Licensing a trailer

[upnorth]

Strange one here. We found a boat that we are pretty interested in, a 2004 Lund Explorer 1700 SS with a Johnson 115 4 stroke. Price may need to come down a bit as $11,500 with no electronics or trolling motor seems a bit high. But the real dilemma is the trailer is not nor has it every been licensed. And the current seller has no papers of any kind on the trailer. Tried calling the license office up here and they were less than helpful on the phone. It is a nice trailer, Karavan galvanized.

Anyone have any idea what getting that thing licensed would entail? I don't want to purchase an outright headache no matter if the boat is a good one or not.

[amateurfishing]

dont trailers have model number/serial number/year and check DMV with that info?

[upnorth]

I gave that info to my wife and she tried to get some info from the licensing folks at the DMV up here and they were less than willing to even answer basic questions.

I think we are going to be talking an in person visit. But this is the problem, with them being less than helpful with even telling you the hoops you have to jump through and how long the process takes, I buy it now and it could be stuck in yard for the opener or even longer.

[tinytimmy37]

I am in that process right now. I pulled a 14' boat and trailer out of the woods for my uncle and now it's mine. Went in to transfer to me but the trailer had no lisence plate. Nothing on the rusted trailer is ledgible.

The DMV gave me a form that asks why it isen't registered or why it never was registered. They told me alot of lake lakeshore owners don't licence their trailors. I havent been back with the form yet so I don't know for sure if it is going to fly.

Wow I can't spell

[upnorth]

That is the concern. If I am going to plunk the $$$ I want to be sure I can use it in a timely manner. They can be a bit fussy and draw it out for a while.

[MinnesotaMike]

Upnorth,

If I remember correctly, you don't need to License your trailer but it does need to be registerd. When you register the trailer you will get a lifetime sticker to put on the trailer, no license plate.

Call these gals at my local license center 763-784-5784. I do all of my business there and they are extremely helpful, not your typical license center.

As far as using your trailer for opener..... since you do not get a plate who is to know if it is registered. All of my trailers my or may not be registered

Good Luck ,

Mike

[amateurfishing]

I have heard that b4 as well, because of the lifetime license that is available, hardly any ever are stopped to check just for that, but may come up and be checked if stopped for something else.

If the ppl at the DMV office are less than helpful, first i would give them a piece of my mind bout my tax dollars being wasted on incompetency and maybe a call to higher office is necessary.

Regarding having all proper documentation etc for fishing opener, if you cannot get the paperwork done that you need for the trailer, i would ask current owner to get all state paperwork in order, then talk transaction.

I purchased my boat used, trailer came with lifetime license (which previous owner never put on) and boat came without a title. so when i went to DMV with boat info they told me it was titled so only previous owner could "transfer" ownership. I called the guy i bought it from and he told me he never had a title, but state told me until he transferred title over to me it was legally still in his name, even if i had an accident with it, he was still legally responsible (even though my insurance would have taken care of it). Lets just say when state tells someone they are legally responsible party, that gets paperwork moving extra fast. so my seller had to apply & pay for dupicate title to legally transfer boat & its liabilities over to me.

If you tell a seller this, they may get their paper work in order quicker. If you have a less than helpful DMV office, i think it may be difficult to get done. My DMV here in town was also very helpful & nice.

[SpecialK]

Some county sheriff's like to drive thru accesses looking for reg stickers. I got a ticket at Bald Eagle for not having the trailer registered.

When I bought my last boat, I was in the same predicament.

If your county clerks are helpful you will be able to walk out the same day with your lifetime license. Just make sure you have a bill of sale that lists the trailer model number and serial number.

[TR21HP]

If your gross vehicle weight of your trailer is less than 3,000 lbs. then you get a lifetime permit. If you are over it's a plate and sticker every year just like a car. My trailer with boat on it weighs 4,500 lbs. and I asked if I could receive a lifetime sticker and the DMV employee showed me the statute that emphasized the 3,000 lb. limit. It's statute 169.79 and was passed in 2011.

[upnorth]

My wife went there in person today. UGLY, to get it licensed we need to get the original purchaser to say why they didn't register/license it at the time of purchase. From there, they gave her two more forms to fill out and hand in after they fill out their portion. This is probably why the guy selling it hasn't done it himself and perhaps part of the reason he is getting rid of it.

I am guessing since the boat is in Grand Rapids and the lakes so close to town the original purchaser just hauled it to the lake home/cabin dumped in the lake and only used it to haul it in and out once a year.

I may just skip it. Probably going to be memorial day before we can haul it anywhere without the worry of getting a ticket and maybe not even then. Sounds like a huge headache and mess to me. Got to think a bit more about it. More of a deal and I would try to find a trailer for it, but not like it is a steal.

[harvey lee]

Tell the DMV you made a trailer so it is homemade. They will license it and thats the end of that. Once the license is on, no biggie and no police will think any different.

Normally one would not do this but since the DMV makes such a big deal out of this, I would go for the homemade licensed trailer. They would never know the difference.

[harvey lee]

Tell the DMV you made a trailer so it is homemade. They will license it and thats the end of that. Once the license is on, no biggie and no police will think any different.

Normally one would not do this but since the DMV makes such a big deal out of this, I would go for the homemade licensed trailer. They would never know the difference.

Take the serial number off the trailer and any company name. Then you could also resell it as homemade.

[amateurfishing]

i'd say not worth the hassle unless current owner licenses everything themselves (which they should do anyway) & could then just transfer all paperwork over to new owner, IMO

[tinytimmy37]

Up north just finished with transfer of my trailer that didn't have a plate. Went flawlessly in my case the owner just said the plate just came up missing. He signed it I signed it left with my lifetime.

[upnorth]

Part of the dilemma is he is not the original owner and neither of us are really willing to lie to the state on what is really going on here.

[TR21HP]

My advice to you upnorth is if the seller is not willing to take care of licensing the trailer walk away and get something else as it doesn't look like a great deal anyway.

[upnorth]

I am in agreement. I think I could get him down a bit, but I doubt enough to warrant the hassle.

[scaup]

I just got done with a similiar hedache. I bought the trailer from out of state. That guy bought from a MN owner. ND owner had no title info. Based on the weight of the boat, motor, trailer the trailer had to be titled and licensed.

I had to get ahold of the previous owner in MN and he was really helpfull, bit it was kinda a pain. however, after jumping thorugh a few hoops and many phone calls it is done. The trick is to find that original owner.