Choosing a trailer for your pontoon boat is almost as important as choosing the pontoon itself.
When your pontoon won’t be in the water, it will always be sitting on a trailer. When you move it from one place to another, you do it with a trailer and when you put your pontoon away for the winter it’s also on a trailer. The overall idea is that the trailer is extremely important.
When I got my first pontoon I knew that I also had to get a trailer for it, but I was expecting them to be universal, so I didn’t expect to take me too long to pick one, but I couldn’t be more wrong. Choosing a trailer turned out to be quite a complex thing, there were a lot of complex terms like: single or multiple axles, center lifts, radias, bias-ply, etc. And there was no proper place that explained everything in simple terms suitable for a beginner. So to help out people that are in the same situation that I was I decided to write this beginner friendly guide to help them out.
Pontoon boat trailers are not universal, so you have to look at the following factors when you choose one:
- Frame type
- Type of axle: single or multiple
- Suspension type: leaf spring or torsion axles
- Tires: Radial or Bias-ply
- Bunk vs. Scissors
- Brake
- Size
While there are quite a few things to look at, they are not that complicated, so let’s start with the first one.
Table of Contents
The Frame Types of a Trailer
One of the first things that you should look at is what material is the frame made out of. Usually there are three choices: aluminium, galvanized steel, painted steel.
Aluminium Frames
Out of the three choices, aluminium trailers are the lightest. This makes them the easiest to handle, and the most fuel efficient.
Aluminium is also a very durable material, so it won’t rust, even if you use it in salt water. Just to get an idea of how resistant aluminium is, remember that the tubes of the pontoon are made out of the same material. Pontoons can spend years on the water, without anything happening to the aluminium.
The big disadvantage of aluminium trailers is that they are not the cheapest option. Aluminium has some great properties, but those properties also make it more expensive than steel.
If you have some money to spear, an aluminium trailer is a good investment, but if you are on a lower budget you can also take into consideration the next types of frames.
Galvanized Steel Frames
While the name might sound fancy, galvanized steel is regular steel covered in zinc.
The zinc coating makes the frame more resistant to rust, but not as efficient as the aluminium. If you are only going to use your pontoon in freshwater, the zinc coating will be enough. But if you plan on heading to the ocean or a salt lake, then you will need to clean the trailer after you get it out of the water, otherwise rust will start to eat the steel away.
Overall galvanized steel trailers are very good and efficient, just don’t use them in saltwater.
Painted Steel Frames
Painted steel frames are as the name implies just painted steel frames, there is nothing special about the paint or the steel.
Normal steel paint will also offer a good protection against rust, but out of the three frame types, this is the least resistant to rust.
The big advantage of painted steel is that you can paint it however you want. So if you have a red and white pontoon, you can paint your trailer red and white.
Other than that there is no other advantage.
Under normal circumstances this type of trailer should last you for quite a while, as long as you make sure that the paint stays on the steel. And just like in the proviso case, avoid saltwater.
The Axle Type
The next big decision is the axle type that you want. There are two main types from which you can choose.
Single Axles
Between the two, single axle trailers have the most mobility, and can handle tight corners really well. This makes them ideal for people that leave their boats in garages or storage units.
Single axle trailers are also lighter than the rest, this will allow you to adjust them manually when you can’t get them in the right position with your car.
And since they have only one axle they are also easier to clean and maintain.
While they have a lot of advantages, they also have a couple of disadvantages. One of them is that they are not as stable as the rest. Since the whole design is based on a single axle, it becomes really hard to handle them at high speeds.
The other disadvantage is that they usually have only two wheels, while the other types have multiple sets of wheels. So while other types can continue to go even if a tire blows out, this type of trailer can’t.
Overall they are good and reliable trailers. If you don’t have to travel long distances there is no reason not to get one.
Multiple Axles
While this type of trailer doesn’t have the same mobility, it catches up in a lot of ways to the other type.
Multiple axle trailers are very sturdy, they offer a lot of stability and are excellent for a long road.
They usually come with multiple sets of wheels, so a blowout is not something to worry about.
Overall they are great trailers. But in most cases they are a little bit too much for what a pontoon needs. But if you have to travel a long distance to reach the lake or to the ocean this is the type of trailer that you want.
Suspension Type
Suspensions are very important on a trailer. If you have bad suspensions there is a good chance that your pontoon will get damaged during transportation. So let’s take a look at a couple different types of suspensions.
Leaf Spring
This is the most common type of suspension on boat trailers.
Compared to the other type, they have a better shock absorption, but they require more maintenance.
But overall they are quite easy to maintain, so you won’t have to spend too much time to repair them.
Torsion Axles
Torsion suspension uses a rod that is inside a square tube used as a spring, hence the name torsion axle.
Compared to leaf springs they are harder to maintain, but you don’t have to maintain them as often, so things even out.
Unfortunately torsion axles don’t offer as much shock absorption as leaf springs. So while they are not bad suspension, there are better options.
