Sussex County trailer owners can get mobile trailer repair without hauling a broken trailer to a shop. Keep Them Rolling Trailer Repair sends owner Brad Smith and his service truck from Randolph to farms, lake houses, job sites and driveways across Sussex County, NJ, where he fixes worn bearings, weak brakes, bent axles, sagging suspension and dead lights on the spot. Book a visit at (973) 651-1045.
Hopatcong and the Lake Hopatcong boat trailers
Hopatcong borough sits on the Sussex side of Lake Hopatcong, the largest lake in New Jersey, and a lot of the trailers in town exist for one job: getting a boat in and out of the water. Some launch every summer weekend. Others go in at the start of the season, come out at the end and spend the months in between parked on the lawn.
Both kinds wear out, just in different ways. The weekend trailer keeps dunking warm hubs into cool water, and the seasonal one sits for months with whatever moisture got into the grease on its last trip. Brad checks the bearings and seals, the bunks or rollers, the winch and strap, the lights, and on heavier boats the brakes, which corrode fast on a trailer that goes underwater. Everything on that list falls under boat trailer repair.
Sparta, Byram and Stanhope: more lakes, smaller wheels
Sparta has Lake Mohawk and several smaller lake communities, Byram is dotted with lakes along Route 206, and Stanhope shares Lake Musconetcong with Netcong on the Morris side. Route 15 carries traffic up from Morris County through Sparta. Along with the usual fishing boats, these towns have plenty of pontoon and personal watercraft trailers. Their small wheels spin many more turns per mile than a car trailer’s, so the bearings run hotter at highway speed and need grease more often. On any trailer riding on 8-inch or 12-inch wheels, repack the bearings every year; wheel bearing service and repacking takes care of it.
Newton and Andover along Route 206
Newton, the seat of Sussex County, has both Route 206 and Route 94 running through it. Andover lies on Route 206 between Newton and Byram. Working trailers around here run a wide range: landscaping trailers that travel Route 206 every day, dump and equipment trailers for small excavating crews, car haulers and enclosed cargo trailers behind trade vans. Boats that launch at Swartswood Lake, northwest of Newton, add to the mix. For open trailers that carry mowers, stone and mulch, the common failures are cracked deck boards, bent ramp gates, worn spring shackles and wiring scraped off the frame; landscaping trailer repair goes through them one by one.
Ogdensburg, Franklin, Hamburg and Vernon: the Wallkill valley
The Wallkill River runs north through Ogdensburg and Franklin and on past Hamburg, and Route 23 follows the valley through Franklin and Hamburg before Route 94 branches off north into Vernon. Vernon reaches the New York line, with farms on the valley floor and lake communities such as Highland Lakes up in the hills. Winters up here are long, and Route 23 gets salted hard, so frames, spring hangers and wiring junctions on valley trailers tend to rust sooner than the same trailer would farther south.
Hamburg
Hamburg is the working crossroads of the valley, where Route 94 joins Route 23 and contractor and farm trailers pass through all year. Its own page digs into winter salt damage and how a visit that far north gets planned: trailer repair in Hamburg.
Fair season, farms and horse trailers
The Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta hosts the New Jersey State Fair/Sussex County Farm and Horse Show every summer, and a lot of livestock and horse trailers come out of the barn for it. Get yours looked at a few weeks ahead rather than the night before. On a trailer that hauls animals, Brad starts with the floor (boards or aluminum, checked under the mats), then the brakes and the breakaway battery, the lights, and tires that may have dry-rotted while the trailer sat in a barn. Electric brakes that have not been used since last summer often have rusty magnets and drums, and trailer brake repair is better done at home than discovered on a downhill grade with a full load.
Common questions
Is northern Sussex County outside your service area?
No. Every Sussex town named on this page is inside the area Brad serves, and the business travels up to about 100 miles when a job calls for it. Sussex is farther from Randolph than the Morris County towns, so visits up here are planned ahead and often paired with other work nearby. Call with your town and the problem. Brad will tell you how he can fit the trip in.
My boat trailer sat at the lake all winter. What should be checked before the first launch?
Start with the bearings: jack each wheel, spin it and feel for roughness or play, and look for milky grease, which means water got in. Check the tires for sidewall cracks and low pressure, and test every light with the trailer hooked up. Look over the winch strap, the coupler latch and the safety chains. If the trailer has brakes, make sure they release fully, because a sticking brake can overheat a hub on the way to the ramp.
Can a horse or livestock trailer be repaired at the farm?
Yes. Mobile trailer repair works in barnyards, fields and driveways as long as Brad can reach the trailer and the ground is firm enough to jack on. Take the animals out, and muck out the trailer if the floor or anything underneath it is part of the problem, since he needs to see the boards or the aluminum clearly. A spot close to the house or barn also helps when lights and brakes need testing with the truck attached.
How do I get on the schedule for a Sussex County visit?
Phone (973) 651-1045, or use the service request form. Include the town, the type of trailer, the number of axles and what is going wrong, and send photos if you can. That lets Brad bring the right parts on the first trip and give you a price before a single tool comes out.