What type of guide on's do you use?

[Expidia]

I bought a pair of 2 foot carpeted bunks from Overton's a few weeks ago for my new trailer. They were about $70 for the pair.

Had to call them today and ask them for a UPS call tag to take them back for credit because they were cheap crap IMO. They were made in the USA too by a company called Tie Down Engineering out of Atlanta.

They looked OK out of the box but when I tightened the two plates down that hold them to the frame the plates started to bend. These plates need to be twice as thick IMO.

Now each time I launch the boat and crank it back up if the boat hits the guide on pad it (which is what it's there for) it loosens the clamps.

So they can have these back.

Amazing how cheap the quality of the metals they use in manufacturing this stuff. A Mighty Wheel trailer jack for $59 dollars that I got from Bass Pro Shops is doing the same thing as to the cheap brackets bending as I'm tightening the bolts. They too will be getting this back when I find a quality replacement. It's galvanized and I see rust already near the bottom of the shaft (fresh water use only so far).

Overton's had another model of a 2 foot bunk style for twice the price ($159) but before I get that model . . . I'm not crazy about the 2 foot bunk style anyway.

I used to have the Fulton tall white plastic guide on's on my last trailer (their best use was for backing up). They don't really help guide the boat on too well cause they bend and the boat shifts over anyway. But I didn't like that style either. 1. they were ugly. 2. they rattled against the side of the boat wearing into the finish. I saw where you can buy slide on covers to prevent this but I know someone will steal the covers off at some point and they should come with them in the first place.

How about those 1-1.5 foot rollers that are at a 45 degree angle to the boat? Is this style any better than what I've tried already?

Are the ones in the $75 range another mistake as to how cheap the clamping to the trailer brackets are?

What do some of you find works best.

I originally thought the bunk ones would add extra side support to the boat when trailering, but they don't really touch the boat anyway unless the boat sits shifted to one side on the trailer, this is what guides are supposed to prevent. What good are guide on's if they don't keep the boat centered on the trailer as you're cranking it up.

Some of the side rollers I've looked at were kind of sharp on the top edge and I don't want to scratch the boat when the guides are sitting to low in the water depending on the pitch of some launch ramps.

Thx for any experiences or opinions or recommendations on this.

 

[bassboy1]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

Homeade steel ones that stand straight up, with PVC over them. Well, we don't have them yet, but we will soon, as you absolutely CANNOT see 1 inch of that trailer from the car. We are thinking about having them removable, so that the ugly things don't have to stay there permanently.

You said the bunk ones are supposed to help support the boat, but not really. They are just low profile guide ons for cases in which you don't need a visual aid. Just something to keep the boat from floating to the side until you pull the trailer onto land. Most usually stay 2 inches away from the boat hull. Take your trailer to a welder, and have him make you more of the straight up and down ones, by making an L, and welding them to the trailer as opposed to clamping them. The design is the same, just welded and not bolted. And, he can make it out of almost any shape/size of steel. We are using 1/8 inch wall. 1 1/4 inch stock for ours. Then, we will be putting a piece of PVC pipe over that.
As for the trailer jack, we have a 19 dollar house brand 750 # jack from northern tool, and have had no trouble on either trailer. But what is the matter with a little rust? A can of Krylon fixes that w/o a problem.

 

[Expidia]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

Thanks for your input. I'm waiting on a few responses from some users of those roller or similar guide on's.

Not interested in welding because if I change my mind I'm stuck.

Anything one pays extra for like galvanized coatings should not expect it to start rusting in a month's use as with my trailer jack.

That's why I stopped buying stuff at West Marine because most of what they sell is crapola for list prices and sold by useless unknowledgeable sales people. But hey, that's just my opinion!

Snugging up the bolts and watching the brackets start to bend is a shame as to the hardness of the metals these cheapo manufacturers are using.

 

[bassboy1]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

We avoid west marine and Boaters world unless we have to get something that only they have. People don't know this, but it doesn't have to be marine anything. We build our own trailers, wire our boats with car wiring, and don't screw with galvanized - just paint. Patch it every few months with a spray can, and your good. Boating ain't cheap, but if you know the inside loop, it ain't expensive neither.

