Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

[I_5320]

All,

Spent a lot of time on the thread so I'm looking to see if I've missed anything before I finish out the trailer. I know now looking at my original pics my trailer was not setup right. Project boat so I only towed once. Bunks are ready to be re-mounted and I know I'll need to hang the boat touching the keel rollers and adjust the bunks up.

Here's my to-do list and would appreciate any pointers and or anything I missed.

1. Setup bunks to lowest setting. (9-10" in on crossbars)
2. Flip boat and lower to keel rollers.
3. Make sure bow ring goes under Keel Stop.
4. Install Winch so strap goes under Keel Stop, (and on horiz part)
Make bow stop adjustments if needed.
5. Raise bunks to boat bottom.
6. Lift boat and adjust bunks a bit higher(Pressure on main keel rollers but still able to turn a bit?)
7. Be sure there's gap on rear heel roller. It's there to guide boat on and protect rear crossbar.. yes?
7. Once boat it finished, weight rig and check tongue weight. Adjust boat for tongue to be to 7% of overall rig??)

A issue is how long to make bunks, thinking matching original and any overage in front is no real harm, and backs I can cut shorter if needed.

However current bunks are 9 feet long (boat is 16.5) but as you can see it was holding the boat with no keel rest. Do they need to be this long and do I need those front bunk brackets of the bow section rests at least on the front keel roller?


Any other advice is appreciated.

 

[I_5320]

Re: Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

forgot the pic

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

Sounds like you've been reading!

2 things I see. Is there a keel roller on the middle cross member? Remount the winch. From the picture it appears to have a mounting pad for the winch on the bow stop which would allow you to move it up to the correct position on the bow eye and also make the strap level.

Sorry but I'm going to stay out of the debate as to how long those bunks should be. Just not up to the same ol argument.

 

[I_5320]

Re: Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

Sounds like you've been reading!

2 things I see. Is there a keel roller on the middle cross member? Remount the winch. From the picture it appears to have a mounting pad for the winch on the bow stop which would allow you to move it up to the correct position on the bow eye and also make the strap level.

Sorry but I'm going to stay out of the debate as to how long those bunks should be. Just not up to the same ol argument.

Pretty sure yes on both. See pics.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

Looks excellant! Winch post looks good. Now just need to set it to the correct position.

What I would do next is to take a straight edge and lay it on the rollers so that they are even and level. Bunks, I would make them so that they extend just past the center cross member and extend past the end of the trailer to were they are even or just past the transom when the boat is loaded in the right position on the trailer. By ther right position I refer to the balance of the trailer so you achieve the correct tongue weight.

Does the keel on the boat extend all the way to the transom or does it end well before the transom?

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

7% is the absolute minimum tongue weight.... 10-15% would make for a more stable trailer.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

I have the starcraft twin sister to your boat.

I have 8' bunks, no keel rollers at all.

As that boat is very shallow draft (floats high on the water), the boat doesn't even come close to hitting the trailer cross members.

The boat sits 4" above the frame.
I back in so all but the front 6" of the bunks are submerged.
Boat floats to within 3 feet of the winch post at most launch sites.
THe boat centers perfectly between the 2 bunks.

 

[I_5320]

Re: Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

Keel ends about 14" from the transom.

So regarding the straight edge over the rollers. Your saying all three including the front adjustable yes? So with the middle one being the non-adjustable, I'd level the trailer and then adjust the front and the middle cross beam one to make all 3 level. Yes?

 

[I_5320]

Re: Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

I have the starcraft twin sister to your boat.

I have 8' bunks, no keel rollers at all.

As that boat is very shallow draft (floats high on the water), the boat doesn't even come close to hitting the trailer cross members.

The boat sits 4" above the frame.
I back in so all but the front 6" of the bunks are submerged.
Boat floats to within 3 feet of the winch post at most launch sites.
THe boat centers perfectly between the 2 bunks.

I decided to try and lower the bunks as much as possible and balance the weight a bit (or at least touch) the keel rollers. I know there's a ongoing debate on if you even need keel rollers, I see most new trailers don't have them. However I did have a bunk fail on me so at least I feel better knowing something is there to catch the boat just in case.

Being in N Illinois, I'll be pulling this rig up to 10 hrs to get to some decent fishing.

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

10 hours? I live about 5 hours north of you and within 2 hours of my house I can catch: Large mouth and small mouth bass, bluegills, crappi, perch, salmon chinook and coho, atlantic salmon (very rarely), lake trout, brown trout, brook trout, splake, rainbow/steelhead trout, white bass, northern, musky, catfish, sturgeon(not legal most of the time), and least I forget, bullheads and carp. What are you fishing for, lol.

 

[I_5320]

Re: Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

10 hours? I live about 5 hours north of you and within 2 hours of my house I can catch: Large mouth and small mouth bass, bluegills, crappi, perch, salmon chinook and coho, atlantic salmon (very rarely), lake trout, brown trout, brook trout, splake, rainbow/steelhead trout, white bass, northern, musky, catfish, sturgeon(not legal most of the time), and least I forget, bullheads and carp. What are you fishing for, lol.

I don't disagree. However I only get to fish sometimes once a year for a full week so I try to hit the peak spots. However once this boat is done I will be getting out more,, hopefully. Lake Geneva is the nearest and do plan on working that a bit.

 

[I_5320]

Re: Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

Looks excellant! Winch post looks good. Now just need to set it to the correct position.

What I would do next is to take a straight edge and lay it on the rollers so that they are even and level. Bunks, I would make them so that they extend just past the center cross member and extend past the end of the trailer to were they are even or just past the transom when the boat is loaded in the right position on the trailer. By ther right position I refer to the balance of the trailer so you achieve the correct tongue weight.

