Weight Distribution - Boat on Trailer

[Angryant]

My glass boat is a pig to get off the trailer. Is there a suggested weight distribution between the wobble rollers and the keel rollers on a trailer? Which ones should take the bulk of the weight of the boat?
Any advice would be appreciated.

Angry

[johncar]

Hi Angry,
Relating to a typical multi roller trailer, your boat should fly off the trailer if:
Firstly all the rollers have balanced weight, probably no more than about 40kg on each is ideal.
Secondly there are enough rollers. Very debateable I guess and depends on boat and trailer design factors but I like about 24 rollers per tonne
Thirdly all the rollers spin freely and not siezed.

I take it that you have no skid supports but if you do, the slide material on these needs to be the right type for GRP. So nothing that sticks and not too much weight on them, they are just supports and rely on good keel roller system to take the main weight.

Typically boats are hard to move due to insufficient number or type of roller and trailer manufacturers both industry and private tend to skimp in this area because roller $$$.

Of course there are alternatives like trailers that are designed to float the boat on and off where total submersion is needed.

So I am just generalising but a photo of your setup would make advice more specific if you could upload one.

[Angryant]

Thanks for the info John. It is a 5m Southwind boat sitting on a Dunbier trailer. Trailer has 12 rollers that I have recently replaced and they all spin freely. It sounds like I may have to add some more rollers. I hope the pic is satisfactory.

6882768828

[stue2]

My Question is are they supposed to sit on the keel rollers and the wobble rollers or only use the keels to load and unload?

My boat doesnt touch the keels untill half off and then it slows down but its nearly too quick untill then

[Angryant]

My Question is are they supposed to sit on the keel rollers and the wobble rollers or only use the keels to load and unload?

My boat doesnt touch the keels untill half off and then it slows down but its nearly too quick untill then

That is the question I am asking. Thanks for putting it more simply. I think John is saying that it is a 50/50 distribution of weight between keel and wobble rollers.
Please correct me if I have got that interpretation wrong.

[robothefisho]

Angryant,

Your trailer setup is very similar to one of mine with a similar size boat. I can almost bet from the photos that your keel rollers are not spinning freely. Either your spindles are rusty, or the rollers have gone soft. I would recommend stainless steel spindles and red poly keel rollers and your boat will fly off as soon as you unhook it.

That trailer doesnt have enough wobble rollers to support that boat themselves and you will find alot of the boats weight should be on the keel rollers.

I'd put money that the problem lies with soft keel rollers or rusty spindles or both.

Replace with self centering red poly rollers and it will be a dream. With stainless spindles. I grease my trailer spindles aswell, some people say not to, but i find it works a lot better with grease if you re do it annually.

[johncar]

Nice rig there Angry,

Yeah sorry there is no one answer here as it sort of depends on the boats design a little.
I have heard that some builders like most of the weight on the keel and just use the side rollers to keep the boat level where others prefer the full multiroller system spreading the weight evenly across all supports.

So if it is not possible to get any info from the builder I would just try and support it as well and evenly as practical. For a 1 tonne boat I would like to see about 24 rollers ideally but if this is not practical then it is probably best to bias the main weight to the keel being the strongest part of the bottom and put as many large diameter rollers up the centre as practical and use the sides as mainly supports but possibly no more than 30-40kg on them.
I am not a GRP boat builder but there may be one one here who will chime in with some better advice.

But if you want your boat to roll off easier it usually means just better rollers and more of them in practical terms.

You should also look at the angle or level of your trailer as it sits on the tow vehicle, make sure that its not running downhill to the tow bar as that worsens the problem significantly. Also the roller adjustments should be served better as to have the boat with a slight angle with the keel raised slightly above level at the bow.

