I have new 22' boat with a Magic Tilt tandem trailer.
The problem I have been having is that the trailer floats when I back it into the water.

A few weeks back, I backed it in next to another boat/trailer on the ramp and by the time I got out of the truck, the trailer had floated over to the boat next to me at the ramp. It almost hit it!
I first thought that somehow I had backed it in crooked, but later I realized that it floated over there.

The trailer is made of square tubing, not the I-beam material.

How should I go about solving this issue.

I suppose I could just wait 'till it sinks. It seems to eventually sink.

Suggestions?

does the trailer float without the boat on it..maybe your backing it to far in the water...

Sure does float without the boat.
No, I know where I want the fenders to be when backing in to pick up.
Basically, I want the rear half of the fender submerged.
One time, I backed down off the end of the ramp while watching for the fender to go under water. It never did!!
What I do now is back it in and wait for it to fill up and sink. But it is a slow process and folks waiting on me are prone to wonder WTF am I doing.

If it is a new boat, I would call the dealer and ask. A boat trailer should not float.

Drill a couple 1/2 holes in the bottom of the tubes or add some weight.

A google search will show that it's a pretty common problem.

I'd weigh it down. Drilling holes in the trailer is just going to allow water to pool in the frame, and if it hasn't been treated to prevent corrosion, it's going to rot from the inside out.

all square tubing trailers do....

You better get some drain holes drilled in the lowest part of each xmember. the factory either missed or just did think they needed to on my front one. It now has 1/4 plates on each side. How is the wiring run? Mine has holes in the main rails where the wiring exits. Guy that did some welding on my trailer said that welds can have pin holes in them allowing water in. Even if the box channels are all sealed up I cannot believe that a trailer would float unless it is real light steel or aluminum.

I am leaning to putting a couple of holes it the bottom to help it sink faster.

This trailer is an all aluminum box frame, so it has a lot of volume of air that has to escape before it will settle to the bottom.
If there are any cross waves at the boat ramp, the trailer will scoot over really bad. As soon as I back the boat off and anytime before I get the boat back on it.

All my other trailers have been galvanized single axle, and they sank real good.
Thanks for all the input.

Holes in the top and bottom and they need to be large enough to let water in fast enough to fill the air pocket. No holes in the top and the air is still trapped in the tubing.


Since its aluminum you don't have to worry about it rusting. Just don't destroy the structural integrity of the frame when you drill the holes and make them big enough to move enough water and you should be happy.

best advice

not if the hitch ends of the main rails are open

Good point stump jumper. I need to determine if maybe the problem is there aren't places for the water to get in, or if there are not places for the air to get out.

I'll check on this.

I launched Sunday and after I backed the boat off, the prop wash pushed the trailer over to the side at about a 30 degree angle. I took a picture with my camera, but it was too dark to really see. I added some arrows to help visualize the trailer with respect to the P/U.