Trailer Question?

[tigesinaus]

just wondering do any of you have roller trailers for your boat, like the one pictured below?



i realise most people use the carpeted wooden slats, but to me the rollers look like a good idea, as they would stop the wear on the hull when you drive them onto the trailer.

any reason why you dont see more of them??

[jwanck11]

I actually like rollers over carpet when dealing totally with fresh water, where you are consistently launching on a shallow ramp and where there are tide effects. The key is to have enough of them.

[da.bell]

No rollers for me. Just carpet.

[Duncan]

ooooo... thread to watch for me. I was batting around this decision in my head as well. Of course, the last boat on highway thread/pic was accompanied by commentary that no good comes of roller trailers. Can't wait to see how the opinions come down.

[Jason B]

I've heard a lot of bad things about them though I have no personal experience with them.

You may want to try WW and see what the opinions are over there.

[jbf]

I just had my trailer made custom for an '08 RZ4 in June and wrestled w/ the decision. I asked around a bunch--there's pro's and con's to each.

Rollers: boat will get on an off easier, but rollers are a lot more maintenance and leave a lot more room for issues, especially in saltwater (like where I am) b/c of the metal in the rollers rusting up.

Buncks: no metal to worry about, so less maintenance, just can be a little tougher at times to get the boat on/off. If u have a shallow ramp and/or have a tendency to drive the boat on hard as opposed to coast it on, you can wear thru the carpeting on the buncks pretty fast.

I ultimately went w/ the buncks b/c I'm in saltwater, so less metal is better for me.

[brody66]

I know the boat comes off and on much easier but a carpeted bunk has no small pressure points like the rollers do, the more rollers the better but think about your boat going down the highway at 80 and hitting every bump and the boat only resting on spots as wide as your finger, i would much rather have bunks

[NICKYPOO]

Why is every boat in Australia on the same trailer? Every picture I've ever seen of a boat on a trailer in Australia has the same trailer. Is there only one trailer manufacturer in Australia?

I would never do rollers. brody has the best reason yet.

[TJRiver]

Carpeted bunks work great for us. No problems at all. Why add extra moving parts?

[brody66]

I remember back in the mid 90s my dad was going to buy a new crownline and it was on a roller trailer, the dealer told us that bayliner had all their boats on bunks, and that bayliner would void any warrantys on their hull if the boat was trailered on rollers. Little did we know that almost all boats would be on full bunks a few years later, you can look at a hull that is kept on rollers and the hull will have a bunch of dents after time.

[jwanck11]

my first boat was on rollers for the better part of 20 years and not a dern thing wrong with it.

[Dan and Christy]

This is another great reason to lift your tow rig, so you can back in far enough while loading/unloading to not worry about powering on/off the trailer.

[tigesinaus]

Why is every boat in Australia on the same trailer? Every picture I've ever seen of a boat on a trailer in Australia has the same trailer. Is there only one trailer manufacturer in Australia?

I would never do rollers. brody has the best reason yet.

theres definately not as many as in america, most the boats in aus will be sitting on an easytow.

[tigesinaus]

yeah the main advantage i could see is less wear on the hull. i remember i saw a bu once that had worn almost fully through the gellcoat where it rubs on the trailer.

[noworries]

This is another great reason to lift your tow rig, so you can back in far enough while loading/unloading to not worry about powering on/off the trailer.

We were one of the last boats to launch this summer on the dirt ramp at O'Brien Inlet at Shasta. Even with 35s on the Dodge 4x4 the exhaust was completely under water which was up on the rear fenders a little. The Cummins didn't seem to mind blowing bubbles.