New Boat Trailer Prices???

[Pat Babaz]

Originally Posted by Duck Butter

I am going thru the same dilemna myself. This saltwater is eating away at my metal trailer. I was thinking of getting a used galvanized or possibly aluminum? But, never heard of this galvanizing stuff you roll on? What does it turn out like?

I think he's talking about cold galvanizing compound. It comes in spray cans or regular paint cans. Its usually a grey color and it protects metal against rust. Sand the rusty areas real good with a wire brush, put a coat of rust inhibitor on it, let it sit for a few hours, then spray on about 4 coats of cold galvanized. It will stop rust and prevent against saltwater corrosion.

[Duck Butter]

Originally Posted by Pat Babaz

I think he's talking about cold galvanizing compound. It comes in spray cans or regular paint cans. Its usually a grey color and it protects metal against rust. Sand the rusty areas real good with a wire brush, put a coat of rust inhibitor on it, let it sit for a few hours, then spray on about 4 coats of cold galvanized. It will stop rust and prevent against saltwater corrosion.

Does it look worth a flip?

[Pat Babaz]

Its pretty much the color of galvanized metal, but you can tell the trailer has been painted with it. It looks pretty good if you paint it on smooth and even.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Pat Babaz

I think he's talking about cold galvanizing compound. It comes in spray cans or regular paint cans. Its usually a grey color and it protects metal against rust. Sand the rusty areas real good with a wire brush, put a coat of rust inhibitor on it, let it sit for a few hours, then spray on about 4 coats of cold galvanized. It will stop rust and prevent against saltwater corrosion.

Once salt has gotten into the metal......it is too late to do anything.

You can sand blast until you think you are looking at good metal and then paint with the best stuff.......then in a couple of months it will start showing the rust again. I worked in a salt plant and nothing will protect the metal....once salt gets into the metal.

Galvanized metal last a long time in a salt environment, unless the "galvanized" coating gets chipped off.

I made some wheel fenders with galvanized metal about 6 years ago. I cleaned up the welds and where metal had been cut real good and sprayed with Cold Galvanized paint. The fenders still look just like when I installed them.

[ScubaLatt]

Having the same problem here. I bought my bay boat in 2005 right between "THE" 2 storms. The trailer was advertised as painted galvanized. Well they failed to use galvanized harware so now all my bolts are rusted. The fenders are coming off. Trying to decide if it is worth spening a lot of money or just buying a new one and starting over.

[catchandkill]

Unless you have have the time to rerig everything with stainless, which will hafta be oversized because it is relatively soft, I would consider buyin an aluminum trailer. I have owned both and think the aluminum is bettter, again, just my personal preference and 2 cents.

[jimdecoy]

There are some good products on the make to help combat rust. The best for the money are classed as rust converters. 2 name brands are Core Seal & EN-rust. It’s a base coat for raw steel that works great. Just clean the rusted area up best you can by chipping any flake layers and finish up with a wire wheel on a small angle grinder. Apply at least 2 coats of this product and use a galvanized top coat; I like the cold galvanized spray.
After owning and running offshore trawl boats over 10 years and another 10 years on oilfield vessels I tried just about every product on the market to combat rust. Rust converters best way to go.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by jimdecoy

There are some good products on the make to help combat rust. The best for the money are classed as rust converters. 2 name brands are Core Seal & EN-rust. It’s a base coat for raw steel that works great. Just clean the rusted area up best you can by chipping any flake layers and finish up with a wire wheel on a small angle grinder. Apply at least 2 coats of this product and use a galvanized top coat; I like the cold galvanized spray.
After owning and running offshore trawl boats over 10 years and another 10 years on oilfield vessels I tried just about every product on the market to combat rust. Rust converters best way to go.

After you "paint" the rusty metal this way...... how long does it stay looking good?

[jimdecoy]

When done properly I’ve seen this last for years in an offshore environment. As long as you get the metal fairly clean and a good coat of converter, at least 2 applications with a brush and a good top coat to seal it in it will last.


If you have a piece of tubing or something that has rusted all the way through and you can only properly treat the outside it is almost impossible to stop the rust bleeding. At this point the structural integrity of the trailer is most likely jeopardized and I would just replace the wasted steel.


Back to the original topic, yes new boat trailers are outrageously priced. I’m shopping to put together a new mid-range package, 17’x60” aluminum w/ a 60 four stroke, and the trailers for this rig are around 1800 bucks. You can buy a new 16’ double axle lowboy trailer for what they are getting for is little galvanized boat trailer.