 

[evilratgirl]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

A couple of years ago I got the Tie Down engineering guideons with the yellow poly cover. Basically the ones here on I-boats part #86104. Mine also came with the 48" PVC posts. Having checked the others, I also thought they flexed too much to be of any real use. They are SOLID and have the flexability of some angle adjustment.

 

[Expidia]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

A couple of years ago I got the Tie Down engineering guideons with the yellow poly cover. Basically the ones here on I-boats part #86104. Mine also came with the 48" PVC posts. Having checked the others, I also thought they flexed too much to be of any real use. They are SOLID and have the flexability of some angle adjustment.

They were flexing too much for me too. And it was a pain having to toss the rope over them as I was guiding the boat onto the trailer in the wind.

I don't drive the boat up the trailer at the ramps like most boaters do so I like to use guide on's.

I see many come up to the trailer with their motor so far out of the water as they gun the boat up the trailer, there is no water pumping out.

Or they damage their prop by hitting the bottom.

I'm focusing on the roller type now, but some have sharp edges on the opposite side which I'm sure if your bow hit it on the wrong side the boat will be scratched or dented as mines an aluminum.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

i collect old trampoline legs cut them in half, a couple of clamps, and pvc over them. even mount my lights on them.

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

Learn how to line the boat up on the trailer and how to tie it down, and then forget the guide-ons.

 

[jeeperman]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

Hey Tash,
How come the close-up looks like there is printing on the top side of the metal guide-on post ala conduit?

Try loading a boat on the intracoastal during a tide change or on a river with a side wind added and you will know the value of tall guide-ons.

 

[Expidia]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

Hey Tash,
How come the close-up looks like there is printing on the top side of the metal guide-on post ala conduit?

Try loading a boat on the intracoastal during a tide change or on a river with a side wind added and you will know the value of tall guide-ons.

Haha . . . I was just about to say that to BoatBuoy but you beat me to it!

I guess East Tenn. has no wind or currents or A*s holes on jetski's that like doing circles a few yards out from the boat launch area to show how cool they are . . . of course, just when one trys to guide their boat onto the trailer.

I notice many trailer form a cradle which is a piece of cake to either drive or pull the boat on easily. Mine's a 2007 Lund and unfortunetly the two bunks are on the flat side which makes it difficult to guide the boat on.

Depends on the ramps configuration. Sometimes I can find the sweetspot and other times each time I begin cranking the boat starts to shift to one side. Guide On's would solve me but the cheap "Tie Down" ones I boat wouldn't stay tight on the frame due to how flimsy the hold down plates were.

I've only been doing this for 30 years, so I guess I need another course to solve my problem of cheaply made guide on's????

Nice home made guide on's TD. Very ingenious. Thx for the close up pic on how you attached them.

 

[Pony]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

No welding on mine. It is all threaded pipe. I can, and have, taken it apart to change some of the trailer wiring.

Not much to look at, but it has recently gotten a new batch of paint.

 

[evilratgirl]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

Expidia, am I to understand the Tie Down guideons still flexed too much for you. I do realize Tie Down makes several different guideon setups including roller. The plate on mine is 1/4" and the U bolts are 5/16". They don't bend. They are infact the most solid guidons on the market.

I do agree that the rope can hang up sometimes but that has been very minor. I also don't power load. I have an EZ loader self centering roller trailer and the guides greatly help in lining it up. I don't boat on glass lakes either. The other reason I like the taller PVC posts is the ability to see the trailer better while backing up.

For the record I have no connection at all with Tie Down.

 

[HondaPower]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

Pony I love the guides you built what diameter of galvinized pipe did you use in construction.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

the gray ones are painted 2"PVC

 

[gonefishie]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

I think you might be backing your trailer down to far into the water. Even if you don't want to power load, you can still drive the boat on half way up the trailer. Once it that far up on the trailer, the boat won't rift.

