My 22 year old Shoreland'r galvanized trailer rusted through in two small spots, and I've lost confidence in the rest of the box-beamed trailer. I checked with trailer repair guys, and they too are skeptical of welding a patch for fear that the rust may be more widespread than we know about. So, in February I ordered a new aluminum I-beam trailer, and it arrived today. When I dropped off the boat & old trailer so they can make the swap/fitting, the guy offered to scrap my old trailer at no cost to me. Are old trailers worth anything? The tires on mine are only about 3 years old (~1800 miles) and have been stored inside so they have lots of life left in them. There's also a spare tire on a spare tire bracket. All the lights work, and the bearings are only a few years old and are in excellent shape. Is there a market for old trailers, and what kind of prices do they bring? Mine is for my 18' Sea Ray bowrider, and it is a single axle with no brakes. Where would I try to sell it?...Market Place??...Craigs List??...

Any advice would be appreciated as I don't have any experience with this aspect of being a trailer boating guy.

Sorry. Duplicate post.

Interesting that the trailer is box-beam instead of I-beam. Your choice to go with I-beam is a good idea.

Not sure of selling piece by piece. I would guess, however, that they are more interested in the aluminum frame for $$$.

All the other things you mention are worth salvaging for spares or selling. Will they let you remove parts on their property? Worth asking about.

I must admit that my experience with aluminum trailers is "NONE." But, if there are any through hole bolts or anywhere you can find a hole where water can get in, I think it might be a good idea seal up the holes. II don't know what material would work best, but you can probably verify the right stuff..

Not worth fussing with the old trailer - and trying to sell for parts IMO, You will end up with bits and pieces that you could not sell and have to deal with disposal. Take the offer from the trailer shop.

I’ve done the insurance dance after having one stolen.

Unfortunately, they aren’t worth anything but scrap value. The decision is, do you want to mess with it or let someone else do it and pocket the beer money?

Scrap prices are at an all time high & if nothing else it should bring a few bucks that way.

IMHO it's not worth messing with unless you want a bunch of old worn out parts hanging around your garage that 5 years from now you will get tired of seeing and toss them in the garbage.

Let them have at it.

Take the trailer to a scape metal place, the tires you can probably resell on Craigslist. I'm sure metal scrap is paying a premium right now. In the end though it may not be worth the time and effort to load an old trailer on a good trailer and dump at the scrap yard.

How about:

FOR SALE - BOAT TRAILER, NO BOAT - fair condition, good tires, can be converted easily to a utility trailer. $250 or best offer

--When we bought the SkipperLiner, before it could be road-worthy, EVERYTHING on top had to be removed; the flybridge, the entire canopy top framework, and anything else that wouldn't fit inside, I brought home on the Party Cruiser's trailer. Would've cost me a a couple hundred to rent a trailer, to BUY a trailer would've been many hundred, but if I coulda found something to buy for a couple hundred... Fortunately I had a spare trailer, so I just screwed some plywood I already had to the bunk boards, etc etc, worked great for cheap!