Sea Link Trailer or Dunbier Trailer for my new boat

[dbates]

I am looking at ordering a new 6.25mt Fibre Glass Half Cabin Blue Water Boat and the manufactures have offered a Dunbier trailer or option of Sea Link MT20 trailer, I am after some advice on what might be the better trailer as I have no idea and want the trailer to last. :-?

[Dantren]

Mate, I suggest making an apointment with each company & looking at their operation & products. Ask about the different types available for your style of boating. I reckon the decision will be easy then......... It takes a lot more time & effort but you won't regret it.
Personally I wouldn't decide based on price. After all, It will be carrying your new pride & joy.
Dan.

[wrxhoon]

If you want a trailer to last get an ally I beam trailer with bolted crossmembers and duratorque suspension. She will outlast any gal trailer and if want less maintenance get stainless steel brakes .
If you shop around there are a few that sell USA built trailers built to Aussie specs and not much dearer than a well built gal trailer.

A 6.25 mt boat will be over 2000kg including trailer so you need brakes on all four and a brakeaway system, that adds $3-4000 to the price.

[Captain Seaweed]

I bought the new Dunbier Aluminium trailer. I am happy with design and strength. FMS would be my option if going steel. Having said that the Dunbier isnt 100% aluminium. Main frame is but axles and roller brackets are galvanised for strength.
FMS are go getters and are well priced. The trailers I have seen out of there are smart and well designed. if you search Nuggets forum you will find a video on his FMS trailer.

Marty

[charleville]

I cannot comment about the Dunbier trailer, which I believe to be a good brand, but I have had a Sealink trailer under my Quintrex runabout for 8 1/2 years and although it is showing a bit of rust now, it is not too bad and indeed I have always been impressed by just how beefy it looks.

In some years, my boat has been used up to six times per week in the peak winter fishing months. The areas where rust is apparent are those which I have usually not hosed off very well after outings because it has been hard to get around the side of my house with the hose to get to some parts. (= laziness ::) )

The rust will of course be a function of the quality of the galvanising as well as the amount of hosing with fresh water afterwards.

You can see what my trailer looks like underneath a little bit on the video shown halfway down the page in this thread ... http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=165337&page=2 (In that video, the brown bits in on rear cross member of the trailer are not rust. They are just where I have sprayed a bit of Inox which has picked up some dust and other crud.)

So the trailer has a bit of rust here and there but after lots of use over 8 1/2 years, it is not too bad. I have had no other maintenance issues with the trailer.

I cannot really do a comparison for you but as a sample size of one, I have not been unhappy with my Sealink trailer.


.

[dbates]

Thanks for the comments guys, has anyone had issues with the sealink trailers that would cause me to go the dunbier but.:-?

[Marlin_Mike]

Only ever had Dunbier's, love em, cant comment on sea link as I never had one.

Mike

[Alchemy]

I had a Sea-Link under my 6.5m platey for 5 years from new and it never missed a beat. Though after 5 years of regular use and drive on/off launching it was looking a bit tired.

My new Origin Evolution will have one of their alloy trailers under it. An obvious benefit with this is that there will never be major corrosion issues, except possibly on the gal Duratorque axles. It is also fitted with stainless calipers and disks. The other benefit is weight. My Sea-Link weighed in at 600kg, whereas the new Origin trailer is only 560kg and it is a much bigger trailer. Here is a link to a thread on it http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=166598

Regards,
Dave.

[surveyor]

have you tried makay trailers they are one of the best i have seen for quality i was recewntly in the market and (went another way but having second thoughts now) i found speak to the factory direct and haggle ,they seem to be keen to deal and i suspect have lost a lot of the market share over the last few years due to the imports and new players .

[peterbo3]

I have a 3000kg Sea Link coming up to 3 years old. No rust but it was sprayed internally with wax by Downey St Lube before it ever saw salt water. About $260 from memory. It seems to be well built but I do the internal frame with the hose after every launch plus it has had the lights replaced with LEDs.

[rosco1974]

g'day
have a makocraft trailer which is a rebadged sealink trailer,its 2and a 1/2 yr old trailer and has gone through 1break cable,1 winch cable set of lights and think i will be lucky to get 5 years out of it,at presant it is getting all the u bolts replaced as the original ones arn't galvanised and have rusted,the boat is used atleast every 2nd weekend but in summer up to 5 times a week,trailer washed after every trip,would buy a dumbier if it was me,will be my next trailer
cheers rosco

[MikeyS]

The 5.75m boat and Sealink trailer I bought a few years back were only 18 months old. I was very disappointed with the amount of corrosion on the brake cables and some other brake components of the Sealink trailer. It didn't look as though some parts which would be regularly dunked in the briny were galvanized or corrosion resistant. I ended up replacing these, which wasn't a major drama, but it did pss me off that some components were clearly not suitable for a marine environment. The previous owner may not have been too diligent in washing it down after each use, but even still, 18 mths was a pretty short lifespan.
Otherwise I've had no problems with it. So from my experience, I'd suggest checking which has the best corrosion resistant fittings. That being said, I suspect that the greatest influence on longevity is how well you wash it down after each salty dunking.

[TREVELLY]

I looked at getting either sea-link or dunbier and got this:-

I am in the process now of replacing wheel bearings and putting on dura-hubs ;)