boat trailer

i fish in a lot of salt water and my trailer tongue rusted through from the inside out,broke in half ,had to ratchet strap it to the boat and drive real slow , i cant afford an aluminum trailer right now so i was wondering if i put a hose fitting on the tongue of my new trailer, ( friend selling it to me real cheap) so i could flush it out when i get home ,kind of like flushing the motor ,,do you guys think this will work/help at all ,or is it a waist of time

No, and you shouldn't be pulling it on the road you put other people in danger

ownly pulled it once from the ramp to my house, trailer broke on the way home 3 in the morning, i was referring to flushing the new one i am getting every time i go fishing ,as to whether it would extend the life of it , or if it was a waist of time.........................

I use my trailer in salt water 100% of the time. I always rinse it with fresh water when done. It most deffinatley extends the life of the steel. I dont have mine set up with a flush out system, as I can just stick the hose in where I need to get. But if your trailer wont allow you to get a hose in some spots then sure set up a flush out system.

Maybe drill some weep holes to let the water out before it causes a problem.

i always fished fresh water in a boat and salt from the pier ,beach, ect, but some guy got me hooked on them damn redfish now 3 or 4 years later my trailer falls apart, lol, but its worth it lol, i wish i could afford one of dem der aluminium ones

aluminum is nice, but a good galv. trailer will last a long time when rinsed. Most of the its the smaller stuff that gose, parts are generally pretty cheap if you can do the work yourself.

Weld a sleeve or something to stitch the old tongue together.
Invest in a few cans of rust-o-leum.
Spray the trailer liberally with rust-o-leum until all accessible areas are covered with as much spray as possible.


How did salt water collect in the trailer tongue enough to cause a rust through?
How deep do you dunk the trailer when launching/retrieving the boat?
Sounds like your technique could use some refinement to limit the trailer's exposure to salt water.

When launching the boat, leave the trailer attached to the truck, not the boat.

You will find the boat get's on plane faster without the trailer, than with it.

oh cool ill try that with the new one thanks

the ramp i go to alot is not very steep so you have to back down quite a ways to get the boat of/on ,,,,
there is no tounge left, its a fairly old trailer and it has had a lot of use, pluss it used to flood at my old house almost every year for about a month or so(fresh water), so it has seen its fair share of abuse, and it has never been painted or washed of, so its served me well, it wouldent have been an issue couple of years ago before the economy tanked, now i dont like buying anything i dont have to have,and its going into my slow season

No old tongue left, make a new one.

Couple of well applied U-bolts and some scrap angle iron, and maybe a welder, and you are good to go.