Re: Tandem trailor safe with 1 axle?
I bought a trihull some years ago while on business in MO, I live in NJ. I got the boat for near nothing, it was on a tandem trailer with FL paperwork, the rear axle had lost a hub, bearings melted to the spindle, etc. The front axle was newer and in decent shape.
I called all around, there was no new axle anywhere to be found cheap, and the boat wasn't all that heavy. Besides, I was really after the motor only but since I was driving a company car, I didn't figure they'd appreciate a V6 outboard in the back seat.
The studs on both rear hubs were broken, and someone had spot welded the rims to the broken studs. I dragged the thing to a nearby gas station the next morning, gave the guy a $20 to borrow his oxy/acetylene torch and proceeded to cut the rims off around the drums. I tossed them and bald tires in the boat and headed for home. The thing towed fine, I got a lot of people passing me pointing back at the trailer, but after the first dozen or so, I just ignored them. The thing towed just fine, the front tires were good, the springs were in good shape. It's wheels however were also welded on, but they gave me no problems. I bought a cheap knock off set of bearing buddies and a grease gun at a tackle shop and pounded those on so I could give the thing a few pumps of grease every so often. It made it home just fine, about 880 miles or so. When I pulled back into where I work with the boat in tow, the boss really got a laugh at the fact that I towed a 19' boat on a rigged trailer nearly 1,000 miles behind a brand new Town Car. (His car got a hitch too soon after). The cars were leased so he didn't care what we towed, they just frowned on doing any cosmetic damage to them. My biggest concern coming home, especially through the hills along the PA turnpike, was stopping, the trailer had no brakes, never did, and the car had 4 wheel ABS. A sudden stop just wouldn't have been possible. At 80+ on the PA turnpike, that thing towed like it wasn't even there, but thoughts of 'What if' kept going through my head. What if someone ahead of me jammed on their brakes? It made me avoid following anyone at basically any distance. If I could read their tags, I backed off or passed them. I got a lot of funny looks that day, I guess they never saw a Town Car towing a boat?
Once I got it home, I did hang two new axles and four new hubs, wheels, and tires. The boat is gone, but the trailer is no beneath my Starcraft trihull.
If your only going a short distance, and the boat isn't so heavy it's about to blow out the two remaining tires, I'd say it would most likely work fine. It's hard to say without all the facts. The trailer and boat I hauled home would have easily gone on a medium sized single axle trailer with no problems, the tandem was overkill.
