should there be weight on the bow roller?

[brunolund]

so looking at my boat on the trailer, i realize that with the bow ring tight to the bow roller, the boat is not sitting on the middle keel rollers. so the boat is supported on the rear rollers and the bow roller. i adjusted the winch angle, now the boat sits on the rear rollers and the keel roller, but there is very little if any weight on the bow roller. before as i cranked up the boat to get the ring tight to the roller, it was lifting the boat off the middle rollers, now the ring hits the rollers straight on with no lift. is this correct? it seems much better this way, and also the boat sits about 4" lower so towing should be a touch easier. pics will have to wait till tomorrow, but i thought i'd get opinions while i can. the boat is an 18' lund tyee on a shorelander roller trailer. rear roller is about 4" from edge of transom now, as the winch post was adjusted earlier. tweach me!

thanks

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: should there be weight on the bow roller?

so looking at my boat on the trailer, i realize that with the bow ring tight to the bow roller, the boat is not sitting on the middle keel rollers. so the boat is supported on the rear rollers and the bow roller. i adjusted the winch angle, now the boat sits on the rear rollers and the keel roller, but there is very little if any weight on the bow roller. before as i cranked up the boat to get the ring tight to the roller, it was lifting the boat off the middle rollers, now the ring hits the rollers straight on with no lift. is this correct? it seems much better this way, and also the boat sits about 4" lower so towing should be a touch easier. pics will have to wait till tomorrow, but i thought i'd get opinions while i can. the boat is an 18' lund tyee on a shorelander roller trailer. rear roller is about 4" from edge of transom now, as the winch post was adjusted earlier. tweach me!

thanks

Many different opinions here but I'm in the "equally supported by rollers and bunks camp". The bow roller isn't so much of an issue as all the weight of the boat is to the rear. Sounds like you're heading in the right direction with the main rollers and bunks doing the work. Most trailers aren't designed to support much at the bow unless its been custom made for your boat. Check your weight of your boat and trailer while you're moving stuff around to be sure that you've got about 10% of your gross weight on the tongue.

 

[brunolund]

Re: should there be weight on the bow roller?

there are no bunks on this trailer. in the rear there are 8 rollers per side, pretty much under the engine. then there are 4 rollers that are centered on the keel just forward of the consoles. then one roller for the bow, on the winch post. before the adjustment, the boat wouldn't touch the four on the keel. now it does, but there is no weight on the bow roller. got about 180 lbs of tongue weight, bboat and trailer weghed 3700 lbs before removing old foam and wet floor. not finished that yet, but soon, so i haven't re-weighed it yet.

 

[brunolund]

Re: should there be weight on the bow roller?

sorry about the quality, not sure what happened, but it was dark.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: should there be weight on the bow roller?

Bow roller shouldn't be lifting the boat. It should be called a stop and the bow should rest against it. The function should be to stop the boat from moving forward.

I am one who favors rollers over bunks. Mainly because of the way I use my trailer and the ramps I use.

My Lund is a bit lighter than yours but I can still turn my wobble rollers when the boat is on it and fully loaded. One trick with rollers is more is always better. I did just notice this past weekend after loading the boat that the 1st keel roller from the rear of the trailer was no longer touching the keel. Will have to readjust that roller myself.

Good luck with setting yours.