Floe Trailers: Opinion(s) & Best Place in MN to Purchase???
Todd
ride-on/ride-off ramp. I've heard good things about the Floe
Pro100?
*Any comments, good or bad?
*Anyone know where the best deal can be found in Minnesota
(Minneapolis area)?
Thanks.
* Sent from AltaVista http://www.altavista.com Where you can also find related Web Pages, Images, Audios, Videos, News, and Shopping. Smart is Beautiful
PRI-MED Employee
Todd wrote in message <136f266c...@usw-ex0103-019.remarq.com>...
Todd
called about a dozen dealers around town. Blaine Hardware
came in at $1500. Everyone else around $1200-$1250. Thanks
anyway.
Howard McCollister
trailer. When I needed a new 2 place, I looked at SledBed but found it about
the same price as the same size Floe. They are both well made, but I
certainly give the nod to the Floe as being the better built trailer. When
you consider the wired-ground lights, the fully decked ramp (they did
upgrade it) and the adjustable tie-down rail, the Floe comes out on top
considering the two are the same price, at least at my dealer.
H McCollister
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in article 84rfqa$3gj$1...@nnrp1.deja.com, David Anderson at
david.a...@precision-inc.com wrote on 1/3/00 6:45 PM:
> In article <03aa077e...@usw-ex0103-019.remarq.com>,
> That seems high. Although a few years ago, they were always $50-$100
> cheaper. Anyway, Floe trailers. I have the 12' drive on ramp. Ramp
> sucks. Have replaced the wood on ramp because sled went through
> between the braces. I put an additional brace under bottom part of
> ramp and this took care of it. Mine is 97 model and maybe they have
> changed by now. The wood on the ramp needs to be covered to protect it
> from the carbides. In fact, put runners on the main bed as well. The
> bed plywood looks like a royal pain to replace. I like the track tie
> downs, especially when carrying 3 sleds. Longer tongue would be nice,
> for I have to jacknife the trailer to drive the sleds off the front.
> If I were to buy a 3 place 12 footer again, I would go to the 14 foot
> dual axle. If you only need 2, the 12 is great. That extra couple of
> feet is great for adding gear when you are out of room. Just bought a
> 4 place and went with sledbed. Cheaper than Floe, and I believe it is
> built better. Sledbed has a great shield/drive off ramp system that is
> fantastic. Also the drive on ramp covers the trailer edge and prevents
> damage to the back alumimum. IMHO the only thing floe has going for it
> is the track system. Other than that it's just another trailer.
>
>
> Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
> Before you buy.
Scott Aleckson
First off they use rubber torsion axles, which are junk. They are cheap and have a very short life expectancy. The rubber wears out very quickly,
especially if you drive on less than perfect roads. If you want an axle to last very long, you want leaf springs. And don't start telling me about how
leafs will rust and break. It will take a lifetime for a good leaf spring to rust bad enough to weaken it. If you can break a leaf spring, then you would
have completely destroyed your rubber torsion axle on the same obstacle. Leaf springs cost around $25 each, go ahead and compare that to a replacement
torsion arm assembly. As for the rust, see below about paint.
The structure is made of aluminum. This is also bad. You can argue till you're blue in the face about how good aluminum looks, how light it is, and how it
won't rust, but the bottom line is that when you put aluminum under a high stress, flexing load it will break. That's not an if, it's a when. Aluminum will
not tolerate repeated flexing and in order to beef up the aluminum structure enough to last a couple years of potholes, you end up negating any weight
savings you may have had over steel and you still haven't come close to the lifespan of steel. Yeah, you don't have to paint aluminum every few years. So
once every decade when you have to replace the rotting deck, spend an extra couple hours and repaint the trailer. Aluminum will oxidize and turn a dull gray
or blackish color. To keep aluminum pretty you will have to give it an acid bath every season. This will end up costing a lot more than the repaint every
few years.
As for paint, how long to think the paint will last on that plywood deck anyhow? Don't be cheap, get a trailer that uses treated plywood. You know, that
green stuff that you can bury in the yard for 10 years and when you dig it up and wash off the dirt, it's still a piece of plywood. That paint won't stop
water from getting down into the wood and causing it to rot.
They rely too much on weld strength rather than a solid structural design. A good trailer is built so that the welding simply keeps the parts from falling
off and uses a well engineered frame design. Squares are bad. Floe trailers are made entirely of squares. Triangles are good. You want a trailer to have
lots of gussets and triangular sections for strength.
The entire trailer is held to your truck with two bolts that run through a piece of aluminum. If it was a steel tongue, the hitch could be structurally
welded in place so that the bolts don't end up wearing on the holes and giving you a loose tongue. Why set up a condition in which you might have to test
those safety chains? Speaking of which, how are those safety chains mounted? Yeah, that really looks like it will withstand the shock load created at 50
mph when your hitch breaks and those open-ended hooks-- do you really think they will stay connected after the first bounce? At least get some stainless
locking carabiners at your marine supplier.
Floe trailers come with a complete lack of tie downs. The tall sides with no holes give you no place to hook a tie down strap. How long do you think it
will take that track system on the deck to fill up with dirt, ice, snow, rocks, and whatever else is going to drop down in there?
They use aluminum fasteners. Refer back to the part on structural aluminum.
Their tilt trailers use a single tongue piece which is held on by a single pivot bolt. Unless you park the trailer in a showroom and never tow it, this bolt
will eventually fail (read: you are still towing the tongue and safety chains while almost $20,000 of your hard earned money goes flying off into the ditch
or into oncoming traffic at 50 mph... or are you one of those who pushes it a little bit on the open road with a full load? I've seen it happen with my own
eyes, so don't tell me it can't happen!) They have accelerated the process of having this bolt fail by making a slider mechanism so that you can latch the
bed down easier. Is that worth it? A quality tilt bed uses an A-frame style tongue with multiple pivot points and multiple lock downs (such as a couple
frame pins along with a screw down to eliminate vibration).