Gotta go

[trueblue]

mine had been a pig before as well - couple of things made mine sweet

sitting a long time flattens the rollers takes quite a bit to get it off the hump of the flat spot - solution, use the boat more often and also move it occasionally on the rollers while in storage

second, greasing of the rollers / pins. my rollers spun freely without anythong on it, but with load they didn't spin so well. lots of blue castrol boating grease and the boat just about flies off the trailer now

[Angryant]

Thanks for the advice. Southwind, a subsidiary of Yamahe closed shop in 2004 so I can't get any info there. I know the keel rollers spin freely as I checked them when I replaced the wobble rollers. I think I'll replace them first and see how it goes. They may have a flat spot as the boat has only done 180 hours in 8 years. Unfortunately the person I bought the boat from was somewhat negligent in the maintenance area, hence my seeking advice now. The boat is a cracker and performs well; just got to sort the trailer out.

[four_button_arnie]

Great thread guys! My Yalta is also a pig to get off the trailer, alot of pushing, motor in reverse, compared to my last boat, unhook the strap and you would fly back!

Great tips, im off to check those dam black rubber keel rollers.

Josh

[Angryant]

Next question - which keel rollers do I get; back or red? What is the difference? I currently have the black ones.

[stue2]

Next question - which keel rollers do I get; back or red? What is the difference? I currently have the black ones.

A very good thread.

I have black as well

Robo said red but there is a few different shapes out there so will need to do some research.

Cheers and thanks

[cgibbo308]

i have been thinking the same thing when it comes to my boat. was putting gaurds on trailer today and noticed a few rollers are not even touching the hull at all. i think i will replace every roller on it the first time the boat goes for a swim. i may even have to raise them all as the boat is too low on the trailer and lopsided :S
i noticed mine (black) are all kinda squashed and soft the the keel rollers are red and the first one at the rear is a self centre type.
and thanks for starting this thread :)

[four_button_arnie]

In regards to the different rollers, are the red ones designed for fiberglass?? The Black rubber would be kinda soft when bumping down the road and the red ones would be quite hard i would imagine? are stress fractures/soft spots an issue with using a hard keel roller?

Josh

[stue2]

I was told to stick with the blue wobblers. Dont know why though. glass boat too

[Angryant]

I was told to stick with the blue wobblers. Dont know why though. glass boat too

I was led to believe that the blue rollers are generally for ally boats. Red or black for GRP - that is why I asked the question.

[trueblue]

red for glass, blue for ally - dunno what black is for

[FishHunter]

My trailer has 24 rollers, and the front of the boat is angled slightly upwards. I set the rollers up so that the 4 keel rollers take most of the weight and the side rollers are just moveable by hand. When I undo the winch cable you better hang on because that boat is gone.

[Angryant]

My trailer has 24 rollers, and the front of the boat is angled slightly upwards. I set the rollers up so that the 4 keel rollers take most of the weight and the side rollers are just moveable by hand. When I undo the winch cable you better hang on because that boat is gone.

That is the sort of comment I like to hear.Thanks..........

[ozscott]

I have had blue on my Seafarer Vagabond for 13 years...bloody hell I had better make sure they are ok :)

Cheers

[cgibbo308]

could the diff between the red and black be for id of whats useable in a particular weight range? ie red for larger heavier boats where black maybe smaller lighter boats?
just putting it out there :)

[robothefisho]

Red polly, is much better quality for fibreglass, firmer then black rubber but still soft enough and slippery so the boat tends to self centre much better. If you can afford them and plan on keeping the trailer use these.

Black is for fibreglass, cheaper, soft, and crap. Don't use these.

Dark blue, keel is for ally. Very hard. No give.

Lighter blue wobble rollers are for glass, Basically any wobble roller will do on a glass boat.

Don't know of any ally specific wobble rollers. Pretty sure most use the ridged grey ones.

[Jarrah Jack]

Nice boat there Angry. If, after following through with the advice so far,and it doesn't work you could increase the amount of center rollers by either making up a ladder arrangement so all the center rollers are on one frame or you could put double rollers where you have got the singles at present which would be an easier way to go.

I'll be doing the ladder arrangement to one of my trailers soon. It pays if you can do your own welding as the cost is very little.

Have all the wobble rollers got the same weight. You can check this by turning each by hand.

