BOAT MOVES OFF CENTER AT BOW TIP ROLLER

L

Lawrence

New member
HAVE A 2004 22 FOOT DORY ON A SEA KING TRAILER WITH BUNKS THAT ARE COVERED WITH THE VINYL SLIDES.

AM EXPERIENCING BOW MOVEMENT WHILE UNDER TOW AT THE BOW ROLLER IN FRONT OF THE WENCH. UP TO 2 INCHES OF MOVEMENT TO ONE SIDE. THIS CAUSED A CHIP IN THE GEL COAT PRIOR TO MY PURCHASE OF THE BOAT.

DOES ANYONE HAVE AN IDEA HOW TO STOP THIS CONDITION? DO I NEED TO GO TO A RUBBERIZED V SHAPE BOW BUMPER? HELP

THANKS FOR ANY IDEAS.

LAWRENCE OF SQUIDWARD. :(
 
A few questions -
How do you have the boat strapped down to the traiiler?

I assume that you re-tiighten the winch after getting the boat on the trailer and gettting to a level position and I assume that you have the boat's stern strapped tighly to the trailer (after tightening at the winch while level) - correct?

If so and you are still getting slippage, a quick fix might be to use a ratcheting strap from the bow ring to the trailer to hold the bow down.
 
We would put the strap over the bow at the anchor roller and then under the trailer so as not to put undue stress on the bow eye. Pulling the bow eye out of the boat will cause serious :evil:.

Jon
 
Seems to me that the strongest attachment point on the front of the boat is the bow eye with it's stainless plate behind it. Nonetheless, pulling down directly over the anchor roller fixture would be safe. Just don't put the load on the forward part of the anchor roller beyond the end of the boat. Joe.
 
Squidward,
I had EZ-Loader plastic slides on the bunks of my last boat and ended up removing them. They were too slick and hard enough that they were rubbing gel-coat off the bottom of the boat. I don't know if your trailer has the same type of plastic but some of the "slick bunk" stuff is truly slick. I couldn't keep the boat on the trailer if the ramp had much slope.
I like to drive the boat on and often had to keep it in gear in order to hook up the bow strap. Carpet works better for me.
 
Somehow "slick bunk" seels like an oxymoron.

I thought bunk trailers were designed to prevent the boat sliding and roller trailers are designed to allow the boat to launch/recover like this. No boat movement on my lil' roller trailer.

-- Chuck
 
Glad to see this topic come up. We have had trouble keeping our boat from sliding on the trailer as well with these bunks. We noticed on Sunday that the slick bunks are wearing the gel coat off the underside of our boat and we've had it less than a month. We'll likely take the slick bunks off and see how it works. Thanks!
 
Interesting thread.
I have owned both types of trailers on two 22' bayliner trophy's and present 22' c-dory crusier. My second trophy was on a bunk and the others were roller types, and all have been ez loader tandems. Personally, I would not own a bunk unless it was a small light weight boat. The bunks are much harder to launch and retrieve with all the surface area friction, unless you back your tow rig in the water up to the bumper. Naturally, each launch is different, but those minus tides really made it a bummer. I was real tempted to buy a electric winch and install the hard slides , but after reading about the gelcoat wear I'm glad I didn't. I have not noticed any bow roller wear on any of my boats, but did have to tighten the bow eye on the boat with the bunks. I do know that the trailer rollers and bunks need to be adjusted for each type of hull configuration. I would suggest taking a taking a look to see how how the boat is riding on the trailer, perhaps the bunks could be adjusted. Just a thought.
Jim, Work Release
 
Of course my boat is an aluminum sled so it is a bit different. But I drive my boat on and off the trailer all the time and it has the teflon bunks with heavy duty side rails. I've never had a situation where I have had to back the tow vehicle into the water to get on or off EXCEPT in a river where I was using a shallow sloping bank and not a normal ramp. I drive the boat on and leave it in forward, hop on the bow and hook the eye and the safety chain. Then shut the motor off and drive off the ramp. I never crank the boat up more than an inch or two.

After helping retrieve about 75 bass boats in one day in a wind storm (75+ mph) on Banks Lake during a bass tournement on Memorial Day Weekend 7 years ago, there is no way I want to deal with roller trailers again. We had 2 ramps and 20 guys in the water helping retrieve the boats. The people that had bunks were out of the water and gone in just a couple minutes. The ones that had rollers often had to reposition their boats. A bunk trailer set up correctly is a great thing. They position the boat lower on the trailer for a lower center of gravity while towing, and they are very easy to use IMHO.
 
Hi, to all CBrats,my name is Gary been a member for a while, but this is my first post.Could not resist jumping on that one.I live on Vancouver Island BC.for the last 30 years,had a boat for most of those years, all of them had roller trailers.This is my first CDory wow what a boat that is. It has an EZ Loader tamdem BUNK carpet. It as to be the easiest way to load a boat by your self especially , a CDory. I do have 7 foot side guides that problaly make a big difference.Here's how I do it alone. Back the trailer with water just under the fenders, use 1/2 rope 30 feet long with a snap . Then snap the rope thru the end of my bruce anchor. Tie the other end of the rope below the winch, jump back in my truck(you should stop the trailer 2 feet before the water gets just under the fenders)then back quickly 1 or 2 feet, jump the brake voila, jump out, go get your rope tie boat to the dock. To retrive. back trailer with water under fenders, go untie boat at dock. Use 30 foot rope, guide boat by hand . The boat should get up 2to3 feet from winch finish with hand crank. Done .
 
My trailer guides are carpet same as the bunks. When the truck and trailer are on level ground , I crank the boat tight to the bow roller. There is about 1 inch clearance on each side of the boat between the side guides. If the boat is pushing on either side, I just have to push the boat on the back corner with my shoulder some to adjust. Than install my tye down, the boat will not move on the road. PS I put the name of my boat in my profile , but how do you change the username?
 
My trailer guides are carpet same as the bunks. When the truck and trailer are on level ground , I crank the boat tight to the bow roller. There is about 1 inch clearance on each side of the boat between the side guides. If the boat is pushing on either side, I just have to push the boat on the back corner with my shoulder some to adjust. Than install my tye down, the boat will not move on the road. PS I put the name of my boat in my profile , but how do you change the username?
 
Back
Top