Just wanted to let you guys know that the snowbear trailers home depot is selling are not worth the savings. mine is 6 months old and rust is forming on the outsides of the fenders, and at welds. I called snowbear and they said that this is not uncommon. they said you should keep up on sanding and painting these trailers. I told the guy that it is 6 months old only... He said he will send me a can of paint, and a fender. I wish I had more leverage. Stay away from them.

 

I almost ran into the same problem you did.
However one of my buddies works for Home Depot took me to the back where they store them and they were all rusted has well.

looks like these trailers aren't made to be out in the snow

 

That is one of the pitfalls of trailers at that pricepoint. My brother has one simimlar to yours, different mfg. It had the same problem. Looking at it, I am not even sure it was ever primed!

 

I could have told you that it would rust out faster than you could say rust. half of them already have rust on them just from sitting in the lot. lowes and tractor supply co. both sell similar trailers. for a really great deal on a steel trailer go to Gander Mountain, they offer the same carry-on brand trailers that lowes and TSC sell but sell them for about 200-300 dollars less. but for best results and money well spent go with an all aluminum trailer like a triton or floe trailer. I got my Triton XT10-101 all aluminum two place tilt for $981 out the door brand new from a local polaris/harley davidson dealer.

 

Hello fwd1122. For topside exposed surfaces, to keep your steel trailer in shape, instead of using some can of spay paint; first use a steel brush to get the rust off. Then use Rustoleum rust reformer to kill the rust. Then paint with a Rustoleum to match the trailer paint. For the underside of the trailer, get undercoating spaycans (the kind with tar/petroleum). Spay anything metal and exposed underneath. That trailer will last a long time following these steps.
I hope this helps you [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
BryceGTX

 

that is a good thought bryce, another would be to buy a slightly used/clearanced steel trailer and have like a rhino liner or line-x sprayed on which would protect the metal and give a good stepping/non-skid surface.

 

hey fwd1122, have you called Home Depot to complain about the trailer or talk to a manager. Home Depot is usually really good about their returns and customer satisfaction. I get all my lawn equipment and home stuff there and have always had 100% great outcomes with my returns/exchanges. they have even returned/exchanged my lawn mower once and my leaf blower three times. as long as you have the receipt they should help you out. you could even drive the trailer up to home depot and show the manager on duty all the rust and see what he says.

 

I bought a trailer about six months ago and looked at the ones at Home Depot. fter looking at them I came to the conclusion that altough they are somewhat less $$$.......they are really poor quality. Thin guage steel and really poor paint. Everything looked really cheap/low quality to me.......including the rolling stock and thin flimsy fenders etc..... I was looking for a single place trailer for my ATV and the one at Home Depot was going for $528. I ended up getting an aluminum "Rough Rider" by Rance Trailer tilt unit with really nice rolling stock including a torsion bar suspension/axle made by Rance Trailer for $762. The $$$ difference is FAR exceeded by the quality/value.

As far as dealing with the rusting. You must catch it while it's only superficial and before you get metal loss. Your surface prep is key......get down to bare white metal via sand blasting or other mechanical means such as wire brush/power wire brush etc...and use a good rust inhibitive primer followed by a two top coates of alkyd (oil based) paint. The paints metioned above by Bryce would work well but remember it's all about surface prep. With that trailer you may just end up doing a once or bi-annual maintenance regiment chasing around the rust when it shows up. You should only paint when it's 50 degrees F or higher. For steel in a normal atmospheric exposure application such as this the alkyd based coating work out very well (for example......they have been painting the exterior of those giant municiple water storage tanks with this paint for decades with excellent results and excellent recoating characteristics).

Good Luck, Bob

 

LOL Backinthesaddleagain. You make good points. However, just use Rustoleum Rust Reformer. Prep work is simpler. You will never use a sandblaster again. Just clean the surface with soap and water and knock any flaking paint and heavy rust off with a hand metal brush. The rust Reformer chemically deactivates the rust, then it seals the metal and creates a primed surface for the Rustoleum paint. Rustoleum paint is a top quality oil based enamel that is much more durable than any paint you will find on a trailer.
BryceGtX

 

my steel home made trailer gets sprayed with hot, old engine/tranny fluid/whatevers around, at the beggining and end of winter......its holding up great...