[murf]

red for glass, blue for ally - dunno what black is for

black is for cheap skates :P

I had the same problem when I made the trailer for the 5m Nova,

I could not get the boat to move off the trailer :-?

the trailer is high at the front and low at the rear for beach launching and even when on a hill I could not get the boat to move.

the whole trailer was brand new except for the rear wobble rollers as I left them on whilst testing the loading/unloading

after much head scratching and staring at it it was the old black wobble rollers were running off center enough to grip on the boat (if that makes sense) I put the red rollers on and now I can't stop the bloody thing from rolling off which is a problem for me beach launching

I still can't believe how much difference it made changing roller material especially when you see how much a wobble roller moves around

my trailer design is very diff to yours in the rear end though

start with the basics of getting everything set up right and working then go from there, hope you get it sorted as it is frustrating when something doesn't work as designed

cheers Murf

[stue2]

I have a tinka with blue wobblers and black keel.OK so I will soon have red keel and blue wobble.
Did i read that right?

Stu

[murf]

I have a tinka with blue wobblers and black keel.OK so I will soon have red keel and blue wobble.
Did i read that right?

Stu

if the black keel rollers don't look like they are handling the load then yep put in the red rollers especially towards the back of the trailer where the greatest weight goes

so hard to comment but without seeing how the whole setup is

cheers Murf

[stue2]

Thanks Murf.

It's pretty good but there is one slightly sticky keel in the middle of the trailer. it does pull it up a bit when unloading so it would also have an effect when loading just dont notice it as much.

Like I said they dont carry the boat so I can change them any time.

Once again, good thread Angry

Cheers Stu

[Angryant]

Thanks guys. I'll get red keel rollers and try them first before I do anything else.

Cheers
Angry

[Feral]

Obviously make sure there is an adequate slope front to back. Can make a big difference on a flat angled ramp.

I prefer virtually all the weight of my boat to be on the keel. the slides just keep it upright, and really only just touch my boat. I have a steep slope front to rear, most ramps I have to take a turn about the winch post with my retaining rope so I can take pressure off the winch cable to unhook it, or the lot just runs straight off the trailer as soon as I release the winch ratchet.

[FishHunter]

My new Tinka has grey rollers everywhere, dealer said its fine for fibreglass but after all the crap they have fed me I dont know if I should believe them. They seem to be fine no marks and not marking the hull so I will leave them for now.

[Angryant]

My new Tinka has grey rollers everywhere, dealer said its fine for fibreglass but after all the crap they have fed me I dont know if I should believe them. They seem to be fine no marks and not marking the hull so I will leave them for now.

I assume you are referring to the wobble rollers. If that is the case, grey ones are fine.

[FishHunter]

I assume you are referring to the wobble rollers. If that is the case, grey ones are fine.

nope I said everywhere and I mean everywhere.

[Angryant]

nope I said everywhere and I mean everywhere.

Mmm, I've never seen grey keel rollers! Learn something new everyday.

[Lancair]

I have grey wobbles only on my Dunbier trailer, no keel rollers at all. 5.7m fibreglass boat. My biggest problem is the marks left over the hull by the rollers. I think its road grime etc getting on the rollers and then coming off on the white hull rather then the roller material itself marking the hull.
My boat flies off when the winch is released, therefore I use a boatcatch to drive it off and it self-centres beautifully when driving it on.

[johncar]

Hey it is a good topic, and I see so many struggling at the ramp as I have too at times untill sorting out my own woes. I just don't want a sore back any more pushing these beasts off or having to fly down the ramp hitting the brakes to try and move the damn thing, which looks a bit hazardous if you get it wrong..(I have NOT attempted that)
A good debate about colours of rollers to which probably moreso than just the colours, the material and density or hardness of the roller plus the size or diameter. Possibly the worst type of roller as already stated here a few times would be the old small diameter black rubber which were OK when that's all we had but the new synthetic compounds are definitely the go.
Greasing all the pins with approprate marine grease is essential I think too.
It does seem that generally the Red are the softer compound for GRP and the Blue the hard compound for Ally (keel rollers)
For a full multiroller setup I think that you would use the same on both Ally and GRP and yeah I don't believe that there are any specific wobble rollers for either or, just the keel rollers being different.
But I have seen the odd exception of hard reds or softer blue rollers so colour isn't always a guarantee, just check them when buying.

