My nephew drew an alligator tag for the TPWD draw hunt system. I have been working hard to get my derelict duck boat and trailer ready to go. I took it for a test drive the other day and pretty much everything went okay except my trailer license plate fell off on the way home.

I never registered the trailer, there is no VIN on the trailer that I can find, I do not have a record of the license plate number, and I seem to have lost my bill of sale.

Any suggestions for how this needs to be resolved? Is this something I'm likely to get pulled over for?

Also, any tips on the alligator hunt for my nephew? I've harpooned them before, but Ive never set lines which is what we will be doing this time.

I think I registered mine back in the day as a home built trailer. I don't recall there being much to it, but this was years ago

Go to tax office with everything you have and get started there.

Cellular trail camera and set out baited line for your tag. Be ready to go get it quick as it will spoil quick.

This. Grem knows the way.

Worst case you have to get a bonded title but if there was a previous registration history I bet it can be found.

If you can't find your old records to get the plate, just scrap the trailer and buy another one. Registering as a home built has been made such a nightmare by the state that it isn't worth it. It takes all kinds of getting pushed from one state office to another, getting a certified auto-theft detective to inspect it, pictures sent in, certified weight, regular inspection, bonded title, ….

Trust me, it's not worth it for a boat trailer. Buy one with a VIN off of Craigslist.

I bought a tandem flat bed about a year ago that had no tags or paperwork. But the seller went with me to a notary and gave me a bill of sale. Didn't matter to me cause was just planning to use on the ranch.
Needed to use it to haul some pipe so decided to see if I could make it legal.
Went to our MV office and took the bill of sale and pictures. The lady had me fill out some forms and gave me a number for the sheriff's office. I called them and the next day a guy came out to the ranch…looked at it and
took two pictures.
Two weeks later I had the new tags in hand.
Perhaps that is the advantage of living very rural and a small town.

I bought a boat and the trailer had never been titled. They would not let me title it.

They didn't care one bit that it didn't have a title to get it registered and tagged. Gave me a plate right there. Very simple.

We did the jd murphree hunt last year, it was a blast!

I read all kinds of horror stories about people getting denied entry to the hunt if their boat /trailer registrations weren't in order, my buddy brought his boat so I don't know if he had to show anything at check in but they basically had all trucks/trailers/boats line up and park outside the office for orientation so it would have been easy for them to check. I wouldn't chance it

You get basically 24 hours for the hunt, but we went 3 for 3. Set the baits after orientation, dork around in the water until the mosquitoes start getting to you, check your sets on the way in, then go out the next morning and get your gators. I swaged 12/0 hooks to 400lb mono and a swivel for leaders, then used gator bow fishing line to tie that to a tree on the bank. They provided cane poles, stakes, and rubber bands. For bait, rig your leaders to whole chicken thighs with zip ties from line to bone so it doesn't come apart, then put them in a bucket a week ahead of time with the swivel hanging out. This is important because the chicken will be naaasty when you set it. Like make you vomit nasty, you do not want to touch it. Gators are gross. The excitement starts when you start pulling in a line that has a gator attached to it ...
Have fun!

That's not how it works if there is no VIN. Your trailer probably had one. Trailers only require a bill of sale to register as long as they have a previous ID number. Registering as a shop build or homemade is an ordeal that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

No sir. It had a tag that had been held on by rivets and it was gone. No other numbers on it.
I asked the seller to give me a bill of sale. He hand wrote it with a basic simple description of said trailer.

If you never registered it in the first place just register it as home built. This is what the Brazos County tax office told me last year.

Very helpful thank you

SGrem said:

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I bought a boat and the trailer had never been titled. They would not let me title it.

They didn't care one bit that it didn't have a title to get it registered and tagged. Gave me a plate right there. Very simple.

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I imagine you still had to have the VIN?

Doesn't have a vin to my knowledge. It had been previously tagged however. So im sure that makes a big difference.

I have another trailer that the vin plate is not atall legible. It was made by Float-On. Boat dealer that sold it used to me provided a filled out home made trailer form. It was absolutely painless. Went and registered and titled as such. Easy peezy. It was a one stop process....lil wait time.... and they sent what I needed.

Both of those trailer in regular use today by me.

If you register it as home built, they will issue you a VIN that you are supposed to stamp into the frame.

Good advice on the line set. I'll add to get some big/ long bamboo poles if no trees are available for the set area.
And to set the baited chicken lines a couple feet above the water.

They didn't ask me to do anything at all as far as any VIN or any inspection or anything. I recieved a plate and a title and a registration that I renew every year.

What kind of information do you think was on the form? I have no information other than the guys name who sold it to me and that it has a 3500lb axle.

This. Go with Grem!
The man knows everything trailers.

Im sure the shop made form is available. I will stress the part above that it was all filled out by a boat dealer so im sure they have more experience and possibly used their dealer info to help pushing thru.

Find/generate your bill of sale for the the trailer. If you have anything of an old registration/license plate number....anything.... then it should be easy. You dont need it to be titled. A lot of old trailers including some that I currently use were never titled.

OP, come back when you find out the process. Mine was in Brazos County with a shop built gooseneck stock trailer. I had to go through the state office in Waco for all of the paperwork, plus a few trips to the local tax office. It took a couple of months of getting everything that was required- certified auto theft detective inspection in Anderson by a guy that meets there from Conroe, certified weight scale ticket, photos, inspection at a vehicle inspection facility, many, many more forms, lots of fees, bonded title, and then I stamped in the owner applied number per state instructions. I got a hell of a deal on the trailer so it was worth it, but I wouldn't do it again. This was about 5-6 years ago and the detective said that it was a new process to cut down on all of the fraudulent registrations.