Is it true that Easy Load roller trailers ruin fiberglass boats???

Many years ago a salesman at a boat dealership told me that a trailer with all rollers will damage a fiberglass boat, that’s why Ranger, Skeeter, Hydrostream, Chrckmate, etc are sold on bunk trailers. But, is it true???

Your question is really about roller trailers vs. bunk trailers. . . . not specific to EZ load . . .

Bunk trailers distribute load better vs. roller trailers put point loads on the boat hull. It can be a concern for some boats, but a trailer with more rollers can be sufficient. It also depends on the boat as well, thicker hulls being better.

So, a broad statement about damage is not true. It is more situational of boat and trailer.

I would say use whatever the manufacturer advises.
I have had a roller trailer under my boat for many years with no damage. In my boating environment, a bunk trailer would be a pain due to shallow ramps. The trailer has 24 rollers and the boat weighs approximately 4100 lbs. Just had it weighed, the weight ticket was 4960. I could probably add a few more rollers, but it has been fine the way it is.
My brother had a similar size boat on a bunk trailer, and I found it to be a pain to use, even on the nice steep town ramp. Winching up the boat was a chore, the roller is much easier. Roller trailers are more common here than bunk trailers due to wide swings in water depth with the tides (approx 6').

Lou C said:

Winching up the boat was a chore, the roller is much easier.

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bunk slicks work

The bunk trailers are often referred to as "float-on" trailers, meaning that the trailer has to be deep enough to get the boat on about 90+% onto the trailer before winching. Shallow grade ramps can be challenging as @Lou C noted.

as stated prior, its not a brand of trailer, its a bunk trailer vs a roller trailer.

My current boat has had both types of trailers. a roller trailer and a bunk trailer. the bunk trailer requires less maintenance, the roller trailer is easier to load/unload on shallow ramps

However the fiberglass on the bottom of my boat is nearly 3/8" thick

if you have a cheap roller trailer with minimum rollers, each roller puts a significant amount of point loading on the hull. some roller trailers have as many as 80 rollers on them. some have as little as 8

if you have a thin hull such as a stingray or a balsa cored hull such as a hydrostream or any of the jet boats, you may want to shy away from rollers as the hulls do not do well with point loading

some really thin aluminum boats do better with bunks than rollers as point loading will dent them (like squishing a beer can)

I'm guessing that dealer sold Ranger, Skeeter, Hydrostream and Checkmate lol.

Not sure how easy it was to load a #4,800 boat, but mine sat on a 32- wobble roller (Load-Rite) trailer for 20 years w/o issues until I switched to a Drive-on trailer a couple of years ago.

The running surface on my hull are solid glass, 5/8"-3/4' thk.
Mileage will very if your hull is constructed differently

So this made me look at mine. Hope this is not a derail but an addition to b he thread.

Above is a pic with bunks and rollers.

My 18 foot aluminum has 16 rollers, beilive to be all factory issued.

I couls easily add bunks to the outside of the rollers. Would that work/help/impede?

Side question, i only have one keel roller and its about a third of the way back from the bow eye. Would additional jeel roller help?

The manufacturer of the boat that I'm looking at went out of business 20 years ago, so I can't ask them what they recommend, the seller of the boat isn't the original owner, but he said that the original trailer rusted apart so it was replaced with an Easy Loader all roller trailer.

dfrants said:

The manufacturer of the boat that I'm looking at went out of business 20 years ago, so I can't ask them what they recommend, the seller of the boat isn't the original owner, but he said that the original trailer rusted apart so it was replaced with an Easy Loader all roller trailer.

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OK, as you look at the boat on the trailer, do you see any deformation marks from the rollers?

I had a mid-70s 16' runabout on a roller trailer until recently. Likely original, as the rollers wore through the gelcoat and created an 1/8" divot into the hull.

This was a crappy boat with a great motor, so its only purpose was to get me by when my 'nicer' boats had issues, so I didn't care.

Lou C said:

I would say use whatever the manufacturer advises.
I have had a roller trailer under my boat for many years with no damage. In my boating environment, a bunk trailer would be a pain due to shallow ramps. The trailer has 24 rollers and the boat weighs approximately 4100 lbs. Just had it weighed, the weight ticket was 4960. I could probably add a few more rollers, but it has been fine the way it is.
My brother had a similar size boat on a bunk trailer, and I found it to be a pain to use, even on the nice steep town ramp. Winching up the boat was a chore, the roller is much easier. Roller trailers are more common here than bunk trailers due to wide swings in water depth with the tides (approx 6').

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this . For same reason I put rollers on my jetski trailer as we have a shallow ramp on our property and use a tractor to launch and retrieve the ski annually. USed to have to lift the ski on the trailer.

As other have said either style will work well when properly set up, cant count how many times you see trailers/bunks not set up right

I hate the bunk power loaders, the landing on the lake is concrete bar construction. When you do the responsible thing and get in the water to avoid power loading and your foot slips between the concrete bars and you tear up your ankle you get a little pissed.

humour me, how is the concrete being removed to expose the rebar?

As a 19 year old getting his first boat, the magazine ads about how good roller trailers are swayed me. My first trailer was an all roller Holsclaw. Now, almost 60 years later I have only owned 2 bunk trailers. One had the bunks replaced after only 1 launch. The second had bunk slicks and keel rollers installed after the first launch.

Eons ago, when Trailer Boats Magazine was in print, I read a story where the "expert" stated that a roller trailer would never damage a hull as long as there were no more than 125 pounds on each roller. I have followed that guideline to the letter.

Look at trailer catalogs and do the math. Some of the cheaper models exceed the 125# guideline. You get what you pay for.

I owned my 1984 Stingray (thin hull) for 35 years. The boat sat on rollers the whole time. The hull was perfect when I sold her.

My current Searay has a Karavan bunk trailer included in the price. Looking at their catalog they made the same trailer frame with rollers. I had the dealer order the roller bunks and convert the trailer before I took delivery. It's been on those rollers for 8 years now with no ill effects. These rollers carry 100# each.

No matter which style trailer, you need to properly support the hull.. Thin cheap hulls need even more support. My 1983 Islanders has always set on a roller trailer, no dents, but it does have lots of rollers ! My current 16' has 14 rollers just to give you an idea.