Just for something different my boat manufacturer as far as I know has specified a softer again yellow keel roller ( 10 of them) and I think rightfully so.
Because the keel on my boat is a definite Vee which rides on the keel rollers on a relatively fine point you wouldn't want it bouncing away on anything too hard as I am sure fractures may appear over time.
GRP with a plank style keel would get away with a harder compound such as the red.

Although the Yellow rollers are kind to the boat they also tend to indent more easily over standing time and therefore did initially make it a bit hard to get moving at the ramp.

To fix this with consultation with my boat builder and Dunbier trailers I have made mine more of a hybrid setup adding more side rollers, now keel and multiroller with the weight evenly distributed and it is possible after all fine tuning to be able to spin each and every roller by hand with the full weight of the boat on trailer.

It has worked out well because it now will sit there on the ramp with the winch hook removed and a gentle push sees it roll freely off. It can be a problem if they start to roll while removing the winch hook particularly on your own so I guess they can be too free at times and a roller with a brake on it would be handy, but most of us just hitch a launching rope around something to hold it to remove the hook. Or otherwise drive off if set up up for it.

I know my post is not specific to your question and probably doesn't help your problem much Angry but seeing the topic of roller types came up, I thought I would mention the yellows in the ladder setup. Hope that is OK.
A pic is good so check out the Yellow rollers:

http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt187/johncar/Tournament%202100%20Walkaround/BILD1707.jpg

[Angryant]

John,
Thanks for the information - very handy to know.
Cheers,
Angry

[oldboot]

Angry mate, if it's is like most boat trailers, it has never been set up properly.

It will be well worth your while to get every single roller doing its job.

From what you say you have some rollers shurking their responsibility.

if you dont have two rollers at every point down the keel you can get yokes that convert a single to a double...and why wouldn't you.

as mentioned grease is important.....you need a grease that stays smooth and liquid..for example.....as mentioned the blue grease ( lithium complex) castrol LMX/boating grease is good...lanolin grease is not it hardens, and many of the old style greases go off too.

we cant do this but you can.
you need to look at how your boat sits and comes on and off with critical eye.

See how it sits on its rollers and how it rolls on and off and each roller comes into play.

you don't need to be an expert ya just need to take the time to look and see......if it does not look right, it probaly isn't.

If you decide to reset it, you can do this at home a few jacks and some blocks of wood will allow you to dial in the support on each and every roller.
I keep and handfull of scissor jacks i have accumulated over time and they are great for this.

start with the front roller as high as you can and the rear rollers as low as possible then join the dots down the keel in between....then move on to your side rollers..use a tape or rule to make sure it is even side to side.

remember the chasis will flex, keep the trailer level and safely supported on its wheels and the coupling.

There is no reason that boat should not come of slick as snot off a door knob.

cheers

[stue2]

Oldboot, You saying all the rollers plus keel rollers should touch the boat when its all the way on. Not like mine which is supported by the wobble rollers? there is a few of them though. Trailer is an MT 200.

[trueblue]

my trailer has all rollers sharing an equal share of the load (keel and wobbles)

Takes a long time to set it up well, but worth the effort

[stue2]

Whats the trailer/boat trueblue?

[Jarrah Jack]

snot off a door knob.



You're a funny bugger OB

[Angryant]

Angry mate, if it's is like most boat trailers, it has never been set up properly.

It will be well worth your while to get every single roller doing its job.

From what you say you have some rollers shurking their responsibility.

if you dont have two rollers at every point down the keel you can get yokes that convert a single to a double...and why wouldn't you.

as mentioned grease is important.....you need a grease that stays smooth and liquid..for example.....as mentioned the blue grease ( lithium complex) castrol LMX/boating grease is good...lanolin grease is not it hardens, and many of the old style greases go off too.

we cant do this but you can.
you need to look at how your boat sits and comes on and off with critical eye.

