Draggin the boat and blew a seal. Most likely my fault for over greasing. Looks like the spindle went bad too and the shop recommends a new axle. He is ordering directly from Ranger. Any idea how much this repair should cost? Obviously, this comes down to shop rate etc so im only asking for estimated based anyone's experience in the past.
I also am interested in getting away from bearing buddies and would like suggestions on other hub systems that might work better and require less maintenance. Its not that im too lazy to do necessary maintenance, its just the dangers of blowing a seal down the road and sending a wheel/tire down the highway and hurting someone.

Just want whats best, that's all.

90% of bearing problems stem from over greasing. My guy says grease them once a year and have the shop check them on your annual service.

Yes, but what if you're putting some miles on the trailer? That's not the story for everyone, correct?

Shouldn't ever need to grease them

in my experience unless you have grease escaping somehow, you should not have to add grease until you service your bearings every other year.

To answer your question convert to the oil filled hubs. http://www.pacifictrailers.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=content.pageDetails&id=553&typeID=91

A penguin is having car trouble so he pulls into a mechanic shop, mechanic says, i'm not too busy, give me 20 minutes or so and I should be able to tell you whats wrong.
So the penguin goes across the street to an ice cream shop, enjoys an ice cream cone and walks back over to the Mechanic shop, the mechanic was just coming out from under the car and says, looks like you blew a seal. The penguin says, no I didn't! I just ate an ice cream cone!