What can I do to my trailer to make my boat easier to load?

[MacDaddy21]

Re: What can I do to my trailer to make my boat easier to load?

I've done that a few times, still had to hop out of the boat and into the water to get it centered on the trailer. I'm really just not used to this boat/trailer combo yet. My VIP was much heavier and trailered easier. This boat is just so light that it likes to drift right when i come up to the trailer. I think having less in the water will solve the problem, Im just not used to seeing one that far out of the water.

 

[Jetwash]

Re: What can I do to my trailer to make my boat easier to load?

I had a boat like that. The guides will do a better job for you if the are nearly snug to the boat. Mine had an angle so that if the boat was floating above the trailer, it would settle down between the guides. But the biggest improvement came from the guides I made for the bow. It was a T frame instead of wishbone. I had three or four rollers down the middle because a boat can flex and bend, so the bottom supports are critical.

Up front, I cut a piece of plywood and bolted a couple 2x4 on top in a V so when the bow keel bumped the lumber, it would center the bow of the boat before it ran up on the last roller. I ran the boat in the rivers, so a lake load would be a piece of cake in comparison. In my design the bow V was the critical point in the water. If you use the bunk position in the water, it doesnt account for the angle of the launch. Those boats would benefit from a wishbone frame, because the tongue gets in the way and you have to hit a roller spot on or grind the boat on the tongue. I might have a photo around somewhere. They would have to replace the supports.

 

[MacDaddy21]

Re: What can I do to my trailer to make my boat easier to load?

If you had some pictures that would be awesome.

 

[Jetwash]

Re: What can I do to my trailer to make my boat easier to load?

send an email address.

I have to reload it on another computer, so is tomorrow to late?

 

[dlngr]

Re: What can I do to my trailer to make my boat easier to load?

I bought a 'self-centering roller' for my bunk type trailer, from iboats-works like a charm for me-but you still have to back the trailer in JUST the right depth!

 

[Jetwash]

Re: What can I do to my trailer to make my boat easier to load?

MacDaddy,

Another thought would be to buy a couple pieces of UHMW and create a wide and shallow V angle so that the bow chine/keel of the boat will run over the material and slip towards the middle of the V. You could taper the angle so the angle gets steeper the farther out the boat hits. Positioning would need to be at the rear of the T bar cross member and perhaps replace the roller I used on the T bar cross member. Since that unit would be farther back from the winch, the trailer would not have to be submerged as deep. The bunks would be partially out of the water, assuming the bunks are long. UHMW is so tough and so slick, you could water ski on the freeway. Its used on the bottom of aluminum drift boats to slide over rocks and its used as bumpers on the Ferry Docks in Seattle.

Depending on the contour of the hull in that section of the boat, you might get an angle of 5-25 degrees. The steeper the better to create sliding forces.