See how it sits on its rollers and how it rolls on and off and each roller comes into play.

you don't need to be an expert ya just need to take the time to look and see......if it does not look right, it probaly isn't.

If you decide to reset it, you can do this at home a few jacks and some blocks of wood will allow you to dial in the support on each and every roller.
I keep and handfull of scissor jacks i have accumulated over time and they are great for this.

start with the front roller as high as you can and the rear rollers as low as possible then join the dots down the keel in between....then move on to your side rollers..use a tape or rule to make sure it is even side to side.

remember the chasis will flex, keep the trailer level and safely supported on its wheels and the coupling.

There is no reason that boat should not come of slick as snot off a door knob.

cheers

Nice post oldboot. I do have double rollers (rubber) on each cross member but I only have a total of 12 wobble rollers (one cross member not having them).

My plan is to replace the rubber rollers with red poly rollers and see if that makes a difference after hopefully adjusting the heights correctly. Should it not be as good as I would like I will then install quad rollers on each side on the unused cross member and re-adjust everything. If it doesn't work then I'll be calling for practical help with a slab of beer as a bride - lol.
Angry

[tenzing]

I have grey wobbles only on my Dunbier trailer, no keel rollers at all. 5.7m fibreglass boat. My biggest problem is the marks left over the hull by the rollers. I think its road grime etc getting on the rollers and then coming off on the white hull rather then the roller material itself marking the hull.
My boat flies off when the winch is released, therefore I use a boatcatch to drive it off and it self-centres beautifully when driving it on.

Took all the grey rollers off my dunbier 2 years ago. Got sick of cleaning the marks off the boat and cleaning the rollers ( BTW WD 40 does this very well)
I put the red poly ones on and havrnt cleaned marks off since.
May need to order them as they arent kept in any great supply at any chandelry that I checked.
A mob at sandgate has them though.
I recently got Two extra pairs of rollers on each side of the rear arm and it has improved loading and centreing no end ( Thanks Grand Marlin- Pete ), BUT the new setup came from Dunbier with grey rollers attached, and after one trial lainch they had already marked the hull.
They are gone already and 8 new red ones are in their place

Cheers

Brendan

[oldboot]

Oldboot, You saying all the rollers plus keel rollers should touch the boat when its all the way on. Not like mine which is supported by the wobble rollers? there is a few of them though. Trailer is an MT 200.

That all depends on how your trailer is set up.

If it looks like the rollers hould be doing something and they arent....well there probaly is a problem.

As I say you need to take the time to look and reason out how it should work.

Remember in most cases the trailer was not designed for your boat..or any boat for that matter..the trailer as it comes from the off the rack manufacturer is a starting point nothing more.

When I braught my new trailer home I added 2 extra centre rollers on pivoting yokes and a pair of wobble rollers at the rear..and I am just about to fit some replacement bunks, because the ones supplied were too short and too floppy.......

cheers

cheers

[tenzing]

My boat flies off when the winch is released, therefore I use a boatcatch to drive it off and it self-centres beautifully when driving it on.[/QUOTE]

Hey Lancair ,do you rate the Boatcatch??
Much fussing about attaching the new bit to the glass?
Brendan

[BigE]

Simple trailer set up tips, draw a ruff plan of the hull including planning strakes take all measurements fron the hull center line. take the boat off the trailer (i put mine in at the ramp and did the adjustment in the carpark)

1. use good rollers. rollers actual roll if you cant turn them with a piece of fishing line wrapped around them they need replacing or attention(red blue or gray) don't use black.
2. set your width measurment first. measure from centre of boat to each strake ( I like to run the strake in the centre of the roller arm so the actal rollers are each side of the strakes which give the greatest clearence for the strake)
3. set your keel roller hight next with a string line running from front to back angle should be 5 deg - about 8 deg the trick is two take the measurement from the 2nd roller at the front not the first as each hull has a different entry angle so do the front keel roller last after the wobble rollers.
4. back the all the wobble rollers off about 10-15 mm (lower) pull the boat back on ensuring the boat is in the centre of the keel rollers. (this is important)
5. jack each (Starting at the back) wobble roller up until it is touching the hull but not taking weight (check both sides of the roller arm to ensure that both rollers are touching)
6.back off the keel rollers 1/4 - 1/2 a turn on the hight bolt. drive up the road or arond the car park to settle the boat down.
7. reset the keel rollers to just take load including the front one
you should now have the boat supported between the strakes and the keel evenly and still have close to 5 deg down slope if you dont you mucked up step 5 and need to start from stratch the boat should roll off on any sort of a ramp. ( I like 20 - 24 rollers to the tonne )

