Correct Position

[Wild Bill]

Hi everone, I have a 18.2 Crestliner that rests on the side bunks of the trailer and rollers in the center of the trailer. The boat rests on the bunks and the boat is about 2 inches from resting on the rollers. Is this correct. Wish I had a picture to show you. Hope you under stand what I'm trying to say. Thanks to all that responds.

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: Correct Position

Sounds beauty to me. The roller is there for the keel as you load and unload. The boat should always bear on the bunks primarily.

 

[Wild Bill]

Re: Correct Position

Thanks Dockwrecker for you fast reply, greatly appreciated.

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: Correct Position

Your style trailer is all that we ever saw when I was in the business MANY years ago!

The way that we always adjusted the rollers, was to loosen the bracket nuts slightly, and tap the roller bracket upwards until the roller was in contact with the hull. It is important that the bunkers, and the rollers, share the load equally when the boat is fully on the trailer. When the boat is launched, the rollers take up the load within a short distance and that is what you want.

Happy boating!

 

[JimS123]

Re: Correct Position

Your style trailer is all that we ever saw when I was in the business MANY years ago!

The way that we always adjusted the rollers, was to loosen the bracket nuts slightly, and tap the roller bracket upwards until the roller was in contact with the hull. It is important that the bunkers, and the rollers, share the load equally when the boat is fully on the trailer. When the boat is launched, the rollers take up the load within a short distance and that is what you want.

Happy boating!

This has been discussed already ad nauseum. The procedure above is the correct one. If its not resting on the rollers the trailer was adjusted wrong. If you have a wooden boat, you will ruin the hull....guaranteed. If its an aluminum boat, depends on how good the hull quality is in the first place.

I didn't read this on the internet....my statemenst are from experience.

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: Correct Position

Depends on the profile of the hull. A drop deep Vee hull will enter the trailer bunk /roller earlier, and some rollers are there to merely protect until the boat reaches it's final resting place. Only half of my rollers touch, and I can't understand how the point load of a boat keel on a 2" roller is better than the distributed load across a 2X6X probably 4' at least bunk. Make sure the bunks are sound, no worries. The rollers really aren't doing that much for point load. Having the rollers up there certainly helps, but how would you ever know what weight they were really bearing.

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: Correct Position

Depends on the profile of the hull. A drop deep Vee hull will enter the trailer bunk /roller earlier, and some rollers are there to merely protect until the boat reaches it's final resting place. Only half of my rollers touch, and I can't understand how the point load of a boat keel on a 2" roller is better than the distributed load across a 2X6X probably 4' at least bunk. Make sure the bunks are sound, no worries. The rollers really aren't doing that much for point load. Having the rollers up there certainly helps, but how would you ever know what weight they were really bearing.

You have missed my point?the rollers should be equal participants in the launching, and loading, of the boat. They will only serve that purpose when they are in contact with the keel?and be useless when they are 2? somewhere out in Never-Never Land! As an engineer, you should appreciate that fighting the friction of the bunkers?and using your bow eye to accomplish this?for the last 6 feet of your retrieval is not the correct way to treat your boat.

There was a time (and this was way back when I was in the boat trailer business) that there was no such thing as ?floating? your boat off the trailer?and you winched the boat back on. Trailer bunks were usually a 2?x 6?, with the 2? side carpeted and supporting the hull. If I had a dollar for every one of these trailers that I adjusted for roller assisted launching, then I could have retired 20 years earlier. Nothing has changed if your modern trailer has rollers?you put them in the position to be of use every inch of the launch, or retrieval.

Now if you submerge your trailer?and power your boat on and off?then use the rollers for interesting conversation and/or keel protection for the first couple of feet. I can?t know, but I have the impression that the original poster isn?t powering off and on.

Happy boating!

 

[nofuss]

Re: Correct Position

Here in Trinidad we rarely see rollers on trailers, unless its an imported trailer from the USA. we have boats with pretty deep Vs and almost everything under 30ft is stored on a trailer. just resting on the bunks. wooden and fiberglass boats. Including my imported from USA road trailer with a 10,000 lb boat. so i would say since the rollers are there, it wont hurt to push them up to contact the hull, it would be cheap insurance if one of the bunks fail for some reason, but it is not really a requirement, once the boat sits squarely with the strakes on the bunks. i.e. the trailer is properly adjusted for the boat. Also if your boat is loaded a bit too much to one side, which it should not be, the rollers in contact will help it get on the trailer properly a bit easier. but the rollers do not need to share the load.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Correct Position

The keel is the backbone of a boat and therefore the strongest point. Keel rollers are installed on trailers to support the boat. Bunks also aid in that support but their priime purpose is to provide lateral support. Just because a trailer is manufactured without keel rollers does not make it the preferred method of trailer construction. It could perhaps means the manufacturer cut corners.