In a boatyard or marina, having the right equipment on hand to get the job done should be priority one. The last thing that anyone needs is to have to try to make do with yard trailers that aren’t efficient and that don’t have the safety features and the operational functions needed.
When adding a trailer to your equipment inventory, there are several important needs to determine. By knowing what you need in yard trailers you can narrow down your choices and then choose the additional features that are nice extras to have.
If you don’t know the needs, it is easy to get caught up in the features. This will result in trailers at the yard or marina that are great for specific boat hauling needs, but not ideal for continual use with the vast majority of the watercraft you handle.
Towed Trailers
Towed boat trailers are the lowest cost option as they do not have the motor and more advanced system for operator safety found on the top self-propelled systems. In addition to cost, these boat trailers, when purchased from top manufacturers, are a lifetime purchase.
With just basic maintenance the towed yard trailers will never have any downtime and will stand up to all types of use. However, as with the self-propelled trailers, it will be important to only operate within the load capacity recommended.
Self-Propelled
The self-propelled yard trailer avoids the need of having a truck or tractor around for towing. These trailers are also more maneuverable, an important consideration in a busy marina or boatyard where space is at a premium.
The best of these trailers are built to allow the operator full visibility around the trailer and the boat once it is loaded. This is typically provided by onboard cameras that display on the console at the operator’s location, making it easy for one person to easily transport any size of boat you may need to move.