BigE

[deckie]

Sheesh i wish i spotted this yesterday. Was at the ramp today for 2 hrs adjusting wobble and keel rollers. Tapping away with a hammer under the wobble rollers freezing my arse off in arctic conditions, then winching, then putting back in the water. Bit over it. By the end i could still easily move all the wobble rollers when loaded and the keel ones seemed to be taking less weight but still the majority which is what i was after.
Wasnt too bad before, but just adding another 4 wobbles has definitely made it roll easier on and off. Noticeable improvement. 16ft glass has 16 wobbles plus keel and is like butter now.
have never had anything but the black wobbles tho for 2-3 decades...this thing rolls well with them and no grease at all. Sounds like what i should have done is replace the rollers with the grey or red ones and she'd be even better. I've always thought the black ones were softer and more forgiving on the road and just normal maintenance to replace keel rollers every 6-12 mths or when grooved/not rolling well. Black ones mark the hull but who cares and easily removed...but if its a definite improvement to go to grey/red/blue ones and not have the scuff marks i'll go with that. Just always had this thought the black ones were softer riding.
I;m anti grease..reckon it just makes them worse after the first dunk and rather get the balance right.
If i has seen the above post earlier tho i might have avoided pneumonia. Not doing that again for awhile.

Anyone replaced their keel roller spindle arms with 316 and found an improvement ?

[PeterGar]

Nice rig there.

My only experience is alloy and I always kept around 40% on the wobble rollers once the boat is at towing position. When loading, the centre rolls take the weight.

I fitted my older trailer with Double centre rollers from Whitworths that were a big help while the boat is being launched or winched up into position. I think for Fibreglass you need a softer roller (feel free to correct me he someone) The boat was a dream to launch and retrieve to the point of being annoying by trying to launch itself when you take off the winch on slightly steeper ramps.

My suggestion is to give the Dunbier guys a call. They are really great folks and I am sure would be more than happy to talk you through how they would setup the trailer even if it is not new. They have been outstanding getting my new trailer setup correctly and really understand what makes it work well.

They are generally at the boat shows as well and you can collar them there if you needed to.

Cheers
Pete

[Angryant]

I spoke to the people at Dunbier today - (thanks Pete). They were very helpful - knew the trailer model even though it is some 8 years old and they knew the boat as well.
The advice I received confirmed most comments in this thread. Here's the deal:
1. Replace keel rubber rollers with poly rollers and add another set of quad wobble rollers on each side (that will give a total of 20 wobble rollers).
2. Drop the keel rollers and distribute weight evenly amongst wobble rollers
3. Raise keel rollers till touching the keel - add a couple of pumps of the jack and tighten.

I have the red poly rollers already and have ordered the wobble roller assemblies today. This all sounds great in theory.
We'll see what happens on the weekend when I have executed the plan........

Angry

[johncar]

Sounds like you are onto it there Angry, that all sounds good and should make it much better.

Just don't forget to check your angles of the trailer to the tow vehicle and the boat to the trailer. It just makes things roll off easier if the stern of the boat is slightly the lowest point to start with. At least level or no higher than any other part of the keel.

[Angryant]

Sounds like you are onto it there Angry, that all sounds good and should make it much better.

Just don't forget to check your angles of the trailer to the tow vehicle and the boat to the trailer. It just makes things roll off easier if the stern of the boat is slightly the lowest point to start with. At least level or no higher than any other part of the keel.