Does the keel on the boat extend all the way to the transom or does it end well before the transom?

Keel ends about 14" from the transom.

So regarding the straight edge over the rollers. At first I thought you meant the front three rollers. But the middle one is non-adjustable,(#2 in the pic), which when the trailer is level, number 3 needs to be raised 1/2" to be perfectly level with the trailer. However roller 1 needs to be lower to make all three plane with the trailer and it's already adjusted down to it's lowest point. I sat all this because I did not think the back crossbar roller was to provide any support.

I see 2 options at this point.

1. Keep 2 & 3 level and plane with the trailer and move roller #1 forward to the point at which the bow turns up.

2. Or lower roller # 3 so I can put a edge across all 3 and have the boat tilted up slightly. I think I'll be bottoming out on the back roller before I get them all even.

Opinions?

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

Lake Geneva is the nearest and do plan on working that a bit.

Where about you at? I'm just SE of Geneva bout 20 minutes.

From the last picture you posted I seem to see a pin in the tongue for a tilt. Also looks as though at some point the brackets for the rollers were changed. I say that because if that is a tilt bed trailer then the 3 rollers inside the bed should all be adjustable. The reason being that when the bed is tilted the keel should roll on the rollers. So not seeing all 4 rollers before all 4 should be on an even plane. Then because the keel ends well in front of the 4th roller it will not be touching when fully loaded and that weight will be carried by the bunks.

 

[I_5320]

Re: Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

Where about you at? I'm just SE of Geneva bout 20 minutes.

From the last picture you posted I seem to see a pin in the tongue for a tilt. Also looks as though at some point the brackets for the rollers were changed. I say that because if that is a tilt bed trailer then the 3 rollers inside the bed should all be adjustable. The reason being that when the bed is tilted the keel should roll on the rollers. So not seeing all 4 rollers before all 4 should be on an even plane. Then because the keel ends well in front of the 4th roller it will not be touching when fully loaded and that weight will be carried by the bunks.

I'm in Hampshire, IL about 1 hr south of Lake Geneva WI.

So yes I picked up the boat as a project boat which was already gutted in the inside. I saw that the boat was riding high on the trailer and yes it was a tilt but it's been welded in the tilt section and up front. Could be the whole tongue was modified now that I think about and look at it. So I can adjust the rear roller and #3 ,,but #2 has two welded tabs that look stock. I see that the keel ends about 1 ft before the bow curve so I estimate if I could lower Keel Roller #1 by about 1/2 in it may work. (but it would not be holding up on the keel itself) Other option would be to cut off the tabs on fixed roller # 2 and bolt an adjustable roller bracket on.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

I'm in Hampshire, IL about 1 hr south of Lake Geneva WI.

Other option would be to cut off the tabs on fixed roller # 2 and bolt an adjustable roller bracket on.

That would be the way I'd go. Cut'm off and replace with adjustable brackets. I lived in Hampshire for a year way back in 1970!

 

[I_5320]

Re: Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

That would be the way I'd go. Cut'm off and replace with adjustable brackets. I lived in Hampshire for a year way back in 1970!

I moved here in 96. We have a new High School but the Chick-n-dip is still here. Still a small town feel.

So I think I get the oveall concept now. Just a few more questions. Should my front roller be under the keel? (versus the front bow section where keel ends) If so I may buy a low profile bracket for the tongue and make that my low point. Also was thinking of going with 6' bunks. That would extend out the bunk about 14" from the center crossbar. I'll keep extra out the back and trim when I position the boat. (I splurged for Cypress and actually hate the idea of cutting short)

I think I get the 2 trailer options,, long bunks with 1 front keel roller(if even 1 roller,, seems like most new trailers are all bunks but they have big U's in crossbar to clear the hull)
1.To go rollerless you have to set bunks a little higher on older trailers.
2. Or Rollers to carry the front weight and some of the back and shorter bunks to help carry rear and balance boat.

I maybe a lttle overdoing it but I did hook my old Sea Nymph hull and want lowest possble setting and being sure it's all well balanced.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

To your last question, I would position the front roller under the bow as best to half way between the second roller and where the bow starts to rise if at all possible.

As you've seen trailers and trailering has changed a lot over the last 30 years. As have the boats that are being trailered. Used to be long ago that all one could find were keel roller trailers with short bunks. Many of those were also tilting because back then the ramps weren't as well built as they are today. Then to add that today all modern trailers have the bow stop above the bow eye. That also didn't used to be that way.

Heck, way back in the day when I was a kid and before the advent of the I/O drives all large inboards were moved on flatbed trailers while sitting in cradles and there were no drive-on trailers.

 

[I_5320]

Re: Trailer adjustment confirmation wanted

OK I think I'm ready. bonz_d ,,thanks for all the tips

And Rosco,, I do agree with your all bunk no roller option. (Which I think the last owner sorta did) However I had 2 concerns on that.

1. Being only a 2 crossbar trailer and the bunks at the rear were already short and not extending under the transom , I'd end up with 10' bunks to reach the where I could put the braces in the front. To get to the spot in front to line up the backs, the bunks had to be pulled in narrower, forcing me to position the boat the boat higher on the trailer. Using the 2 crossbars available and shorter bunks, I can move the bunks out further to the inside of the strakes.

2. Plus I had bought the keel rollers already, and Stoltz to boot.

So I think I'm bringing the trailer back to more it's original design, which is going a bit back on technology but hoping good quality rollers will help.