Bent trailer at roller

[GregIn30655]

Anyone else do this from dropping in too deep? I've been out twice, happened twice.... I'm used to bass boats that are light in the front and float off faster.

[Jetdriver]

First time I've seen that on anyone's trailer. How are you launching it? I personally unhook the bow attachment right before I back it into the water. I back in deep enough to put the water pickup in the water, start the boat then give the truck driver the signal to back in enough to give the boat a little push into the lake.
I just don't see how there'd be enough force to bend it like that from launching.
It looks like it is bent down from the bow ramming into the roller when you load it. The marks on the top of the keel forward of the bow ring suggest that as well. It'd be bent up if it was from launching it and the boat floating.

[dj2]

First time I've seen that on anyone's trailer. How are you launching it? I personally unhook the bow attachment right before I back it into the water. I back in deep enough to put the water pickup in the water, start the boat then give the truck driver the signal to back in enough to give the boat a little push into the lake. I guess I'm just at a loss for how there's even enough force to bend it like that.

I launch the exact same way....

[chpthril]

Its a retrieving thing IMO.

[Thegerman618]

I agree with Mike looks like its from running into the roller when retrieving.

Yes these boats are probably double what a bass boat weights. As for retrieving there are a couple ways of doing it with these boats. For me personally I bump the boat in and out of gear all the way to the trailer and about 3 feet before the boat hits the roller I give a little power to reverse to stop the forward momentum. Again Personally I drive the boat as slow as humanly possible while still getting some effect out of the rudder when retrieving. If you try and power or force these boats on the trailer it usually always ends badly for everyone involved, my first boat had lots of "custom pin stripes" all down the side of the boat from trying to force it on the trailer.

The other option is to just winch the boat all the way onto the trailer. This can be done alone but 2 helpers makes this go smooth. Whoever goes and get the truck/trailer before they leave have them unwind the winch to the rear guide pole and clip it inside the top of the post so when they back the trailer down your helper in the bow can grab it and hook it to the bow eye. You can either just pull the boat onto the trailer or have helper number 2 winch in on. This is obviously a little more time consuming but basically guarantees you wont break or scratch anything.

[Carter13]

There are a couple indicators that I see in the picture.

1. Notice the 8 inch scuff along the white gel coat area that occurred on the dry roller when loading?
2. Notice the gouged inside area of the roller when loading?
3. Notice the jacked up roller arm of the trailer that occurred when loading?

This all equals improper hammering of boat when loading. No way can this happen when launching but nice try though.

Why in the world would you come on here with 4 posts and try and claim this happened from launching?

[freeheel4life]

Bahhaha. Carter with the BS flag waving emoji. Certainly not the usual West of the Cascade passive aggressive stuff I'm used too. Must have wrestled for Washougal or something ;-)
Don't see how roller could be bent down either during launching. In his defense that bent sheet metal setup is garbage. Roller stanchion should be nothing less than some stout box tube. Haven't seen that style to my recollection. Is that a DHM trailer?? Can see that step in background that looks very Metalcraft tho... Also D ring is well short of roller which will typically cause the boat to bounce up and down while traveling. Could have been bouncing against roller a lot if it hasn't been snugged up during the majority of travel.

[Jesse]

I launch the exact same way....

To everyone who unhooked before backing into the water, you're doing it wrong. Back in till the back of the boat floats and then stop, unhook, start the boat and back off the trailer. It's common sense, the strap is the only thing holding the boat from sliding off when on an incline.[emoji848]


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[freeheel4life]

To everyone who unhooked before backing into the water, you're doing it wrong. Back in till the back of the boat floats and then stop, unhook, start the boat and back off the trailer. It's common sense, the strap is the only thing holding the boat from sliding off when on an incline.

False. There's a thing called friction. I assure that there is a lot of friction between your dry bunks and hull. Only boat I've ever seen come off a trailer because it didn't have the strap hooked up was on a trailer with rollers.
Will say if you are launching by yourself and are nervous your boat is going to float away then leaving it hooked up isn't the worst idea
I unhook winchstrap and put a dockline at bow eye and then tie off to the stanchion. Get boat floating and do the old brake tap and boat slides back off of trailer then gets caught by bowline. Doesn't float side to side because of trailer guides.

[ericinmich]

Yea, no chance of sliding off on carpeted bunks... roller trailer maybe. That said, I do let the front strap out a bit, depending on the angle of the ramp if the back floats a bunch before the rest of the boat, the roller vs. hook angle can bind up and maybe bend stuff.

[chpthril]

I like to leave the winch strap clipped to the hook, but winch out 3-5 ft of strap, then reverse the winch. This lest the boat float a little without the hook tight against the bow roller. When launching with 2 people, sure, unhook the winch and when the boat is splashed, fire up and drive right off.

Retrieving though, I like to get the trailer depth just right so the bow nests in the bunks prior to the bow hitting the roller. Then a little throttle to fully seat the bow eye to the stop or clip up and winch the rest. It takes some practice and getting used to the same ramp., Not as easy if you use different ramps with different angles.

[Brianrzr]

I have been in management positions of major boat trailer companies and owned my own company. The winch post should be robust enough to handle anything short of a collision on the highway. Contact the mfr and if they are a standup company, they will appreciate the feedback, and probably take care of it for you. A winch post failure is a liability lawsuit waiting to open. They can easily result in fatalities. If they don't, inform the forum who they are. Others should be warned of the potential problem that could exist.

[Jetdriver]

To everyone who unhooked before backing into the water, you're doing it wrong. Back in till the back of the boat floats and then stop, unhook, start the boat and back off the trailer. It's common sense, the strap is the only thing holding the boat from sliding off when on an incline.[emoji848]


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Not an issue, a 4500 lb boat creates a lot of friction on carpeted bunks. I can't even budge the boat pushing on the bow with 3/4 of it in the water and I'm a friggin beast! A trailer with rollers I would absolutely leave it connected. I don't disconnect until the rear of the boat is almost in the water anyhow. I've owned boats for almost 20 years and only seen pictures of that happening and it was with rollers. Everyone's technique is a tad different and it doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong if it differs from yours. My common sense told me that.

[ericinmich]

Growing up we had a 24ft boat on roller trailer, the rope/strap broke while pulling it up a steep ramp, boat rolled down and stopped with stern drive and stern on the pavement, nose of the boat on the roller. An old guy that lived next door came over with some telephone poles, put them under the middle of the boat and we drove the car forward dropping the boat on the rollers. One by one we would put another log under the back and rolled it back into the water. The fiberglass was still good, it was a solid boat.

[skippabcool]

I had the same thing happen to my trailer. I am guessing that is an EZ Loader Illusion trailer sitting on 20" wheels. At launching the reason that would happen is if you leave the strap on and back in and you have waves coming in which will cause the bow to rise and then lower bending that piece. It seems that piece is also like an aluminum can, once there was any bend in it then the next time it didn't take too much to do more damage. Mine happened when I retrieved it but from the same thing. With that trailer you have to be in deep. I know mine was not from ramming it since only get it on about half way then walk it the rest of the way (truck driver backs up while I am cranking the winch). Mine then happened because to get the boat to sit right you have to have it floating on that trailer, since I don't power load. The water was rough and as I was aligning it side to side the bow went up and down from the rough water and bent it.