196 trailer alternatives

[ClemsonDave]

Anyone have something other than a Ram-Lin? Please share likes/dislikes.

[DanielC]

RE: 196 trailer alternatives

My 1997 Ski is sitting on a Ryan trailer. It is a locally made trailer, here in the Portland, Oregon. It is a very nice, easy to tow trailer.
I would suggest you get a trailer with disc brakes, they are much easier on your tow vehicle. If you get tires with a higher load rating
on them, you can run higher air pressure, the trailer rolls easier, is more stable goung around corners, and you will use less fuel towing the boat.
Consider how much you are going to tow your boat. If you moor your boat in the water, and only use the trailer twice a year, the trailer is not important as if it is if you tow the boat somewhere each weekend throughout the Summer.

[east tx skier]

1998 SN on a Dorsey.

Great company, extremely solid trailer. Tows great. Customer service at Dorsey is wonderful.

On the cons, it's quite a bit longer than my last boat trailer and with the four bunk setup, seems to need a little more depth to load.

[TRBenj]

Dave, take a look at Boatmate. If I were ordering a new trailer, Id give them strong consideration.

[MARK-S]

Dave,
I had ramlin for years and loved them. Then my 03 came with a Prestige and I was not to happy with that trailer.
But my 06 and 07 prestige trailers are awesome. They are built to last and pull great.

[igkya]

I'll 2nd the Boatmate.

[ClemsonDave]

My '03 came with a Ramlin and I was pretty happy with it. I love the bow stops; I didn't even have to connect the strap(towing 300' to garage). I rarely trailer it any distance. Pretty much pull it out of the water and put it in the garage. I think my '99 came with a Prestige. I'll look into those and the Boatmate. Thanks.

[Rick]

Alot of the boats on the West Coast come with DHM trailers from Sacramento. I love my dual axel. The swingaway tongue works well and the disk brake and actuater work really well. If you trailer alot go with a dual axel. If not you can save around 400lbs with a single.

[Quinner]

Have owned Ram-Lins and Eagles, both have been good trailers, the Eagle is definitely a beefier trailer with boxed steel construction. The boat sits higher on the Eagle which eliminates the chance of the hull ending up on the fender. Current trailer is an Eagle, it has (4) disc brakes and stops really well, the dealer talked me into a bow stop as apposed to the crash pad's, will never do that again as it makes loading on any kind of pitched ramp a total PITA. Dual axles are very nice if you ever tow any distance however not totally necessary for the smaller SN's. A couple things to consider are height if you have a tower and swing away tongue if your garage depth is limited.

[bkhallpass]

Alot of the boats on the West Coast come with DHM trailers from Sacramento.

Agreed. Zieman and Sport Boat are also pretty popular in Northern California.

BKH

[CradGen2]

Here are my top 3 in order. Ramlin, Dorsey (tank like trailer) and Prestige. Personally against Boatmate and Eagle JMO. Never heard of Ryan trailers. Watch what trailers you look at if you are trying to get it in a garage, 196 shouldn't be an issue though.

[Rick]

It depends on the garage... my 196 on a DHM with swingtongue fis on one side of a std. 2 car garage in San Diego. With the swim step off and tongue foldes it is 20"6" That gives me 6" of clearence. I use wheel dollies ( search the forum for pictures) to push it up to the side.

[neskier]

Great topic. I prefer a bump stop of some sort over a roller as well. It doesn't leave marks on the gel coat. I do notice the Eagle seems to have the boat higher in the bunks than some others. Does it take a little deeper water to launch with the Eagle over others? Do swing away tounges give any long term trouble with wiring or brake lines? Are disc brakes really that much better than drum?

[Quinner]

NESkier,

The roller stop has created a couple issues, the biggest one being when the boat loads it is generally level with the water while the trailer is angled downward, this brings the bow below the stop, we just pull the boat mostly forward, inch trailer out until the bow rises above the roller then crank it the remaining +/-6" forward, never pull it tight as it will then just tear up the pin tape at the bow which is the other issue. The Eagle does sit higher however it does not seem like we need to pull in that much more than with the ramlins although I do prefer to back in very deep so the boat will float on as much as possible thus eliminating the chance of scratching the colored hull on the bunks. The swing away tongues I have had are designed to do just that so the wiring & brake lines are not an issue. The disc brakes stop very well, having (4) on my trailer the stopping ability of my suburban is pretty similar with or without the boat in tow, I would think the other advantage of the disc's will be maintenance or ease of service. One other thing not mentioned yet is the hubs, mine has the oil bath hubs, so far they have been great, no leaks or grease on the wheels like the old style.

Some of those west coast trailer manufacturers do make some very nice looking trailers, not sure how well they preform, but they do look great.

[neskier]

Oh yes, forgot about the oil bath hubs. I have heard good ans bads about those as well. What about rust and corrosion. Around here we only have frssh water lakes, but over time they do still begin to rust. Not to brand bash at all, but another forum was talking about the Ramlins having a lot of trouble with rust around the carpeted step pads and fenders. I know they will all rust a little eventually, but any brands better or worse than others? I think the extra premium of galvanized is not really needed around here, and of course doesn't look as good as custom paint.