No trailer brakes

Justin_NSA · Apr 26, 2019

Is it the Mac26S in your profile or something heavier? I believe you, but Mac trailers had surge brakes. I had one. I'm not sure how well surge brakes work or if you effectively have no brakes even with them.
I think you could get it home without, but if you are going to trailer sail, you'll want brakes.

Justin_NSA · Apr 26, 2019

Maybe they were optional? If that's the case, given that Roger advertised towing with light duty vehicles, one might assume you would be okay. I'd still add brakes before I do much towing. We just slipped ours each year. Towed about 1/8 mile from boatyard to ramp.

SkookumZac · Apr 26, 2019

If the trailer is less than 3000lbs it's not required to have brakes anyway. I'd go for it and just be careful.

The only exception would be if you had to take it thru a mountain pass or some other hazard to get it home. I left a boat in Tennessee that had brake issues because I didn't want to risk the Appalachian mountains.

One cautious option you have, that I wish I had thought of back in Tennessee, is to tow it carefully to the nearest trailer dealer, and pay them to do all the necessary repairs, then take it the rest of the way home.

-Z

tjar · Apr 26, 2019

The brakes on my old 26D trailer didn't work either. I towed it over mountain passes with my Explorer without any problems. Just leave yourself extra distance to stop.
If one third of the boat hangs over the trailer like the original ones do, be very careful of sway. Anything over 60 mph my original trailer became uncontrollable.

MikeHoncho · Apr 26, 2019

I've never seen a towing rating with and without trailer brakes but I haven't seen everything. I would confirm your info if you haven't. You hurting someone else on the road isn't worth the rental cost of a capable truck. I've been on many tow vehicle related deaths. Not good and so preventable.

Kermit · Apr 26, 2019

Justin_NSA said:
I'm not sure how well surge brakes work or if you effectively have no brakes even with them.

I absolutely love my surge brakes. My Expedition stops better while towing my H260 than when towing nothing at all. Seriously.

Justin_NSA · Apr 26, 2019

Kermit said:
I absolutely love my surge brakes. My Expedition stops better while towing my H260 than when towing nothing at all. Seriously.

The mac manual says to back up slowly so you don't engage them, so i guess they work when they are maintained. I replaced the master cylinder before I sold the boat.
For the OP, if you were starting fresh, would you go with surge again or electric?

Meriachee · Apr 26, 2019

All of the factory 26 series trailers had surge brakes.

Meriachee · Apr 26, 2019

Justin_NSA said:
would you go with surge again or electric?

All the axles on the little Cat trailer have electric brakes. The adjustability through the controller in the truck is a very nice feature. The setting for a loaded trailer will lock up the wheels with the trailer empty, and it's easy to balance the braking effort between the trailer and the truck. Can't do that with surge brakes.

Justin_NSA · Apr 26, 2019

Meriachee said:
All the axles on the little Cat trailer have electric brakes. The adjustability through the controller in the truck is a very nice feature. The setting for a loaded trailer will lock up the wheels with the trailer empty, and it's easy to balance the braking effort between the trailer and the truck. Can't do that with surge brakes.

If I ever decide to make my Hunter's trailer roadworthy I'm going with electric. I have 11k lbs to stop! I only use it to get from the boatyard to the crane. It has no fenders either. It's essentially a yard trailer.

Meriachee · Apr 26, 2019

Yessir! The little Cat on the trailer is about 11,500. People seem to forget to add the weight of the trailer itself when throwing numbers around.

AndyVS · Apr 26, 2019

My 26S trailer does not have brakes & I'm pulling with a Chevy Tahoe. I make sure to have plenty of tongue weight to minimize sway. If you can lift the tongue with your arms, it's too light. I move most everything inside the boat to the front V-berth. I do leave the outboard on the back, mine is too heavy to remove. If the motor is light enough, I would remove it. I take the rudder off and empty the laz.
Not sure how far you have to get it home but grease the trailer wheels if possible.

