Salt Water Proofing Painted Boat Trailer

[Barry Dufour]

I have a 2002 Nitro 750SC with a 75HP Mercury. THe boat came with a factory painted trailer. I live about 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. I would like to start salt water fishing but I am unsure of using the trailer. Someone one at work had talked about sealing (?) the trailer paint. Is this possible or should I just buy an aluminum trailer?

Barry

 

[Texas Transplant]

If you are going to go regularly, I'd suggest investing in a galvinized trailer. You can certainly take precautions (washing/rinising/etc) after you leave the gulf, but best bet is to have the right equipment to start with. You'll be happier in the long run.



Tex

 

[Michael Snow]

A trailer shop might be able to sandblast your trailer and galvanize it. I know a local guy that can get it done in Dallas. I don't know what the fee is. BUT, you'll still have your normal brake hardware and brake lines and all that jazz. Nitro trailers use a box frame which will hold water and allow it to rust. Now, adding SALT water to that equation will leave you with not much of a trailer pretty fast. Your BOAT also isn't made for saltwater. Your electrical system isn't protected against saltwater corrosion and you're seriously looking at more problems than it's probably worth. Of course, this is second-hand info, simply regurgitated, so if the original source is wrong, so is this info. But I'm pretty sure you're asking for trouble. You might call Nitro customer service and ask their opinion.

 

[fatrap]

Man you don't even want to try it. Just got back from Fla and one of my buddies down there has a pontoon with a painted trailer and gave the salty thing a try. Salt attacks everything. He couldn't even give the old trailer away. By a galvanized trailer it's not worth try this and that and then ruining your trailer and then having to buy another. My 2 cents.

fatrap

 

[Texas Transplant]

Mike makes a good point. Your trolling motor and engine are not 'engineered' and ready for salt water. Generally speaking, most of the mfg's strongly suggest using the salt water version of their products, if you are going to do any repeated dunking into the ocean.



Tex

 

[Mike L.]

Barry, If it was my boat, it would never see salt water.



I'm just a half hour from some great saltwater fishing, but I won't even put my 'tin' Tracker in it!



You can buy a saltwater boat and use it in freshwater, but doing it the other way around, to me, is just asking for lots of long term trouble!

 

[TrepMan]

I wish I had bought a Galvenized trailer for my Tracker. On the "made for saltwater" thing, I wonder about that. I know when I was looking at the Aluminium boats there were a LOT in FL on galvenized trailers for sale, one place (can't remember the name but saw it on boattraderonline.com, had rigged a polling platform on the back of a PC 175 and advertized the boat as the "ultimate bay/flats boat".



I would LOVE to take my 175 into Savanah or FL bays, trailer I figure Staci did it with her old Nitro for years, if it dies I blow a grand and get a galvenized one, I am more worried about the carpet and electrical stuff.



Trep

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

I have lived right on a salt water river all my life. I have bass fished for 35 years. Whatever boat I have had at the time, either glass or tin, I have used on that river, and a number more that were brackish. I have NEVER had a problem that was salt water related. I have always had galvanized trailers but I still rinse it off as well as I can when I get home. I also rinse EVERYTHING else of, ie., trolling motor, boat itself, exterior of outboard. I also hose off the interior and then I run fresh water through the motor.

I would worry a little about the painted trailer but nothing else.



Bill