Rollers touching or not?

[relstabw]

I have an old bowrider that came with four 4" rollers that the keel sat on and two short two by fours at the rear at the outboard ends of the transom. This was an extremely hard trailer to load the boat on especially in any wind or current. (I launch and load by myself) I have since replaced the two short 2x4's with 2x6's that go the full length of the hull and follow the countour of the hull. These are about halfway between the keel and the outer edge of the boat. I've also added guides. My question is:does the keel need to rest on rollers or can I drop all but the front roller(to support the front)? I don't want to cause damage to the hull but I sure would like to be able to drive this boat on the trailer as some of the ramps I launch at are pretty steep. How can I convert this trailer to drive on? Do I need to replace the rollers with a "V" type bunkboard set up?

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Rollers touching or not?

I think that photos of the boat and trailer w/ out the boat on it will help get an educated answer to your question. How big/heavy is the boat?

 

[relstabw]

Re: Rollers touching or not?

I think that photos of the boat and trailer w/ out the boat on it will help get an educated answer to your question. How big/heavy is the boat?

Sorry. The boat is 16 foot. No idea what it weighs but it can't be much I can move it around in the yard by myself and I couldn't do that with my old 17 footer. I'll try to take some pictures this weekend and post them. It's a 1979 Lucraft. The hull is a shallow V at the transom and countours to a deep V at the bow. The sides are flat from the gunnells down. Looking straight on from the front the hull has a gull wing shape.

 

[Knightgang]

Re: Rollers touching or not?

Pictures would help quite a bit, but I will say this. I find that keel rollers, especially those under 8 inches wide can cause a great deal of issues when loading, and it you miss them have a great tendancy of scratching the hull. As long as the hull has overall support and not putting Pin Point pressure in one spot, you should be fine. I have a Bunk Trailer with a Vee Bow Guide and I love it. Easy to load as a drive on/float on/or winch up.

If you are satisfied that the 2x6s provide enough supprt aong the hull, I would remove the rollers and either add a 12" bow roller or a Vee Bow guide.

This is like the V-guide on mine...

 

[relstabw]

Re: Rollers touching or not?

I think that photos of the boat and trailer w/ out the boat on it will help get an educated answer to your question. How big/heavy is the boat?

Trying to post pictures. Hope this works. This is my fourth try.Each time I try the message said the file was too large so I compressed them. Hope you can see them. I tried it out this weekend and even with the side boards it still won't load straight and I have to winch it up. I'm about to take Knightgang's suggestion and remove the center rollers leaving the rear (which is a 12 inch centering roller) and the front (4inch) to support the bow. What do you think about putting bunk boards in place of the rollers I remove? They would be in the second and third framerails and follow the V of the bow and help center the boat when it's comming on the trailer? I really need to get this to be a drive on trailer if at all possible or get a set of waders for this winter!

 

[Knightgang]

Re: Rollers touching or not?

THe pictures came out kinda small to see much. I still think that the V bow support will help you for drive on and bow support better than the 4in roller. That V bow support is designed to force the bow to settle down in the center of it thereby helping to center the boat on the trailer. If your bunks re high enough, you will not need the rear roller either...

 

[relstabw]

Re: Rollers touching or not?

Yeah I know. I had a hard time getting the pics to post. My bow is a fairly deep V. Do you still think the bow saver you mention will work? If so it sounds like the best idea.

 

[Knightgang]

Re: Rollers touching or not?

Yes. It may (not sure) require some adjustment to raise the bunks to that the boat sits cirrectly with the bow in the V Guide. But I have noticed with My Vee Boat that this V guide at the bow is critical, especially in a current or wind. If I get turned sideways over the trailer once I pull into the upright guides, as long as I can hit the V guide with the bow, it will center the bow and thus center the boat fro easy loading...

 

[relstabw]

Re: Rollers touching or not?

Thanks for the help! That's the result I'm looking for. I fish all winter and even though it's Florida the water gets cold!

 

[Knightgang]

Re: Rollers touching or not?

Here is a picture of an aluminum drive on/float on bunk trailer. It may help you with your layout to improve your trailer...