Ramlin? Eagle? Off Brand?

[rleinen79]

My current boat is a 97 SNOB that sits on a 97 Shoreland'r single axle trailer. I don't like the trailer for several reasons, the two most prevelant being that it doesn't have the big nice carpeted pads to stop the bow. Growing up around multiple Nautiques, I'm bewildered by the abscence of such a wonderful feature. Instead, I just have a single roller to catch the bow, but It's a lot harder to "power it on" when you have to worry about the possibility of missing that roller and ending up over the front of the trailer ( which my brother managed to do in July and ruin my prop on one of the trailer bunks). :x Mistakes happen. Also, it won't fit in my garage because the tongue is ridicuously long. From the back of the boat with the swim platform removed is 24 1/2 feet to the tip of the tongue. Only 19'6" of that is boat. Plus, the boat sits what I think is really high on the trailer, and it just squeaks and rattles going down the road. You can see the boat, and mostly the trailer at

http://planetnautique.com/index.php?...ewtopic&t=3662

Everything I've ever heard about Ramlin is about 50/50 split good to bad. My local dealer reccomeds Eagle, but for the features I was looking for, it was about $3500, which is more than I'm interested in spending. Another dealer is trying to sell me on Trailmaster, which I don't know too much about, except they quoted me $2300 for a single axle, surge brakes, swing away tongue, LED lights, bow pads, and the "Inboard Package". I always live by the old "you get what you pay for" saying, and I'm afraid this trailer won't be much better than the Shoreland'r. Anyone have any experience with Trailmaster?

Sorry for the long post. I would appreciate anyone sharing any thoughts they may have.

[NautiqueJeff]

I have had two Ram-Lin trailers, a 1994 and a 2003, and both have been pretty good. I had brake issues with both of them, but the brakes aren't Ram-Lin products. They are solid trailers, and will hold up well. If you do decide to go with Ram-Lin, I would recommend the diamond plate steps. The standard wood steps are not good, for obvious reasons.

[AbunDiga909]

I agree w/ everything Jeff said, pretty much. Their trailers I've seen are very well-built. My dealer recomends them over Prestige and Eagle, at least for Nautiques. He uses Ram-Lin for his personal Nautique as well... This is what the Diamond Plate option looks like that Jeff was talking about...

Also, one thing about Ram-Lin that I see no other company still use, is the style of bow stopper. Ram-Lins have the style that actually stop the boat, with the "V" rubbed up against the rubrail. If you're actually in an accident, that will stop the boat from riding up your ***, oppose to the regular rollers which will just let the boat ride up on top of your vehicle. Its just nice to see a company that stays with the simple old-school style for keeping a boat in its place...

[speck]

i am very impressed with my eagle. on my 210 it uses only two bunks, which freaked me out a bit, but when i saw it i understood why (not much room under that narrow hull, and the pp ds, bal pickups, rw pickup etc). other that that the trailer is very solid, simple and very accurate in its dimentions. their cuts and welds are excellent. i ordered the crash pads (the uprights) and the bow cuddler (v-bunk) like abun was talking about, and they are adjustable back and forth to fine tune how far the boat is forward, and that the boat hits the v bunk and the crash pads at once. the paint was nice as well, actuator has clean lines, rear guides are tight. i like it! you'll never wear it out

[krs0394]

I just bought a trailmaster trailer for my 216 and am very happy with it. Paid $2000+tax :grin:

[AbunDiga909]

krs, do you have a pic yet? I see your boat is on a Ram-Lin, what made you steer away from them, just curious...

[krs0394]

$2000 vs. $4000 -- The trailer in that picture was used just to get the boat out of the rack -- I'll get a pic and post it Yellow_Flash_Colorz:

[krs0394]

Here are the pics

[krs0394]

Pic of old shore lander junk trailer

[rleinen79]

The picture of the prop guard on the trailmaster looks like it's about 2 inches off the ground. Do you have problems with it scraping? I have a little incline in my driveway and it doesn't look like that trailer would make it up. Also, are the tail lights flush in the frame?

[nautique95]

I have an '05 Prestige and I think it is the best trailer I have had! Three levels of bunks under the boat, oil bath hubs, torsion axel, swing away tongue, diamond plate steps (no carpet like on the CC which caused rust!). The one thing I didn't like is the front roller stop, so I took it off and put on a bow stop, works great!! I understand that Prestige had a few issues in the past, but these new trailers IMO are very well built trailers!!
Hey krs, I am your neighbor here in Coldwater!

[rleinen79]

You guys are both pretty close to me...I'm in South Bend

[bkhallpass]

In CA, Zieman and DHM are probably the most popular brands. I've had both, and both
are good trailers. Swing away tongues, crash pads, etc. Of the current models, I probalby
like the Zieman best. BKH

[Quinner]

I have had 3 Ram-Lins and 2 Eagles. Neither brand gave me any problems however I do prefer the Eagle for a couple reasons. As Speck said they are very well built, if you look at them side to side the Eagle just looks sturdier and the Eagle also goes down the road very well. My current trailer is an Eagle which hold my 05' 206, it has 4 bunks, 2 run about half way up from the rear and the other 2 run from the inside of the back two up to the front. The trailer has double axles w/disc brakes on all 4 wheels (it stops very well), Diamond plate, Oil hubs, swing away tongue, 5 flat connector (#5 is some sort of actuator that disables the brakes when in reverse) and Nautique graphics. My dealer talked me into the poly or rubber bow stop instead of the vee pads. Both have thier issues, the vee pad tends to wear out the cover and you also need to put the cover on the bow if you bring the boat tight to the vee and it can be tough to remove the cover while the boat is on the trailer once it is tight to the vee pad. My Ram-lin's had removable bow stops which helped in that situation, Eagle did not. With the rubber stop you need to be careful at steep launches not to mar up the pin tape. The boat will sit a bit higher on an Eagle also.
If you are interested in the Eagle and want to see some additional photos let me know.
Hope the info helps and good luck with your decision.

[TRBenj]

Ive never been impressed with the way the Ramlin trailers fit the Ski Nautique hull. If I were buying a new trailer, I would take a look at Boatmate. Do a search on this site- several people who have them are very happy. I believe they are cheaper than the Ramlins as well.