Adjusting boat trailer

[Giveitacrack]

Hello All, does anyone have any tips on adjusting the rollers and skids on a Redco trailer for a 15ft tinny ? The bastard does not want to roll off easy. I have replaced the rollers.
Thanks

[ranmar850]

What material do you have on the skids? That white ribbed rubber? That tend to grab on ally a bit when it is dry. You could try replacing it with the hard plastic skid material, slips a lot better. Also, make sure the skids aren't adjusted up to be taking too much of the weight. Weight should really be on the keel rollers, with the skids adjusted up just enough to stop it rocking. Oh, and i forgot to ask, what kind of rollers did you fit? The hard blue ones? Work best for tinnies, red is softer, and rubber is for glass boats, period, because tinny keels rip them up in no time. But you see people with them, because they are the cheapest.
HTH

[Giveitacrack]

Thanks Ranmar. They are hard plastic skids in good nick.I will do what you advise and have more weight on the keel rollers.

[scottar]

Did you grease the rollers?

[Moonlighter]

First, set the trailer on a piece of flat hard ground - garage or driveway is ideal. Have it hooked unto the towbar or the car that normally tows it. Have a helper or two on hand to keep the boat stable.

For tinnies, the way to set a trailer up is to then completely loosen the tiedown straps, then to drop the side skids down so the boat is resting completely on the rollers. Use the blue hard poly rollers only.

The rollers job is to support the boats weight.

Adjust the rollers height so so that there is a downhill run from the from the front of the trailer to the back. Eg the front roller wants to be maybe 50-75mm higher than the very back one, and the rest lined up perfectly between them.

You can use a jack to lift them to the right hight with the bolt loose then tighten up when in desired position. Line all the rollers up with a string line across the top if possible - this is easiest of course if the boat is not on the trailer. But anyway the rollers need to be set directly in line so the boat’s keel is supported in a straight line. You dont want the keel getting warped. (If the front roller is not on a straight part of the keel, treat the second roller as #1 and line up from there).

Once the keel rollers are set, then its time to adjust the side skids up so they are just touching the hull, and adjust them evenly on each side so the boat is sitting level on the trailer (side to side).

The job of the skids is NOT to carry weight, their sole job is to provide stability of the boat on the trailer. So you only want them to be touching the hull lightly enough so it is stable side-to-side.

[rayken1938]

Raise the bow rollers to the max and lower the stern. if you have it adjusted like this the boat should just roll backwards when you release it off the winch post. i have to take a turn of the painter around a cleat otherwise the boat will pull you into the water when you release it.
Cheers Ray

[ranmar850]

oO course, not all keel rollers are height adjustable. Sometimes you are stuck with fixed.

[Giveitacrack]

Thanks all for your advice.Much appreciated.I will have a crack in the next couple of days.

[tunaticer]

If you want really trouble free rollers replace the galv shafts with 316 stainless steel and do not lubricate them.
The poly rollers are self slippery on stainless steel.
I prefer the boat to sit on the trailer on the ramp and a tiny push will see it glide off.
If it does want to roll off immediately to back off the winch and safety chain it is dangerous.
The winch handle can break an arm and the painter can pull you over the trailer especially if the ramp is slippry with moss or mud.

[Fed]

You could also check the rear roller adjustment if the boat has a cut-away keel, they can hang up if not adjusted properly.

I have to say I don't see the need to incline the boat on the trailer and I've never seen anyone break an arm, get dragged over the trailer by a runaway boat or self slippery rollers LOL.