Thanks for the reminder John - I think I'm all over it now (I hope).
Cheers
Angry

[Gon Fishun]

G'day Angryant.
Looking at the pic of your trailer, it would appear, not enough rollers. Suggestion, fit 3 sets of 4 down each side. Leave boat on trailer, assemble and adjust 1 set at a time to the trailer. When adjusting put trolley jack or similar undo post and jack rollers to boat with a small amount of pressure so the rollers are in good contact with boat. Do this with all six sets ( 24 rollers.) Easy.;)

[Jarrah Jack]

Whoops I put something here that was supposed to go on the Etec thread.

[indy]

Hi i couldn't get my old plate boat of with the old black keel rollers replaced with red poly type and it was a breeze

[oldboot]

I had a look at one of the catalogues......I can see why lots of trailers come with black rollers.

In the most common sizes, black rollers are half the price of red ones :)

Onother thing to think about.......put the wrong grease arround rubber rollers and they won't like it much..they should have some sort of liner tube in the black rollers.

cheers

[aardvarkscotty]

just to add my 2c worth...I use silicone spray on the roller rods instead of grease when I changed the rusted out zinc rods with stainless...the boat rolls on and off (18' glass) very easily and no grease to bind the rollers up.
Interestingly seafarer supplied the tinka trailer with blue rollers for a glass boat...no damage to the hull either.

[murf]

Thanks for the reminder John - I think I'm all over it now (I hope).
Cheers
Angry

how did you go Angry?

cheers Murf

[Angryant]

Murf, I replaced the keel rollers and re-aligned the wobble rollers. Did it in the back yard but I am yet to launch the boat (shite weather).
When I put the boat back on the trailer in the yard it did go on alot smoother and it centred well.

Final test will be when I launch it at the ramp.
Cheers
Angry

[Angryant]

Update - I finally got the boat into the water yesterday. What a difference launching. I had to wrap the rope around the winch post to stop the boat coming off the trailer at a rapid rate of knots.
Thanks to all contributors for the advice. Greatly appreciated.
Angry

[robothefisho]

Great stuff mate.

[oldboot]

Update - I finally got the boat into the water yesterday. What a difference launching. I had to wrap the rope around the winch post to stop the boat coming off the trailer at a rapid rate of knots.
Thanks to all contributors fopr the advice. Greatly appreciated.
Angry

And why should it be any other way...all good.

Slick as snot off a door knob.

I wind mine in off the winch.....that way the winch cable is at the rear of the trailer when I come to winch on.

cheers

[fishfeeder]

Oldboot, only problem with that is you get wet feet unhooking the winch cable !!!
Its allways nice to launch the boat with the least amount of stress and effort.

Cheers
Brett

[oldboot]

Poor didums.

[Angryant]

And why should it be any other way...all good.

Slick as snot off a door knob.

I wind mine in off the winch.....that way the winch cable is at the rear of the trailer when I come to winch on.

cheers

I pulled the winch cable down the trailer when I parked the car/trailer (keep the feet dry then).
Thanks fellas.

[White Pointer]

Thanks for the info John. It is a 5m Southwind boat sitting on a Dunbier trailer. Trailer has 12 rollers that I have recently replaced and they all spin freely. It sounds like I may have to add some more rollers. I hope the pic is satisfactory.

6882768828

G'day,

You got that right. Twelve rollers is about half what you need. Double up and the boat will impose half the load on each and stop making them like flat tires. Put all the rollers on 2x2 or 2x1 wobble brackets and you will help self centre the boat and ensure even weight distribution. Spray the rollers with a little silicon spray every month and the trailer will just about throw the boat in the water. Make sure your winch, security chain and stern strap are in good nick and tight.

Regards,

White Pointer

[mal555]

I had to wrap the rope around the winch post to stop the boat coming off the trailer at a rapid rate of knots.

If you can get to the helm and start the motor, knock it into fwd. and put a few revs on (providing there are no loose small rocks on the ramp) to hold station till everything is unclipped. Climb back in, put her into neutral and roll off.
If you haven't got a pontoon alongside, rig up something to climb up the winch post and over the bow.