Gear: Spartan Hub trailer hub system
A Queensland start-up plans to revolutionise the way we deal with a collapsed bearingA Queensland start-up reckons it has the solution to one of a trailer boater’s greatest fears that can ruin a great day or even a weekend of fishing – a collapsed bearing.
The new sealed system is the idea of Innisfail-based Spartan Innovations and features only four bolts managed using a single Allen key.
It means a collapsed bearing – the bane of trailer boat owners and one of the main reasons a trip to the boat ramp can end in a day of frustration – can now be replaced in minutes by swapping out the collapsed unit with a new one.
The swappable hub system also requires a new axle to be fitted to the trailer.
The big benefit of the new hub is that boat owners do not need to carry a spare bearing, grease, and the tools such as hammers, pliers, bearing pullers and brass punches needed to change a traditional bearing on the roadside.
The Spartan Hub is the product of inventor and keen angler Alex Muzic and engineer and business partner Bill Seawright.
The hub’s design benefits from the fact it has a double seal, ensuring that dust and water can't work their way in.
The hubs will come pre-greased and with the bearings pre-set, meaning there is no need to tune the hub once it has been swapped out.
“It’s a greasy, messy, job to replace wheel bearings,” Seawright told boatsales. “And once the axle is damaged, it’s damaged – there’s nothing to do but pull the whole axle out and get it repaired.
“But a lot of blokes won’t do that – they’ll put it back together and hope for the best, but it doesn’t last at all.”
He said the Spartan Hub offered trailer boat owners a fuss-free solution.
“With the Spartan Hub, even if it failed you can still get up and go because you can’t damage it to the point where the axle is damaged.
“And it’s just secured with four bolts – that’s the whole system. So you’re changing the whole unit, you’re not mucking around – put a new one on and the job’s done.”
The hubs will be made in China, with plans to launch it to market in around six months.
Spartan Innovations plans to launch the hub system priced from $770 for an unbraked version, with a range-topping tandem-axle kit fitted with electric brakes likely to cost around $2740. It is still developing the brake and drum systems that will work with the hub.
A replacement Spartan Hub, which can be mounted on the trailer as a spare wheel carrier, is expected to cost about $220.
Spartan Innovations plans to launch retrofit hub and braking systems for most boat trailers on the market.
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