Boat extremely difficult to load or unload

[pyrotek]

I have a 5000 lb 23ft searay on 24 Yates 343r wobble rollers. Loading the boat on the trailer is exhausting. It takes two people two sets of winching to get the boat on. I also worry I'm going to rip the shackle off the bow of the boat with the force required.

The rollers spin fine with no load. Should I take off each roller and grease? Or just try spraying some lithium grease. Are the rollers shot? There are minor cracks in the rubber, but not too bad. If I remember correctly the rollers do appear flattened with the weight of the boat crushing them. I'll pay more attention to it at the end of the year when I pick the boat up, but hoping for some advice beforehand. Thx

 

[tazrig]

lubing the rollers with a heavy waterproof grease can't hurt but if the rollers are dry rotted and cracked (by your description) and are going flat from the weight of the boat, it sounds like you either need new poly urethane rollers or more of them to spread out the weight more evenly. You might also want to consider getting an electric winch. It will definitely save your back.

 

[thumpar]

Are you getting the trailer deep enough in the water? When I back in my boat is completely floating before it is hooked to the trailer. I only crank the winch to tighten it up.

 

[redneck joe]

How many sets of rollers perside and how many rollers per set and pic when loaded (close up) will help

 

[tpenfield]

My thoughts . . . Could be a combination of not enough rollers for the weight and not putting the trailer in deep enough so that you are not trying to pull the weight of the boat out of the water.

 

[Scott Danforth]

pics of the trailer? how deep do you back in?

 

[GA_Boater]

I'll pay more attention to it at the end of the year when I pick the boat up, but hoping for some advice beforehand.

This quote snip implies you take the boat at the end of the season, so once a year it's hard duty. Maybe you need more practice and a little deeper with the trailer.

 

[Starcraft5834]

pics of the trailer? how deep do you back in?

agree with Scott. like to see it... you have guides? those help a ton... I have found that going in deeper more problematic, get crooked to easy. on windy days, even worse.. guides and electric winch my call.....

 

[redneck joe]

i finally got my guides on and now I can and do plunge deeper. Big difference

 

[Scott Danforth]

I had the wife hold the side aligned with the fender while I cranked with the old trailer. new trailer, I extended the inside fender wood to make a carpet covered guide.

 

[pyrotek]

If you go deep enough you wouldn't need rollers at all - it would just float on and off. So I go as deep as I can without getting the truck fender or brakes in the salt water. Usually the front of the trailer fenders are 2" under water. I know your not suggesting me to dunk the back of the truck and the exhaust system under saltwater like some of the idiots at the ramp.

The rollers have very minor cracking that's why I would be surprised if it was due to dry rot.

There are 24 rollers. 4 in front per side and 8 in back per side. I tend to think the boat is too heavy although the trailer is rated at 7500 lbs.

How much should the rollers deform or flatten under load?

 

[Grandad]

That was my first thought. How old is the boat? It sounds like it sits in water all season and may have some waterlogged flotation from bilgewater. I know it's not a pleasant thought, but maybe this is part of the problem. - Grandad

 

[tpenfield]

A bit over 200 lbs. per roller, the back set of rollers are probably higher than that and the front set lower. You could see if there is a weight rating per roller .

 

[Scott Danforth]

from my last look, keel rollers are 400# rating, wobble rollers are 200# rating

 

[Sprig]

Take your boat and trailer to a scale and weigh it. I'm thinking the floatation may may be saturated with water which may add hundreds or even a thousand or more pounds to the boat. Thus making it heavy and difficult to load on the trailer.

 

[pyrotek]

The boat has been weighed in the past and it's not water logged. I wouldn't be posting in this forum if it was! Even if it was another 1000 lbs, as per your estimate, (which is not unreasonable with full gas tank, water, head and junk) - it still should not be difficult. I'll grease the rollers this fall which i assume fixes the issue, im just surprised more people don't have this issue and require grease. Thx.

 

[thumpar]

I doubt grease is going to help you. Just because it has rollers doesn't mean you use them to get the boat on the trailer. You should be deep enough with the trailer that you only need 2-4 cranks.

 

[Fed]

Does the boat also have keel rollers pyrotek, if so it should roll off by itself and be easy to winch up on a dry trailer once you grease everything up.

 

[dingbat]

I will not get into the physics, but a roller should not be flattening at all. Flatten the tires on your mower and see how hard it is to push.....you need new rollers.

Loading a #5k boat is going to require some work no matter what you do. Doing the math, your exceeding the limits of even the largest manual winch by a pretty big margin.

My boat is #5.6k and even with new rollers its a bear, but manageable. Stresses my #4200 electric winch almost to stall.

 

[theBrownskull]

My last boat had a roller trailer. I bought it used and saw that a couple of the rollers were starting to crack and flatten. Over the summer the rollers failed and it was a pain to load. I tried greasing the rollers and it made no difference. I installed new rollers. Night and day difference.