Ericson 25, Trailer Restoration

John Cyr,  Asylum. 

My Boat sat on the hard in dry storage for many years (15+) while I pursued other interests. When I relaunched her in 2009, the trailer showed the evidence of the years' severe toll.

As most readers of this will know, the E25 although marketed as a “trailerable day sailor” is really much more of a daunting challenge in this area, if only by the weights involved alone.  Listed at 5400# in her specifications, the addition of all the necessary “stuff” (beer, water, ground tackle, beer, food, sails, outboard, fuel, beer, safety gear, beer, etc) to sail her properly sends her well in to class “IV” equipment requirements for towing.

Thankfully my basic trailer was originally constructed well enough to survive the weights involved and the long term exposure adequately.  Built of HD steel C section, the frame itself (though rusty) was in fairly good shape. If it had been made of the mild steel tube common in most lightweight boat trailers, I would have not been so lucky.  This was not the case with just about everything else attached to the frame however as the hydraulic surge brake system was pretty much long gone and about half of the bunk mounts disintegrated on the 20 mile trip from my marina to the trailer storage facility.   When I decided to tackle the rehab, I had to strap what was left of the bunks down to the frame to get her to my shop safely.   Prior to moving it at all, I serviced the wheel bearings, replacing one hub and those bearings out of spec.  These two photos show her upon arrival for the rehab.

 

First order of business after blocking on jack stands was  a dedicated attack with a cutting wheel and die grinder.  After cutting it down to parade rest, we followed with an aggressive high pressure power washing.   Not having access to a media blaster (or the facility large enough to utilize one)  I popped for a gallon of commercial marine rust converter (expensive, but worth it, the stuff works) and 2 part marine epoxy paint.The next two photos show this completed:

New bunk mounts and hardware were then installed:

My initial attempt to rebuild the original surge brake and master cylinder system was futile as the parts were just no longer available. I ended up cutting off the original assembly in its entirety and installing a new self contained class IV tongue and master cylinder system. The final photos show the new bunks and tongue installed:

All that remains is the install of new hydraulic lines and carpeting for the bunks.