Hi Jeremy,

Aren't the Trailex trailers nice !!! Around here we are about 50/50 with galavanized vs alumininum trailors. The Trailex people are realy nice and easy to deal with. I needed a new Mast step for my friends trailer last year because of a new truck with cap, and were leaving for the NAs in only a few days. They got the parts to me quickly and they were exactly what we needed.

But Aluminum does have its issues. it will "fatigue" and then fail under a seemly lite load, only a 25% to 50% load, Ok. So you have to be very careful about vibrations/harmonics. A friend had assembled his and placed the mast step exactly 1/2 way between the hitch and fork (Y) were the side rails meet. Several years later the tongue just failed !!! right under the mast step.

Steel never fails like that. It will general carry high % of the rated load until it fails for some other reason (corrosion???). That is why they retire airplanes, the air frame has been through too many vibrational cycles. (Jimmy Stewart starred in a movie about the british scientist that dicovered this, noboby believed him at the time!!!)

If memory serves me, Trailex made TWO different H-21 trailers. A standard (1) boat model, and a double stacker model. The H-21se wieghed about 600lbs each (I do like the boat, it has WINGS) so a double stack exceeded the standard trailer's rating. I think (???) that the double-stack trailer had siderails that the "web" diminsion (hieght) was 1-2" taller. From mech eng classes I seem to recall a formular for "MODULUS of STRENGTH"= 1/12(base X (HxHxH)), so you can see how important/factor the web dimension is.

So while I have (2) gal steel trailers my dream is a Trailex H-21 Double-Stacker. But it was/is pricey. Thr Trailex with its bigger tire dia and the lite wieght make them much easier to use on a sandy beach. Of course if you load them down with boxes, gear, coolers, ...

Idea for A-Cat(ter): Water ballast !!! install a tube and fill with water, you'll be able to wash your boat .... you could use old beer kegs ... you could use new beer kegs ... new FULL beer kegs!!!! Ya thats the ticket!!!!

I'm actually very jealous of my A-Cat friends and their beautiful 164Lb boats and hi-tech sails. Of course you can't FLOG them like a H-18mag, P-19mx, I(N?)-20 ....)

Hope these comments help,
HarryMurphey
H-18mag/#9458
P-19mx
Hobie Fleet 54/CRAC