H23.5 trailer brakes?

[Karyon]

Just bought my hunter 23.5 this past August, I towed the boat over 500 miles, I was a little surprized that the trailer did not have any brakes on it, and crossing the rocky mountains I was a bit worried.

Was it an option to get brakes on the 23.5 trailer? Or did they all come without brakes?
I'm thinking of adding brakes, but what kind ? I will be only launching in fresh water, would just electric brakes work?

 

[VT Fitz]

The trailer for our 23.5, Grasshopper, does not have brakes. However, if I were in the Rockies...

We live amid the little bumps called the Green Mountains of Vermont, but we generally head south to the flatlands of Southern New England & launch on LI Sound for the season. If we trailered more often, especially heading north toward Lake Champlain, I think brakes would be a wise precaution.

We are considering moving up to Grasshopper's bigger sister, the 260, and that model is considerably heavier, and its trailer has tandem axles and brakes.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Orignally brakes were an option on the trailer as the trailer and boat were below 3000 pounds. You should be able to add brakes to the trailer. If towing a lot I would suggest that you get them added. If the axle is not the kind you can add brakes to, then bite the bullet and get them

 

[Capt jgw]

I've had two boat trailers over 6000#, both had electric brakes. I never liked surge brakes, I think their only advantage is you don't need to add anything to the tow vehicle.
Big advantage of electric is that if the rig starts to sway, you can tap the electric brake control and she'll straighten out. You can't do that with surge brakes.
And they don't come on by themselves when you try to back up like surge brakes can. They're also cheaper and easier to install, but you need the controller in the vehicle.
Just unplug before you back into the water, and rinse out with fresh water if you've been in salt. (you should be doing that anyway).

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Like any brakes regardless of surge or electric, they have to be maintained. Surge brakes are just that. When you brake, the trailer will move forward activating the surge brakes and when pulling out it releases the brakes. As for backing up, the newer systems or brake actuators have a pin or lock of some sort to keep that mechanism from moving thus the brakes will not work. On the older styles, I used a flat head screwdriver to prevent that mechanism from sliding. With electric and immersing into water all the time, a lot more maintenance but either way, if the brakes are not maintained, they will not work properly. As a dealer, I worked with both towing up to 34 feet behind my fleet of dooleys but now retired. As for your boat, the first to leave the factory which was promoted on the east coast was by me. I know that boat too well. Surge brakes is preferred

 

[SFKjeld]

I bought my 23.5 early this year in Reno. I was forced (long story) to tow the boat over the Sierras to the SF Bay Area without the trailer's brakes. I never went over 55mph. Had absolutely no issue at all. My tow vehicle was a Uhaul Ford PU truck. Was hard to tell the boat was back there apart from the rear view mirror.