron and that's worked so far. The two wheels have a very negative camber (out at the bottom closer at the top from each other). I did replace the "rubber springs" suspension things a couple of years ago and it helped with that a bit but not entirely. The trailer is not braked and I'm always a bit worried about any journeys it takes - mostly that's very close trips but last year it did do a couple of longer trips to inland waterways where the family four is a very good boat to have.
So I'm thinking about trying to pick up a used, or new, trailer. The main reason is safety but I'm also interested in trying to understand if a "roller trailer" is better over the "bunk trailer" which we have now. I do think the bunk trailer has been really solid when it comes to me getting up and walking all over the boat to do repairs while I've had it at home (and I've had to do a lot of that) but retrieving it from a slipway is not always the easiest and I'm wondering if anyone here has an opinion on roller vs bunk trailers?
Finally if anyone has any recommendations on the brand of trailer, or the best setup of a trailer and overall size/weight of the trailer that best suits the job for a old Shetland Family Four I'm very interested to hear your opinions.
thanks,
Derek
Our Family Four trailer is in pretty poor condition. I "fixed" some bad rust by grinding away some of the galvanising back on the good metal and welded in some angle iron and that's worked so far. The two wheels have a very negative camber (out at the bottom closer at the top from each other). I did replace the "rubber springs" suspension things a couple of years ago and it helped with that a bit but not entirely. The trailer is not braked and I'm always a bit worried about any journeys it takes - mostly that's very close trips but last year it did do a couple of longer trips to inland waterways where the family four is a very good boat to have.
So I'm thinking about trying to pick up a used, or new, trailer. The main reason is safety but I'm also interested in trying to understand if a "roller trailer" is better over the "bunk trailer" which we have now. I do think the bunk trailer has been really solid when it comes to me getting up and walking all over the boat to do repairs while I've had it at home (and I've had to do a lot of that) but retrieving it from a slipway is not always the easiest and I'm wondering if anyone here has an opinion on roller vs bunk trailers?
Finally if anyone has any recommendations on the brand of trailer, or the best setup of a trailer and overall size/weight of the trailer that best suits the job for a old Shetland Family Four I'm very interested to hear your opinions.
thanks,
Derek