Well, I've givin it some thought and I cant see a particular problem with putting them on a boat trailer that has no brakes. Your opinion?

Your thoughts?

If your using this trailer for your boat I don't think that it is a good idea. The problem i see is that water and electric parts don't work together well. Just consider the trailer lights that are not incased in a sealed pouch of some sort. You know, the old fashion bulb that screws into a socket. They don't last a month and your always having problems with them.

northern tools has a kit for putting electric brakes on trailers. electric drum, hydraulic-electric, and electric disc brakes. i am wanting to convert my hydraulic, to total electric and weld my front actuator so it will quit moving back and forth everytime I stop and go. feels like someone is hitting the back of the boat!~

I don't see a problem with electric brakes. They are the choice of most RV trailer owners.
The only thing that bothers me is that I don't know of one bass boat manufacturer that offers electric brakes. They all use surge brakes.

I have an up-date. I have installed the elec. brakes on the trailer. They work perfectly. I hate to put it this way but I cant figure out why they built the trailer w/o surge brakes to begin with.

dont see how this would work considering that they will be submerged under the water i think that you are asking for a problem. if it was so easy dont you think that with the moderte technology that we would already something like that.

What about unplugging the trailer lights before backing into the water.... I know guys that have boat trailers without submergible lights and have little or no problems with them. They just unplug the lights before backing in the water.

most people dont understand the newer trailers actually use a hydraulic actuator that runs electric brakes on thier trailer wheels if you have a 5 pin trailer plug, that extra wire is what send the signal to the electronics to keep the trailer from juicing the brakes when backing up... once the actuator is pushed down, it applies more current to the brakes meaning more braking force..... so in reality you wouldnt back up very easy if the current wasnt cut off

my point being- a LOT of newer trailers already have the electric brakes being submerged in the water

Ronnie, I don't know if you are talking about the actuator on surge brakes. They are just an on off actuator that cut the brakes off when the reverse light comes on. The actuator on those are usually located up near the front so they are never submerged.

In a boat trailer the electric brakes need to have the electrical parts potted or sealed in some way from water intrusion or they will fail due to corrosion or electrolysis.
There are some electric brakes made for boats now so make sure those are what you have. One advantage that electric brakes will have over surge brakes are that they are fully functional on the ramp. If you have a steep ramp with surge brakes and you have disabled them with the actuator you have lost braking. With electric brakes the brake pedal determines the amount of braking so the trailer brakes will still work.

ive seen the brakes corrode in the areas around the actuating arm and the slotted part at the top of the shoes where they slide left and right. if you have bad luck along with intermittent use the shoes can hang up and either drag/lock up/or not work at all. the brakes get plenty wet driving in the rain but i still dont think they are good for emersion particularly in salt water.