Take A Look At This Trailer...

A

Alpheus

New Member
Jul 16, 2009
71
Hampton,VA
Boat Info
1994 Sea Ray 200BR
Engines
5.7
Take A Look At This Trailer... ***UPDATE***

I picked this boat up last week for a hell of a deal (or so I thought) The boat is a 94 Sea Ray 200BR Here is a link to that post:
http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25914

I bought this boat off of a MasterCraft dealer who took the boat in on a trade. He said that the original trailer was shot that was on the boat and that He had put the boat onto this trailer. A 2006 MasterCraft trailer. I noticed the rust spots on it but He told me that it was cosmetic and the trailer was structurally sound and that it was just serviced in August. Now being a 2006 trailer and He knows more about these trailers than I do,who was I to argue. Now the price was right the boat and I figured the trailer would be an added bonus right??? WRONG!!!

Last night I decided to move my boat from one side of the driveway to the other to get some stuff out of my garage. I hooked up the boat,put the truck in gear pulled up about 3 feet and heard a load thud.

Here is the outcome:

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Keep in mind that this trailer is less than 3 years old. This could have snapped off when I was bringing it home and could have killed someone.

Anyways after allot of help from my neighbors we got the trailer up on some blocks and I snapped a couple of pics of the carnage. I couldn't snap pics of it still hooked to my truck because I was in the middle of the street. I had to turn the truck around and drag it backwards off the road.

This trailer is 100% trash there is nothing to weld to so as to repair it. How many of these trailers are traveling up and down the coastal states that are older than this one? Where this frame broke there is no way to rinse salt water out of the inside of the tube frame.
 
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Holy S*&%...and I told you the trailer was worth what you paid! That is crazy, glad nobody was hurt.
 
I had almost the same thing happen to me last year after buying a used pontoon boat only the trailer bent to a -v where yours broke,dropping the front the the road and dragging.it sucked as we almost crashed going 45 mph. had to have a big flat bed load boat on and bring home.think boat was jinxed because a few months later a drunk hit the boat while it was parked in my driveway.insurance payed up and now i have a '81 sundancer.the boat gods work in mysterious ways:smt024
 
He had to know that trailer was shot and couldn't wait to get rid of it! I'd be talking to him on Monday morning! Send him the pics or take them in and see what he says. I'm surprised you got it home without any kind of an incident! I'd guess road stresses would be worse than those encountered in your driveway. Good luck and keep us posted!!
 
I know it says "Master Craft" on it but who actually made the trailer?
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Its made by MasterCraft. I posted this over at the MasterCraft forum and most of the people are being cool about it but I just got hit by a ney sayer...

I told them for such a high end boat I cant believe that there trailers don't hold together so good and that Bayliners use a better trailer...
 
So glad for you that this happened in the drive and not on the road. Safety chains would have done nothing for that. 3 yr old trailer enginered to go in and out of water! thats wac...

I had a similar failure of the box frame on my truck hitch. No place for water to go and rusted from inside out.

I cant tell from the pics, but is the failed frame section closed up as to trap water? ... Ron
 
Holy Crap!!!!!:wow::wow::wow::wow::wow::wow:
I have never see anything like that.

Mind you I am not around salt water but Jezzz! that could have been me coming the other way down the 2 lane road when it broke.

Yea, pay that guy a visit. Be nice at first..... If he had no idea I think he will make it good and sigh himself becasue if that had killed some one he would be on the stand at the trial also....

And let him know this.............

If he's a ass,, I bet he did know and I would drop the full legal hammer on him... If he knew, then this was potentially fatal negligence.

Gezzz thanks to GOD this did not happen on the road.
 
WOW....I bit my tongue when I saw the trailer combo set up on the original post.
I had a friend who recently bought a Sundeck 210 From Bassett Boats in West Springfield and it was set up on a used trailer for a 190....Long story short on the way home one day he bent the axle since the boat was way too heavy for the trailer....They made hime buy a new one..WTF???

Anyway glad no one got hurt and I hope all works out well for you regarding getting this rectified
 
Alpheus go buy a lottery ticket.

