i am adding side bunks to my trailer. looking for thoughts and opions

[alilley]

http://s1178.photobucket.com/albums/x370/alilley1/side guides/

I am going to build my own guide on's. and looking for a little advise from the pro's out here that have experiance with them. Te boat is only 17 ft. Since i do not have that much experiance loading and unloading i figured that they would help, if anything keep me centered and give me a referance point to go off of.

The link that i posted is to my photo pucket.

In photo 1 the purple mark is where I am thninking rear post will prob go.Should i put the front post in front of the finder (green) or behind (purple)?

In photo 2 and 3 is looking at the options for how high i am thinking of placing them. The only differance between the red and the yellow mark is, where the yellow mark is the boat is angled. For the bunks them self i was figuring using 2x6 carpted.

thanks in advance for all your input

 

[Evinbuck]

Re: i am adding side bunks to my trailer. looking for thoughts and opions

Side bunks are very helpful in windy or water current situations at ramps. They're best effective when at the rear of the trailer and with a boat of your length the bunk guides need to be no longer than 4' or maybe even less. 2-3" between the hull and bunk is fine. As for height the best recommendation is to take a picture of your boat at the ramp at the typical depth you load or launch. By looking at the picture you can best judge the height where the bunks would be out of the water enough to guide your boat onto the trailer. I made the mistake of not doing that and guessing and ended up with most of the side bunks being under water. I've since raised the height and works great.

 

[Bob's Garage]

Re: i am adding side bunks to my trailer. looking for thoughts and opions

http://s1178.photobucket.com/albums/x370/alilley1/side guides/

I am going to build my own guide on's. and looking for a little advise from the pro's out here that have experiance with them. Te boat is only 17 ft. Since i do not have that much experiance loading and unloading i figured that they would help, if anything keep me centered and give me a referance point to go off of.

The link that i posted is to my photo pucket.

In photo 1 the purple mark is where I am thninking rear post will prob go.Should i put the front post in front of the finder (green) or behind (purple)?

In photo 2 and 3 is looking at the options for how high i am thinking of placing them. The only differance between the red and the yellow mark is, where the yellow mark is the boat is angled. For the bunks them self i was figuring using 2x6 carpted.

thanks in advance for all your input

When I renovated a boat for my wife to use for fishing the trailer was very difficult to load it on. The boat would not settle into its position with out a lot of messing around. It was a very light boat but that just meant it wouldn't stay positioned for her.

I added side bunks (at the red/purple/green position) which worked out perfectly for her. I also placed them close to the side of the boat so she could get in at the ramp, prior to launch, and not have the boat rock on it's berth. This also kept the boat in place when loading.

I covered the side bunks of PT 2x4's with a pool noodle cut in half and then covered the result with bunk carpet. Made for a nice soft contact and protected the boat from impact.

 

[alilley]

Re: i am adding side bunks to my trailer. looking for thoughts and opions

i do like the swim noodle idea, will think about that one. i was lwaning tward using a 2x6 covered in out door carpeting. do any of you think it will hold up fora wile like that?

 

[Bob's Garage]

Re: i am adding side bunks to my trailer. looking for thoughts and opions

i do like the swim noodle idea, will think about that one. i was lwaning tward using a 2x6 covered in out door carpeting. do any of you think it will hold up fora wile like that?

I think the 2x6 is overkill, but it is your boat so do as you desire. A 2x4 of that length and your size boat would be more than enough. It's not really holding anything, it's only positioning your boat on the trailer. The metal braces/mounting brackets will be acting as springs if you were to hit them really hard while loading, so make sure they are upto the task.