2022 Move Boat Trailers TA1100 review

The old Dunbier trailer had done a good job. Its previous owner had taken good care of it, and I was careful under my watch to ensure it was properly maintained and washed down after each saltwater exposure.

However, doing high kilometres travelling to far-flung waterways was taking its toll. The sheet metal supporting one roller tore and was welded back up, but weeks later failed again, taking the next roller along with it.

My boat is an alloy Savage, so it made sense that I order a new trailer from the brand’s owner, Queensland-based Telwater. Late last year, Telwater launched its own standalone “loose” trailer brand, Move Boat Trailers, to provide its trailers to new and long-term boat owners.

My boat is 4.8 metres long, so after making an inquiry to my nearest dealership, Warragul Marine Centre, an order was put in for a Move Boat Trailers TA1100 to suit boats ranging from 4.4 metres to 4.8 metres in length.

I’m not sure how closely you’re following global commodity prices, but the cost of inputs including steel and aluminium have been rising steadily.

My quote came in at $4990 including a full-size spare wheel on an alloy rim, the “lift and fit” of my boat from the old trailer to the new one, and registration on delivery. However, cost increases that have seen some trailer manufacturers raise their wholesale prices every six months meant I had to act quickly before the price rose another 4.0 per cent to $5185.

I could also have optioned a walkway and a boat catch system for the trailer.

The process of ordering the trailer was seamless. Once the invoice was paid I waited a few weeks for the trailer to be delivered to the dealership. Once it was in, I took my boat and old trailer in, and later that day drove home with the new trailer under the boat.

The Move Boat Trailers TA1100 is a cable-braked drive-on trailer, in this instance fitted with centre rollers and a mix of inline and right-angled skids to suit my alloy hull. Up the front is a single-speed Atlantic winch with a snap hook and seatbelt material flat strap, and a bolt-on plastic-wheeled Meher fold-up jockey wheel.

The trailer features a galvanised steel drawbar and front cross member attached to alloy runners that form the outer frame. Alloy cross members support the height-adjustable rollers, while down the back, skids form a vee to guide a boat onto the rollers.

Anecdotally, alloy lasts about four times longer than galvanised steel when it comes to saltwater corrosion.

The rearmost cross member includes a bracket for an outboard engine support.

The winch post at the front of the trailer is an interesting design. It uses an inner sleeve over which an adjustable outer sleeve can slide up or down. It is secured in place using two lock bolts.

To either side are plastic mudguards that also act as handy steps so that you don’t always need to clamber up and down the transom ladder to access the boat’s cockpit.

The gal steel axle is fitted to a six-leaf spring on each side, with the neat-looking 13-inch three-spoke Meher alloy wheels giving a contemporary 2000s-era Mazda MX-5 feel to the trailer. It’s an observation, not a complaint.

Cable-operated AL-KO callipers wrap around the discs. They need manual adjustment as they wear in.

The trailer’s LED lights use Narva’s plug-and-play cable connectors, which makes replacing any of the wiring right up to the seven-pin plug easy. The lights are mounted inside a protective housing. The side clearance lights sit proud of the mudguard; I can see myself having to replace them every now and again if I put a foot wrong.

A nice touch that I hadn't expected was a set of “Savage” stickers adorning each side of the trailer.

Let’s start with towing. The Move Boat Trailers TA1100 comes with two separate axle offsets, and at the recommendation of the ever knowledgable Simon from Warragul Marine Centre, the axle was bolted in on the rearmost setting.

What this does is put more weight on the tow ball, as well as increase the wheelbase between the back of the car and the trailer. Both translate into much better towing chops.

One thing I’d noticed with my old trailer is that it was hurting my boat. It was an older tilt trailer, so at high speeds there was a lot of flex in every direction between the drawbar and the trailer chassis. Looking in the rear vision mirror, the boat was constantly moving around on the trailer as it was towed.

Moving to a more rigid platform means the boat sits on the trailer a lot more solidly. Given the big kilometres I do visiting waterways throughout Victoria, it can only help.

The longer wheelbase means there is also less tendency for the trailer to toss around on bumpy roads, although tighter turns, particularly in petrol stations, take a bit more attention so that you don’t chop a corner.

The Move Boat Trailers TA1100 is around 120kg heavier than the old trailer and sticks to the road much better. It’s also wider and more visible in the side mirrors, which makes backing down a boat ramp much easier.

One slight annoyance is the forward-facing white LED guard-mounted clearance lights. At night, the glare from them in the rear-view mirror masks most of what is happening behind you.

It’s worse at the boat ramp, where it’s quite easy to lose sight of the trailer. It's better to switch your lights off completely or unplug the trailer before reversing (and putting up with the constant beeping from the reversing sensors).

Not that I’m complaining, because the experience of getting the boat on and off the trailer has changed forever, and for the better.

My boat now glides on or off the trailer with ease, no matter if I drive it or use the mooring lines to pull it on or off. Driving on, it’s easy to find the sweet spot where you can just bump onto the trailer and throttle up to drive up it – because I boat solo a fair bit, high on the must-have list is a boat catch.

In hindsight, it would have been good to have a bit of choice around the winch configuration. My Atlantic winch came fitted with a thick, stumpy, non-removable snap hook attached to the strap, which is fine for a fibreglass boat with a thin stainless steel fairlead embedded in the stem. However, for an alloy boat with a thick bow cleat it’s frustratingly difficult to detach, made all the more difficult when the boat is keen to just glide effortlessly off the trailer.

It’ll be a job to remove the snap hook and replace it with a simple stainless steel hook.

Oh, and while I'm at it, the winch handle is on the opposite side of the trailer to the driver's door, so you're constantly stepping across the drawbar. But it's a piddling complaint.

Narva’s plug-and-play wiring system works well, although I did have a plug come apart and drag on the ground. Another grumble is the plastic handle on the jockey wheel, which seems reluctant to stay attached. An oversize screw appears to have solved the problem, for now.

The winch is geared pretty low, so manually winding the boat on the trailer, which is easy to do as it pulls straight as soon as it hits the first roller, is a little slow. A smattering of rust on the winch – there when I picked up the trailer – will be replaced under warranty.

A new boat trailer is an expensive exercise, but for me was well worth the expense.

My older boat is now really well protected and supported compared with what was beneath it, which means it will last longer and give many more years of reliable service.

Loading and unloading the boat has improved markedly, and the option of adding a boat catch to allow single-handed launch and retrieval is one I’m going to pursue.

If I’d decided to fix up my old trailer, it would have cost at least a couple of thousand dollars and would not have improved its ability to take care of the boat sitting on it.

Servicing will be more expensive, as I now have brakes to maintain as well as bearings, but in the end, it should all be worth it.

Priced from: $4359 including mechanical brakes, swing-up jockey wheel, sealed bearings and LED lights, excluding freight

Price as tested: $4995 including alloy spare wheel and holder, 12 months Victorian registration, dealer fit and lift, and freight