Holy crap dude, there are so many things that could have changed your life and others it's unimaginable. Count your blessings and drop the hammer on the seller.
 
This is a dealer, correct? He should know better, and it is gross negligence if he did not inspect the trailer. It is criminal negligence if he knew and sold the boat anyway. I am not a lawyer. I am an engineer, but I know the legal standards. Gross negligence pays out at 3X actual damages plus punitive damages. Criminal negligence involves jail time. The dealer should be closed down.
 
I'm thankful no one was hurt...

If you purchased this and it wasn't apparent that there was a major problem before the tongue fell off, I fail to see how the dealer/seller should be responsible. Unless they hid or knew of the potential problem they are off the hook in my book. Do you have some documentation from the seller saying the trailer was inspected ever? If so, then you have a case. I bet on a three year trailer, they would not even look twice. I think the Manufacture is more liable than the sellers, but only if true negligence was apparent.

Would I raise the concern to both the seller and the manufacture of the potential disaster? Without a doubt!

I suspect the tongue was subjected to some strange position that enabled it to hold water in some way while being stored. My $ .02.
 
Good point about the designer/manufacturer carrying some of the responsibility. The tongue should be designed to start buckling before it breaks. What is shocking is that this failed catastrophically without first showing structural distress.

Sea Rays are quite a bit heavier than Mastercraft. Is there a weight limit for the trailer?
 
springer3 said:
Sea Rays are quite a bit heavier than Mastercraft. Is there a weight limit for the trailer?
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In addition... It's hard to tell from the angle of the picture, but the boat appears to be sitting further forward than it should. This would put more weight on the junction at the "A" of the trailer.

Just a side note for anyone purchasing a used trailer... a gentle/medium tapping with a hammer in key areas (low points) will tell you very quickly the condition of the steel (compare the feeling/sound to other areas).

As others have said, take some comfort in the fact that it at least happened where no one got hurt.

Good luck - I hope it all works out for you in the end.
 
After zooming in on a few pics it’s was obvious that there was more than surface rust going on. The metal was actually eroded away/flaking off in the area of the failure. I don’t know if the dealer inspected the trailer or knew how bad it was but the flags were there for both him and the buyer to see. It looks like other areas are rotting away also, the v in the frame under the outdrive, paint appears to be bubbling around the rear side marker light, there is something going on at the bottom of the tongue by the swing away pivot pin. Certainly the seller of the trailer needs to be brought into this but just as important I think I would go directly to the trailer manufacturer with this. Like others have said I wonder how many trailers are out there on the highway ready to let go. This could be a material batch/supplier problem and design flaws. Pure luck there were no accidents because of this.
 
It's hard to tell from the angle of the picture, but the boat appears to be sitting further forward than it should. This would put more weight on the junction at the "A" of the trailer.
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The boat slid forward about a foot when the trailer fell.

Sea Rays are quite a bit heavier than Mastercraft. Is there a weight limit for the trailer?
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The trailer was designed for a longer heavier boat so weight was not an issue.

When I went to look at this boat I noticed the rust in the front. I even started peeling some of the flake off with my finger. The dealer told me that it was a decorative piece that covers the point were all three tubes come together. He specifically said "MasterCraft dont build junk, this trailer is rock solid.That's an easy fix". I also raised the question about how the boat was loaded onto the trailer, and if the load is being distributed equally on both axles. He said "Ive been doing this long enough to know how to position a boat onto the trailer". Who am I to argue with him? He is a professional who has been doing this a heck of alot longer than me. The guy has a big shop and more than a million dollars of boats on his lot. He must be doing something right.



Anyways I got a lengthy email from a Big Wig from MasterCraft who wanted to know which dealer sold me that trailer...:huh:
 
Wow, that's nuts! It's very deceiving because the trailer appears to be in very good condition. I would document the entire case and put your lawyer in the loop. You should definitely have some recourse with the dealer.

Doug
 
Alpheus said:
Anyways I got a lengthy email from a Big Wig from MasterCraft who wanted to know which dealer sold me that trailer...:huh:
Click to expand...

That, at least, sounds like things are moving in the right direction for you. Keep us updated - I think we're all curious to see how this ends up.
 
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