Homemade trailer warning

[N Moore]

I recently bought a Typhoon trailer in excellent condition. I was thrilled when I saw it in the flesh. Picked up the Ty I had bought in January in another state and headed home to Toronto, ON. When I got to the border I was turned back as a homemade trailer in not admissable to Canada unless the importer has made the trailer himself and has the receipts to prove it. I am not sure the trailer is actually homemade but that is what it says on the title. It makes no difference in the US but apparently is not possible when importing into Canada. Beware!
I am at a loss as to how to solve this problem. I really want to keep this trailer as it is perfect for my boat but may have to launch the boat in the States and sail it across the lake to Toronto. Not an ideal first sail in a new boat, especially when the water is still very cold this time of year. I would then try to sell the trailer in NY state. Don't want to do that but alternative suggestions don't seem to be panning out.

[Oswego John]

Ouch. Bummer

I never realized that there was a law like that. When Mike Ritenour gets home from his winter cruise, maybe you can launch your boat from his yacht club, which is a little east of the Niagara River. Then maybe you can hug the coastline and sail to Toronto.

You should have no problem in selling the trailer, especially toward the end of the sailing season. Used trailers in good condition are scarcer than hen's teeth.

I don't know what happens in other states, but here in NYS the person trying to register his recently purchased, used trailer will falsify the app and say that it is homemade. Doing this will suggest that the trailer isn't worth its true value and declare that the buying price was much lower than the actual cost. The buyer has to pay 8% NYS sales tax to register for plates.

The NYS DMV is well aware of this ruse. Now and again the DMV will pursue a more obvious abuse by a tax cheater who has signed his name to a falsified government document. Also, the trailer owner has attested to the trailers true worth and has established the max he can expect from his insurance company in case of filing for damages in the future.

Good luck,
O J

[Jim Walsh]

What an odd law. On several hunting trips I've seen what were obviously home made trailers in use in Ontario and Manitoba. Hell, the locals who frequent the "bush" are good at making something out of nothing. Nothing is put to waste.

[N Moore]

Yeah, the Canadians don't mind if you use a homemade trailer in Canada, you just can't bring one into the country. Protecting the jobs of those who make trailers perhaps? Just trying to aggravate sailors? Who knows.

[Sea Hunt Video]

I don't know what happens in other states, but here in NYS the person trying to register his recently purchased, used trailer will falsify the app and say that it is homemade. Doing this will suggest that the trailer isn't worth its true value and declare that the buying price was much lower than the actual cost. The buyer has to pay 8% NYS sales tax to register for plates.

O J

I, for one, am shocked to learn that this type of illegal activity takes place in New York State.

[sharkbait]

I bought a Typhoon setting on a Trident Trailer. I towed the boat from Georgia back to Texas. When I went to our Department of Public Safety for the required inspection prior to registration I got a really big surprise. The trailer had some how got out of the factory without a TIN. When I contacted Trident they told me they could not issue me a TIN unless I could identify the original buyer (impossible).

So, I was forced to declare the trailer as being homemade and apply my own unique identifier number.

Got to love the bureaucracy

[winthrop fisher]

sorry to hear that,

The only one is TRAID Trailers is made for the typhoons and other CD's.

Winthrop

[sharkbait]

I am sorry you are correct it was TRIAD.

[rjnale]

Wow, live and learn.
Late last summer I purchased my Typhoon and trailer that had been in storage for 5 or so years. When I produced the old expired registration w/ vin #s the NYS DMV couldn't find any record of it being registered before. They confirmed the registration was valid and not counterfeit (my concern). After 30 mins of them making phone calls and huddling with what appeared to be supervisors, they would register the trailer as "homemade" and told me to hold onto the old registration.
The border incident reminds me of an old joke.
Every morning at 8:00am a man presents himself at the border to pass through to go to his job in the other country. He has a bicycle and a bag of sand. The guard checks his ID and makes him handover the bag. This goes on for a couple years. One evening at the local pub the guard sees the man. The guard approaches the man, says hello and explains he's no longer a border guard. The old guard says "I know you had to be smuggling something with the bag. What was it?" The man replied "bicycles!"