MacGregorSailors.com

Hello,

Our factory 26M trailer was stolen from a fenced parking lot (who would do such a thing, right?!) and so we are now looking for a suitable used trailer.. As the boat is in the marina 800 miles from the house, it looks like I will have to find and buy a trailer based on dimensions and weight spec and hope it will work when we tow it to the boat. In this regard I wonder if someone has a schematic of the proper 26M trailer with all the dimensions - length overall, length bow roller to stern roller, width between the fenders, width between the rails and where the rails are positioned on the trailer, etc?

Or is there any chance someone could measure their Mac trailer if it's nearby?

Thanks a lot!

This thread may be of help.

The bunks on the trailer are parallel to the hull instead of “V” shaped, there has been discussions on this, but I don’t think there is a consensus.

viewtopic.php?p=370883&hilit=Trailer+re ... nt#p370883

Wow! Why would someone steal a trailer? Towing an empty is not fun either.

Mine is all covered for the winter or I'd go out there and measure.

Supersail marine sells a nice trailer.

https://supersail.com/aluminum-replacem ... macgregor/

Yep, I found Supersail - very nice trailers, but at $6K I'd rather get a new outboard and never haul out the boat

Having looked on local Craigslists, I hope to find something used in $1.5K range.

Thanks!

In case you haven’t seen it - there is a used SuperSail tandem axle listed in the classifieds on this site. Located in Iowa, $4900. Closehaul

Do you have insurance on the boat/trailer? Might cover replacement.

Yes, opened a claim, currently holding my breath.
The trailer policy will at at most pay $1,900 unfortunately, so it will have to be a well used trailer.

Phill_Tijeras wrote: ↑Sat Nov 30, 2024 9:04 am Hello,

Our factory 26M trailer was stolen from a fenced parking lot (who would do such a thing, right?!) and so we are now looking for a suitable used trailer.. As the boat is in the marina 800 miles from the house, it looks like I will have to find and buy a trailer based on dimensions and weight spec and hope it will work when we tow it to the boat. In this regard I wonder if someone has a schematic of the proper 26M trailer with all the dimensions - length overall, length bow roller to stern roller, width between the fenders, width between the rails and where the rails are positioned on the trailer, etc?

Or is there any chance someone could measure their Mac trailer if it's nearby?

Thanks a lot!

viewtopic.php?p=338007&sid=20a727b18a51 ... 61#p338007

Thanks so very much!!!
That's exactly what we need..

Tijeras???
Are you in Tijeras, New Mexico?
I have a 26X in Stanley, NM if you think it's dimensions would be close enough to a 26M
come on over and we'll measure.
-jlm

Hi Phil_Tijeras,

Getting a trailer and boat mated to each other can be a challenge and from experience might take a couple tries.
The OEM MacGregor trailer is somewhat unique compared to other typical trailers as you are well aware.
(Which for the life of me I can’t figure out why someone would steal that type of trailer…. … not much other than a Mac is gonna fit to it… that might help the cops find who took it…. Major Bummer! Sorry about your loss!)

We have a Mac26X and a PO mated it to a Sea Lion tandem axle galvanized trailer with four long bunks.
It works well for us but is higher up in altitude than the OEM arrangement by about a foot or more.
This requires us to comparatively go in further when launching/retrieving which hasn’t been an issue on the ramps we’ve (used but could be if using a very shallow one or beach launching) to get Over Easy to float off.

It may take a few “try-on’s” to get things properly adjusted so plan on it taking some time, tools and hopefully not a busy single lane ramp without a pier to tie off to between iterations.

When we replaced the trailer for our 15 ft runabout Scrambled to a ShoreLander single axle trailer that had been previously carrying a Grady White it took about a full day to pre-emptively statically adjust the trailer to the boat weight, center of gravity (CG) and hull shape/dimensions so we’d be in the general ballpark when it came to the “wet fitting”. If you have to move the axles fore/aft to get the tongue weight set (CRITICAL ASPECT for safe towing) it’s a whole lot easier when the boat isn’t on the trailer. We had to move our axle about a foot and a half from where it had been. We also inspected/replaced the tires as well as disassembled, cleaned, inspected and regressed both axle hubs at this time. We took advantage of the opportunity to scrap out the old trailer electrical wiring and lights to replace with new HD wiring and LED waterproof lighting and side markers. Again, a lot easier to do with an empty trailer.

This saved us a lot of hassle at the ramp which we were able to utilize off-season and mid-week. Even then we still had to contend with other boaters needing to launch/retrieve a couple of times. So we tried to minimize our ramp occupancy time and we were able to tie on to the end of the pier between iterative adjustments. In our case we were fortunate that the pre work only left us with relatively minor adjustment to the Bunks (to be moved in/out from centerline) and the front post moved (fore/aft) to fit the hull contours. Our “new” trailer had an adjustable sliding tongue bolted beam so fine tuning the hitch tongue weight wasn’t much hassle for us. The “wet fit” aspect took about four iterations and about as many hours…. We were fortunate in that we’d done this before, knew what to expect/do and brought all the tools/support equipment needed.

The results were very well worth it to have a properly fitted mating of boat and trailer that tows great with easy launch/retrieve characteristics.

At a minimum the hitch tongue weight needs to be no less than 10% of the combined trailer & boat weight as loaded for road travel.
Less than that minimum can/will result in fishtailing at highway speeds which can be extremely hazardous to not only you, your tow vehicle, boat trailer but also to the innocent others sharing the road with you. Not something to be taken lightly.

Hope this helps some in your efforts to find and fit your replacement trailer.

Best Regards,
Over Easy

Thanks everybody for the inputs!!

Meanwhile we finally got the insurance money (only $1,500..) and are looking for a used trailer.. I posted a trailer-wanted ad on a bunch of Mac related forums, nothing so far.

If anyone is selling their old trailer, regardless of condition or knows of one for sale, please let me know. We are in NM and I will drive out to get it.

Thanks again!