There is what appears to be a nice Albin-25 for sale in Ottawa, Ont

[NickScheuer]

Don't know what the rules are here for selling boats, so I'm not copying and posting here URL here. I have no connection to that boat

[NickScheuer]

Opps! Forgot to say details are posted on the Trawler Forum in the classified section for boats and gear..

[Louma]

Thank you Nick, it is also listed in the ads in this Albin Forum.

[DesertAlbin736]

Looks like a nice boat. Low hour Yanmar is a huge plus. Reasonably priced by the looks of it. Interesting location for the fridge. It's the early model version like ours, but I would not be able to locate a fridge where his is since my batteries are under the starboard bench seat & the master switch is in the side wall right where his fridge is. The only thing that boat lacks is a trailer.

[Louma]

There is a trailer but it needs repair to the brakes. Somebody suggested putting electric brakes which would be quite easy and less expensive than repairing the hydraulic ones.
The two 6V house batteries are on starboard, to the right of the helm and behind the fridge. The starting battery is on port side and bowthruster battery under the front couch in the middle. Battery switch is under the floor at the helm, above the black water tank. Previous owner did most of this, the space is all used up pretty well!

[WillieC]

Oh, no! Not electric brakes! Electric OVER hydraulic. Or stick with the hydraulic. I can't imagine running electric brakes into the water. Then again, I own an old boat, the electrics of which all appear to have been underwater at some point.

[DesertAlbin736]

Electric over hydraulic = 'gold standard', especially with disc brakes with s/s rotors.

One of our sailing buddies has pure electric drum brakes on his trailer. Might be ok for strictly fresh water and/or VERY occasional salt water launches.

When you're talking "repairs to the brakes" I assume you're talking hydraulic surge brakes. The only difference between surge & electric over hydraulic is the actuator/master cylinder. EOH actuators run $600 & up, plus you need a controller in the truck. If the trailer in question has drum brakes that are shot but the surge master cylinder is OK I'd convert to Kodiak discs. Either type needs to be thoroughly flushed with fresh water after each salt water immersion. If drum brakes I'd have a flush kit installed if it didn't have one already, where you can hook up a garden hose to flush the innards between the drums & inner backing plates.

We have trailered close to 20,000 miles over the last 5+ years with surge brakes, including numerous Western mountain grades with no major problems. A few repairs here & there yes. IMO the more important thing is having an adequate size/towing capacity vehicle, preferably 3/4 ton for a boat the size & weight of an A25.

[DesertAlbin736]

Age and condition of tires is important too. No matter how good they look, if the date stamps say they're over 5 or 6 years old, (even 5 years is pushing it), it's time to replace. Any expense is justified when it comes to preventing blowouts.

An A25 could get by with 15" load range D tires, but load range E is preferred, considering if you lose one tire on a tandem axle the other is carrying half the weight of the rig.

[Louma]

Thanks for all the explanation and advice about trailer brakes, very useful. Glad that I will not have to gold plate them!!
Repairs to be done are on hydraulic surge brakes (note we are exclusively on fresh water up here). Trailer will need repair/replacement of the master cylinder and drums etc. The tires are being replaced and are range E tires. Thanks again for the advice!

Weather is so nice up here now that I might reconsider selling..!

[WillieC]

If you are into drums...check into swapping out to Kodiak discs.
It all depends on how far you get into it THEN realize you could have made a decent upgrade for similar investment. Note, master cylinders are often matched to type of slave cylinders, whether disc or drum. Do your homework and remember to show your work. Ha!