 

[jeeperman]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

Amazing how cheap the quality of the metals they use in manufacturing this stuff. A Mighty Wheel trailer jack for $59 dollars that I got from Bass Pro Shops is doing the same thing as to the cheap brackets bending as I'm tightening the bolts. They too will be getting this back when I find a quality replacement. It's galvanized and I see rust already near the bottom of the shaft (fresh water use only so far)..

Stay away from anything that is painted, electro-galvanized, cadium plated, zinc plated.
Unless it is stainless steel or hot-dipped galvanized, it will rust in short order.

 

[Expidia]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

Expidia, am I to understand the Tie Down guideons still flexed too much for you. I do realize Tie Down makes several different guideon setups including roller. The plate on mine is 1/4" and the U bolts are 5/16". They don't bend. They are infact the most solid guidons on the market.

I do agree that the rope can hang up sometimes but that has been very minor. I also don't power load. I have an EZ loader self centering roller trailer and the guides greatly help in lining it up. I don't boat on glass lakes either. The other reason I like the taller PVC posts is the ability to see the trailer better while backing up.

For the record I have no connection at all with Tie Down.

Yes, I see they have different models . . . but the $79 ones that I bought are truly junk. They were not the tall plastic pole ones that I had on my last trailer (they flexed too much and vibrated against the boat on the highway).

This model is the 2 foot horizontal black pads. They should have used the U-bolts but they went with a cheap plate on top and the same on the bottom to attach them to the frame. Those plates bent and the bolts kept loosening up because of that. The pad brackets were also made cheaply. They too kept moving because I couldn't tighten them down enough without the bracket starting to bend.

I just saw the Shoreland'r brand ones at the boat dealer on someone else's trailer out on the lot. These are the ticket! These are really heavy weight galvanized steel.

Shoreland'r (Midwest) is who makes my trailer anyway.

They cost about $160 plus shipping but they are perfect and will "never" bend.

We get what we pay for I guess!

Each time my boat nudged the bunk they would move out of position. These puppies won't move . . . Shown in white, but they come galvanized too:

http://overtons.com/modperl/product...nk_Load_Guides_galvanized&r=view&i=25026&aID=

I'll buy them from Iboats if they are competitive with shipping.

Thx for your input!

 

[Expidia]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

I think you might be backing your trailer down to far into the water. Even if you don't want to power load, you can still drive the boat on half way up the trailer. Once it that far up on the trailer, the boat won't rift.

For me it all depends on the ramp and I have a further issue of having to back down with a Saab rather than an SUV.

If the ramp does not have a decent drop off it's very tricky with the Saab.

Some ramps it's a piece of cake others are a pain.

 

[Expidia]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

Stay away from anything that is painted, electro-galvanized, cadium plated, zinc plated.
Unless it is stainless steel or hot-dipped galvanized, it will rust in short order.

This is true. My last trailer was 9 years old and was galvanized. No rust anywhere and stored outside in N'East winters all those years.

Except the trailer coupling which was not galvanized and was starting to rust.

I always thought it strange that the whole trailer was galvanized except that part.

My new trailer looks to be the same. . . the coupling is shiny and the rest of the trailer is galvanized.

 

[sharps45]

Re: What type of guide on's do you use?

I've got a 23 foot deck boat, and all our lakes are in the mouths of canyons so the wind is always blowing. I saw what they wanted for guide ons, so I buil my own with 1 1/2 inch aluminum conduit. I have access to a bending machine at work so I did that myself, too.
I started with just the rear posts. I looked at just buying some, but after seeing a boat lifted up by a wave and coming down on one post, breaking the post and impaling the bottom of the boat ( most of the store bought ones only have the metal post part way up the height of the post), I figured I'd make mine full length aluminum and covered them with 2 inch pvc. I then bolted them to the frame with U and bracket bolts. They still weren't enough to keep the boat on the trailer while loading, so I used the same conduit to build the side bunks. I used them with a 2x6x8 covered with marine carpet (4.59/yd), painted them the same color as the trailer, and they look and work great! I spent less for both sets than just a set of post guides would cost.
The side bunks make loading a snap no matter the wind!