Now let me say this, I'm don't have a personal vendetta against Floe, I'm just not impressed with their product. In fact, I think that every big commercial
trailer manufacturer falls into the same low quality category. The few good trailers I've ever seen were built by small scale builders, usually either home
built or by small family operated businesses. However, I wouldn't recommend running out and buying a bunch of steel to build your own, as I've seen just as
many home builts that were in worse shape than a commercial trailer. If you can find a reputable fabrication shop, they would be your best bet for getting a
high quality trailer that will outlast anything on the market today, and you're not going to pay any more that you would at your Floe dealer.
Does it make any sense to tie your pride and joy (and all that money) down on a piece of junk that you got a "good deal" on?
Again, this is just my opinion... take it or leave it.
Scott
David Anderson
JWLBAL
served me well though.
~§unn¥~
business there in the past (when we rode polaris) they always gave us a
good deal, just ask them what their best price is, they'll probably
shave off a percentage.
You can also try "http://www.classifieds2000.com" if you want to
consider a used one.
Good luck!
JWB3742
Jerry
99 ZR 600 EFI LE
00 Edge 600
Howard McCollister
thousands of miles, finally got rid of it because it was too narrow for
current generation sleds. It held up extremely well over all that abuse, and
it wasn't made nearly as well as the Floe I just bought. All of the concerns
listed in this post are unfounded. The decreased maintenance and decreased
weight are huge advantages over steel.I can't imagine putting myself through
the pain owning a steel trailer again.
H McCollister
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in article 38719654...@alaska.net, Scott Aleckson at
alec...@alaska.net wrote on 1/4/00 12:42 AM:
~§unn¥~
snowmobile dealership, what make? How big is the place? I'd like to know
because my sister just moved to that area and I would be interested in
checking it out. Thanks:)
-----
INDY~RACING
based out of wisconsin. I own three of them and absolutely love them. As
for flo trailers ive heard not to good things about them. If youd like
the address for Chilton Trailers let me know
adam
<html>
<marquee scrollamount"1"> PolarisSnowmobiles</marquee>
</htmL>
THINK A EARLY WINTER€€€€€€
KPKDROOSE
Featherlite snowmobile trailers, a 2 and a 4 place. These trailers have not
given me one ounce of trouble, and as for the rubber torsion axels, they are
the ONLY way to go. We own a small trucking company and all of our trailers
are aluminum. I can put a 50,000 lb. coil of steel on the center of the
trailer, and it flexes and does some weird stuff, but no cracks anywhere.(I
am talking about a 48' trailer, not a snowmobile trailer) My point is,
Aluminum and torsion axels is the only way to go. Just look around at used
trailers that are 4 or 5 years old, and see what has held up better.....
Howard McCollister <hm...@emily.net> wrote in message
news:B497E56C.1019%hm...@emily.net...
Big Thunder
beautiful downtown Osseo next to the Osseo Meat Market.
--
Big Thunder
'99 T-Cat
~吟nn外 wrote in message
<14747-38...@storefull-221.iap.bryant.webtv.net>...
Todd
place to visit in Monticello, MN: D&D Distributing, 440 West
Oakwood Drive. 612-295-4375. (Hwy 94 and County Rd 25) About
a 45 minute drive for Minneapolis.
A few days ago I posted with a "Best place to get a FLOE?"
question and received only a few replies. I downloaded the
dealer listing for Minnesota from FLOE's website and called
all the dealers (about 13) within a 50 mile radius of
Minneapolis. Everyone I talked to was within the $1200 to
$1500 range with the exception of Honda Town on Lake Street
in Mpls...the guy at Honda Town was an %$#hole. He quoted me
$1700. When I suggested to him that he was "a bit high" he
said I should buy from whoever was quoting me $1200, because
that was way under dealer cost. I've had similar experience
in the past from this joint when trying to source
parts/acessories for my Honda motorcycle...
Anyway, I visited on the phone for quite a while with "Jim"
at D&D and he came across as knowledgeable and really
helpful.
Ended up buying a FLOE Pro 100/10 Footer for $1199. Added a
tongue jack for $39 and a salt sheild for $239. Bottom line
is that these guy's at D&D were very competitive. But best
of all, great to do business with. (To be fair, maybe some
places include the tongue jack.)
Heinen & Mason was about $50 higher on the trailer and $25
on the salt sheild.
Geez, dont know what Scott's deal is? Sounds like he hates
aluminum so much that he doesn't even recycle his beer cans!
C-Yah, Bye.
jgd
the years. I bought my latest Floe from them and have nothing but praise
for the dealer and the trailer.
jgd
Scott
Todd wrote:
>
>
> Geez, dont know what Scott's deal is? Sounds like he hates
> aluminum so much that he doesn't even recycle his beer cans!
<snippage>
Actually, I'm an aluminum fabricator. I build with aluminum every day, sometimes pretty stuff, sometimes HD structural stuff. I build everything from
snowmachine parts to sleds to boats to parts for fire trucks, but I never use aluminum structure when building a trailer. Steel is the only way to go. I've
done repairs to just about every make of trailer on the market, and the aluminum ones break far more often and with more drastic results, especially when
they have torsion axles. So everything I said about Floe, I say from over 20 years of personal experience in both the aluminum and the trailer markets.
Scott
roads never have potholes and gravel is a thing you read about in history books.
Gary Zwicke
If your looking to get one you better order it in june.
JWLBAL wrote:
> Good trailer. I just sold my 94 as I finally got an enclosed this year. It
> served me well though.
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