WHAT IS THE RIGHT SIZE TRAILER

[dbassauto]

HI, I JUST PURCHASED MY FIRST SEACRAFT 1975 23 FOOT SCEPTRE IO
WONDERING WHAT THE BOAT WEIGHS AND WHAT SIZE AND BRAND TRAILER TO BUY. 5.7 VOLVO PENTA WITH DUOPROP THANKS IN ADVANCE TOM FRON LONG ISLAND

[BigLew]

bitogood;

First, welcome aboard!

I have basically the same setup, only its an 1985. If you look up in the Brochure and specifications section of this forum you'll see that the hull basically weighs 3000 pounds. Add 1200 pounds for the outdrive and engine, up to 100lbs for gas (mine has a 140 gal. tank) and another 3 to 500 pounds for miscellaneous equipment and you can see that's pretty close to 5000 pounds anyways. add normal fishing gear, cooler, water toys, ice, Et cetera, Et cetera, and etc. and the total is looking like 5500 pounds. At an 800 to 1200 pounds for trailer and now you have a gross vehicle weight of about 7000+ pounds. I realize that this is slightly over an estimated, but accounting for wear and tear and maybe a little weakening of trailer parts, 7000 pounds is a safe estimate for the total gross vehicle weight capability of a trailer. Just my opinion!

I hope this helps, at least as a starting point. Good luck and again welcome aboard.

[77SceptreOB]

Tandum axle trailer w/ 3500# axles gives you 7000# GVWR. The trailer will weigh about 800# if aluminum. So that gives you 6200# max for boat and motor + fuel and gear.

You probably weigh out something like this:

Dry Hull only 2800#
I/o w/ outdrive 1200#
fuel 100gal x 7 lbs/gallon = 700#
Misc gear & junk = 600#
Total boat on trailer = 5300-5500

so add the trailer back in at 800#
and you are towing about 6,200 lbs well within the safety capacity of a std tandum axle (7000 GVWR) trailer.

Here's mine:

I've got an outboard (Saves weight) but a tower too (600#) so we weigh out about the same. My trailer is just about perfect for my boat, tows like a dream.

[nestorpr]

Just a small correction, gasoline weighs about 6 lbs per gallon, so a full 140 gallon tank will weigh about 840 lbs. If he's like most people he'll probably fuel up at a gas station near the ramp so he'll be pulling a full gas load for a bit. Just my 2 cents!

[Dilligaf]

i just ordered a trailer for my 76 sceptre I/O on tuesday. i ordered a Loadmaster 7000lb duel axle, kodiak disk brakes on 1 axle bunks, v berth bunks, guide poles, led lights, 2 speed crank, w/stainless steel hardware, and torsion axles. cost $3800. best price i could find for a quality trailer.

[77SceptreOB]

excellent choice.....enjoy.