Project_Mayhem · Apr 26, 2019

I'd be more concerned with how well your transmission and suspension can handle the extra weight. If the suspension can't handle it properly then your braking and handling will suffer. I tried installing a brake controller before adding air bags. I should've done just the opposite. Enterprise Truck Rental and Uhaul both rent trucks that you can tow with. If the tow vehicle is capable of handling the extra weight then I wouldnt be too concerned about not having brakes. Just give your self extra room and keep the speeds reasonable

Kermit · Apr 26, 2019

Justin_NSA said:
The mac manual says to back up slowly so you don't engage them, so i guess they work when they are maintained. I replaced the master cylinder before I sold the boat.
For the OP, if you were starting fresh, would you go with surge again or electric?

I haven’t used electric brakes but I’ve never once wished the surge brakes acted any different than they do. (My wife wishes she could say the same about me.) They automatically lock out when backing up. And I’ve never had problems towing the trailer without the boat, either.

Sumner · Apr 26, 2019

Our 26 S trailer didn't have brakes and I feel that it was a factory trailer. Also know of others that their trailer doesn't have brakes either. Towed from Utah to Canada (lots of mountains) without them but was towing with a Suburban. Didn't like it though so added a second axle and have surge disc brakes on that axle. The suburban weighs way more than the boat so it isn't effected by the boat as much as say a vehicle that weighs close to the boat/trailer weight. I've seen a number of vehicles that have a towing rating of close to what the boat and trailer weighs but wouldn't want to tow with them as the physics of the boat being a long load with a lot of leverage on the tow vehicle is different than say the same load in a much shorter compact trailer. I had a 4500# Jeep longer wheel base Scrambler that I first towed with. First trip dropping a 1000 feet into a canyon on the way to Lake Powell I found that the combination was a hand full with the trailer being single axle/no brakes at the time. I then bought the Suburban and even though the trailer was still the same the towing was a completely different situation. If you live and tow where it is relatively flat the story again changes.

I also have a 18 foot car-hauler trailer with electric brakes. I like the surge brakes much more than the electric. Surge brakes adjust to the load and the braking forces automatically just from the pressure on them. I can adjust the electric but they still don't work as well over varying conditions in my opinion. The electric are more prone to water/corrosion damage, especially in salt water, vs. surge brakes. A number of springs and moving parts in the brake drum that gets in the water every time you launch. Disc have far fewer parts and the brake cylinder and other moving parts are up on the tonguy. If at some point you add brakes my choice would be surge.

What are you actually pulling the boat with?

Keep the speed down and as mentioned above really increase the distance between you and cars in front of you. Still you can have the problem of someone pulling out in front of you from a side street or parking lot. Just drive way more defensively. As Kermit mentioned you can setup surge so they won't engage when backing up with a solenoid that is activated by your backup light circuit or you can get out and put a pin in them so they won't engage,

Sumner
======================================================================
1300 miles to The Bahamas and Back in the Mac...
Endeavour 37 Mods...
MacGregor 26-S Mods...
Mac Trips to Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Canada, Florida, Bahamas

Sumner · Apr 26, 2019

Looks like it is fairly heavy at around 4600#. I'd take anything out of the boat you can and put it in the tow vehicle. I'd rather have an under-powered heavier tow vehicle vs. a lighter one with more power. The bad experience I had with the jeep was that it was about 500# less than your vehicle and had about a 15" shorter wheelbase and the road was way steeper than say any section of a normal highway or interstate.

An empty 26S and single axle trailer should weigh about 2600-2800#. I'd tow with your vehicle but would keep the speeds under 65 and vehicle distances as much as possible. If you notice no trailer sway happening then 70 might be ok on a controlled interstate,

Sumner
======================================================================
1300 miles to The Bahamas and Back in the Mac...
Endeavour 37 Mods...
MacGregor 26-S Mods...
Mac Trips to Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Canada, Florida, Bahamas

Knuttle · Apr 26, 2019

[QUOTE="If one third of the boat hangs over the trailer like the original ones do, be very careful of sway. Anything over 60 mph my original trailer became uncontrollable.[/QUOTE]

I have pulled a boat for over 50 years, and it is not necessarily overhang that causes sway, but the loading of the boat. When I am pulling the boat and I do experience sway, I increase the weight in the front of the Boat (IE increase the tongue weight). If the weight behind the axles, is significantly greater than the weight on the tongue, the trailer will be prone to swaying, regardless of the overhang.