Trailer talk: Bunks or rollers? Pros/cons....

If buying a deep vee boat a roller trailer does offer some advantage to shallow water launching

But with the c-dory style boat with almost flat bottom the boat sits between the wheels a bunk trailer has less to go wrong Ive seen to many rollers going bad especially here in Fl with corrosion and salt .Get the bunk trailer and be done with it
 
I believe the Department of Defense actually paid $2,000,000 for the very trailer you describe!

Sea Wolf":1tk9h6j3 said:
What we obviously need to invent here is a convertible trailer that has both bunks and rollers, with the bunks and rollers designed in such a way that either the bunks or rollers can be raised up higher than the other and carry the boat for launching or trailing as needed.

Hydraulic slave cylinders would be needed with an electric powered hydraulic pump and appropriate switches. All stainless or all aluminum construction would be desirable.

A good aircraft manufacturer or military marine manufacturer could do the job, or NASA, for that matter. One could use screw jacks instead of hydraulics, but they're more susceptible to salt water intrusion and corrosion than hydraulics, like the trim tab issue (Bennett vs. Lenco, etc.), but the aren't enough days left in the year to raise that one up from the dead and bury it properly!

We could also add a whole bunch of goodies once we had the hydraulics, like adjustable guide-ons, an extendable tongue, an elevator for getting on and off the boat's bow at launch, etc, but I think I'll just let it be at this point.

Joe. :teeth :thup
Click to expand...
 
So what would it cost to remove my rollers, replace them with bunks, put on decent fenders and remove the damn rusted bolts and nuts that hold the guide so I can move them in 6" on each side? I guess I need to have Gary Estes give me a quote on that...
 
Hi,
I have had both and I like bunks. I don't miss replacing the broken aluminum arms that hold the rollers. I don't miss replacing the rollers and the washers and clips you have to squeeze on to the roller shafts to hold the rollers on. I usually power load my boat and like the fact it stays where I put it. Of course each to their own. If you don't leave the front porch too far anything will work. We trailer longer distances and I think the boat stays put better on bunks. I would think from what I have experienced with roller trailers; bunks are cheaper to maintain. I mean launch the boat and staple on some new carpeting once every couple of years. I have goal post guides on our Float On and have 4 bunks positioned so it loads right the first time, all the time. I have helped manually center boats on roller trailers even when they are manually cranked up using the winch on the trailer tongue. I don't use side bunks to center the boat. I just use a winch strap and a stainless steel turnbuckle with a short piece of chain with a shackle to hold the front end fast to the tongue of the trailer. And a sturdy DOT rated rachet tie down from Home Depot across the cockpit gunnels to the trailer frame with towels on top of the gunnels to protect the jelcoat. It does not move around much and I'm not always in the slow lane,if you know what I'm saying. :wink
D.D.
 
Pat, on the guides. I tried to move mine in but there was just not enough room at the bottom to do so. Instead I ran a tie down strap to the up right on both sides, with out the boat on the trailer, and cracked down until the uprights bent in the desired distance. worked great.

as for bunks over rollers. bunks have never let me down and I have always been able to launch. I agree that you need to replace the carpet with the new Teflon, which i have not gotten around to.

every boat off the trailer accident I have seen involved rollers. And that included on the road away from the ramp. a c-brat bought a different boat and had the strap brake while towing home. He drove the trailer out from under the boat and dumped a 7 to 10,000 lbs boat in the middle of a intersection on the only road off the island. if he had a bunk it would not have happened.

there was video of a center console coming off a trailer with roller on you tube. the strap broke and it roller off, dragger the motor and then hit the ground at 60mph. ened up in field next to the high way.
 
Road Runner Trailers http://www.roadrunnerltd.com/intro1.html makes a welded/galvanized trailer that has bunks at the back and rollers at the front. I've often admired them at the Vancouver boat show. I don't think I've seen them at the Seattle show. If my EZ Loader ever needs replacement I would certainly consider one of them. There web site is not great, but it gives a fair bit of info.
Ron
 
I had made inquires on buying a RoadRunner trailer last year, too bad they do not have dealers in Ontario. I like them better than EZloader.Tug
 
I used roller trailers for 40 years, calkins, EZ loader, etc. When I bought the 16' c dory it came with an ez loader bunk trailer so I had to learn the ins and outs of a bunk trailer but I ended up liking it. Then when I bought the used 22' it came with a roller ez loader. There are a lot of rollers with those trailers, and a lot of moving parts. It was a single axle so I got rid of it and bought a King tandem axle with bunks. That is a much better system and I probably won't ever go back to rollers. There is maintenance on them just like bunks but the bunks are easier in my mind to use. I had a roller vibrate loose while supporting a boston whaler on that road from hell over to bamfield one time and it drove the support through the outer hull. I thought it unloaded a little harder than normal but didn't thoroughly check it out. Used the boat for a week with a hole in the bottom.
 
Back
Top