Tires
The next thing that you should look at are the tires.
Radial Tires vs Bias-Ply Tires
There are quite a few differences between radial tires and bias-ply tires, but there is one major reason that makes people choose one over the other. And that is width.
Radial tires are wider than bias-ply tires, and this allows them to get a better grip on the road.
Most people prefer radial tires since they have a better grip. And this is also why I suggest you choose radial tires over bias-ply, even if bias-ply tires are cheaper.
Bunk vs Scrisors
There are two main ways of holding a pontoon on the trailer, one of them uses a bunk system, while the other “lifts” the boat. Let’s start the bunk.
Bunk Trailer
Bunk trailers are also known as float-on trailers, due to the way they work.
This type of system puts the pontoon right over the trailer. This way the entire weight of the pontoon is supported in its entirety by the trailer. This type of trailer offers a lot of security to the pontoon.
Compared to the scissors type, this type allows a lot less movement, and this results in more stability.
The downside to using the more stable bunk trailer is that it is more difficult to load and offload the pontoon boat. The pontoon boat must be aligned correctly to the trailer when loading it and this requires a little more experience and patience than the scissor style trailer.
Additionally, bunk style pontoon boat trailers are wider than scissor trailers so the boat is fully contained on the trailer.
The disadvantage of the bunk trailer is that it’s a lot harder to load and unload the boat, since there is a lot less room for the pontoon to move.
If you won’t be moving your pontoon too much around I would suggest you to get this type of trailer. It offers a lot of security, and if you won’t unload your pontoon too often, you won’t have to deal with it too much.
Scissor Trailer
Center lifts are also known as scrisor trailers. They have this name because the pontoon is saddling the trailer, not sitting directly on it, like it happened with the previous type.
Center lift trailers fit between the pontoons underneath the boat leaving the pontoons hanging outside the sides of the trailer. The trailer supports the boat via direct contact with the bottom of the deck as it sits on the cross beams of the trailer.
Since the tubes if the pontoon are left on the outside of the trailer, this type offers less stability. If you have to travel long distances, this is not the best trailer, but if the distance between you and the lake is not that big, there is no reason not to get this type of trailer.
But if you have a pontoon with three tubes(a triton), you shouldn’t get this type of trailer since it’s not able to hold this type of boat.
Compared to the bunk trailer, this one offers less stability and less safety, but it’s still a viable choice. Less safety doesn’t mean that your boat will fall off, it just means that you have to be a little bit more careful. But if you leave close to the lake, or the ocean and you will be loading and unloading your boat often, a scissors type trailer will fit your needs perfectly.
Because the pontoon tubes are on the outside of the trailer the boat is less “contained” within the trailer. This can lead to rocking and jostling during travel especially at higher speeds on highways.
Break
There are two types of breaks from which you will have to choose from.
Electric
Most people try to stay away from those types of breaks. Since water and electricity is not such a great combination, I would suggest you do the same.
There are a few companies out there that make electric brakes that are 100% safe in water, but unfortunately not all electric brakes are. So unless it’s mentioned that the breaks are entirely waterproof you should stay away from them.
Surge Brakes
Surge brakes are extremely similar to the breaks that you find on most cars. They work using hydraulics and they are self contained in the trailer, so they don’t need to have connections inside your car as they function on their own.
Size
And the last thing that you should look at is the size.
Most people try to match the size of the trailer with the size of the pontoon, but this is completely wrong.
If you were to follow this principle, for a 20” pontoon you will get a 20” trailer. But when you try to put the pontoon on the trailer you will see that it doesn’t fit correctly. This is because for a 20” pontoon you will need a 23” trailer.
When you choose a trailer you should always get one that is 3” bigger than the pontoon. This extra length gives you a little bit extra swing radius when taking corners and means the front of the trailer and boat are further away from the rear of your road vehicle.
So remember that the trailer should always be 3” longer than the pontoon.
Here is a quick list of common ponton lengths and the trailer size needed:
- 18 foot pontoon boat – 21 foot trailer.
- 19 foot pontoon boat – 22 foot trailer.
- 20 foot pontoon boat – 23 foot trailer.
- 21 foot pontoon boat – 24 foot trailer.
- 22 foot pontoon boat – 25 foot trailer.
- 23 foot pontoon boat – 26 foot trailer.
- 24 foot pontoon boat – 27 foot trailer.
- 25 foot pontoon boat – 28 foot trailer.
- 26 foot pontoon boat – 29 foot trailer.
Final Thoughts
So this is everything that there is to know about pontoon boat trailers.
When choosing a trailer it’s important to know how much and in which conditions you will be using your trailer. The cost of a trailer can greatly vary, starting from $1,000 up to $7,000. So it’s important to know what you need from a trailer. There is no need to pay $7,000 for a trailer that is designed for long roads, if you leave 5 miles away from the lake, you might as well find one that is $2,000 and will cover all of your needs.