I bought a 14' fibreglass boat motor and trailer that was generally not maintained very well for a good part of it's former life. The boat needed some TLC, the motor required some work, but wasn't beyond help. The trailer however, was in rough shape. someone had removed the tire from the rims, and rolled the trailer on it's rims on some pipe rails to roll it in and out of the boat house, kind of like a train car. The bearings, rims and axle were horribly rusted and not worth the work. Problem was how to get the boat home after I bought it? The trailer frame and springs looked fine, so I just needed an axle and wheels. An old '86 chrysler minivan provided a nice axle, substantial bearings and decent size (14") tires and rims. All I had to do was cut the pipe, shorten slightly and re-weld it together to match up the spring spacing for the spring mounts on the axle. When I drove back out to where the neglected trailer was, the previous owner watched with mild interest and then disbelief when I had the trailer rolling, boat loaded, and hooked up behind my truck within 45 minutes. Picked up some bearing buddies and I was done! These axles are plentiful at wrecking yards and the tires and rims are very common as well. Bearings and seals can be found pretty much anywhere.The 14" tires are superior to the little donut tires at highway speeds; much easier on the bearings because they turn slower and are a more substantial bearing. Just thought I would share this as there may be others faced with a similar dilemma.
