Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

mrmamiller

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I am starting to address several trailer deficiencies and the first one is the keel rollers. The trailer is a bunk trailer with two keel rollers. The rollers are 12" with 5/8" shaft. The rollers that came with the trailer were deformed because of too much weight on the rollers. I adjusted the bunks so as to take a lot of pressure off the rollers and put on two new rollers, which I thought would be good. The new rollers are poly with a supposed steel insert. One of the rollers bent easily. I understand that the keel rollers for a bunk trailer are merely to keep the keel from contacting the crossmember during launching/loading. That said, I need the roller to take just a "smidge" of pressure off the bunks, which aren't the strongest in the world. To avoid the whole mess of new bunks and what not, I am looking to find a really heavy duty 12" keel roller, one which has a really heavy duty insert. Every manufacturer touts his roller as being heavy duty, not buying it. (FYI, the boat weight is close to 1900# and the trailer is rated 2000#; ....; I know, get a new trailer).

Question: On your experiences, who makes the strongest 12" tapered keel roller? (I'm avoiding black rubber due to marking, it's a white fiberglass boat).
 

GA_Boater

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Re: Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

Are you stuck on 12" rollers? Shorter rollers might not bend as easily as the 12 inchers on a trailer on the verge of overload. And raise the bunks a bit more or look at new bunks.

I need the roller to take just a "smidge" of pressure off the bunks, which aren't the strongest in the world.

It sounds like the rollers are carrying the load, not the bunks.
 

smokeonthewater

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Re: Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

something is wrong here.... bending 12" keel rollers with such a light boat doesn't make sense... the strength of the roller is in the axle... If you are using hollow tube, undersized, or aluminum axles you would get this problem... My 10,000 lb 30' cruiser doesn't bent 12'" keel rollers ... they don't support the boat once fully loaded but take way more than 2000 lbs while loading... In the past I HAVE managed to bend a bracket but not the roller itself
 
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mrmamiller

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Re: Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

Just checked my "defective" rollers. The "original" has an aluminum tube. It remains bent. The other which I put on (from BassPro) has an insert that (upon really close examination) appears to be in three parts, and it doesn't respond to a magnet dangled inside the bore.

The pressure on either roller can't possibly exceed 200# while the boat is on the trailer.

So, any recommendation for a roller that will hold up? I see all these adds claiming how strong their rollers are; not sure what to believe.
 

alldodge

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Re: Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

Rollers are only there to keep the keel from hitting the cross member during loading and unloading. The hull should not rest on them once loaded.

So far as strength the center rod is where the strength is not the roller.
 

GA_Boater

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Re: Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

Time for pics.
 

limitout

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Re: Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

whatever roller you get needs to be a solid roller NOT those with the ribs inside them, they are trash and will just bend and fold up under any weight load.

just be sure you get a solid type roller and personally I just use the stoltz poly rollers because they aren't rubber so they don't dry out and I haven't found anything near the high quality and long lasting life as they provide.

shop around on your own for the best price because im not saying this is a great deal to buy these, but this is what they look like:

http://www.iboats.com/12-Poly-Keel-...1880687--session_id.389999494--view_id.981274

http://www.iboats.com/12-Self-Cente...1880687--session_id.389999494--view_id.981275
 
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mrmamiller

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Re: Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

Can't upload images, site isn't working properly. But, I guess I need to find a roller with a solid steel insert, not like what I have. Will try pics later tomorrow.
 

limitout

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Re: Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

Can't upload images, site isn't working properly. But, I guess I need to find a roller with a solid steel insert, not like what I have. Will try pics later tomorrow.

no, you don't have to have a roller with a steel tube insert, you just need to get a solid body poly roller so the solid body of the roller rests on the 5/8 steel roller pin and they do the work of supporting the boat together. a solid body roller means it has solid even contact (and support) along the whole length of the roller pin so it has the maximum support you can get.

rubber rollers don't support well because they can deform after a while and they dry out over time but poly rollers wont.

just don't get fooled by those rollers with ribs in them, they use a web design to save money so less material is needed but it also provides less support that way. the idea is the middle is still solid so the sides don't need to be that strong but if you ever get the boat on crooked you will need strength in those sides to force the boat straight again and I have seen those webbed rollers just flatten out and do nothing. they are just cheap trash but they will do the job if they don't have to support the boat so some people buy them.
 
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roscoe

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Re: Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

Will your hull actually hit the cross members of the trailer if the rollers were removed?

Once the trailer is submerged, the hull will be floating above its loaded position.

My bunk trailers have no rollers.

Perhaps replace the bunks, maybe raising them 2 inches, and remove the rollers entirely.
 

mrmamiller

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Re: Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

Roscoe, the hull will hit the crossmember if no roller, that is for sure. Replacing the bunks is the ultimate solution, but I am a snowbird in Florida at a rental property for the winter and have a limited amount of equipment for doing the work. The hull is such that the bunks need to flex inorder to support the hull along the entire length of the bunk (about 9').

The pic upload still fails. The pics would have explained the situation better. A little more background: The bunks are 2x4's, 9 ft long, supported only at both ends. There are only two crossmembers other than a very short one near the winchstand. There is a 12" roller on each crossmember. The boat is a 17' center console, weight about 1850-1900#. I know that the bunks are intended to support the entire weight of the trailer, I feel better having just a bit of weight held by the rollers.

With the original blue poly roller, the roller was deformed as taken off, but the 5/8" shaft was OK. The yellow poly roller with metalic insert (in several sections), the roller shaft was deformed when I removed it. I'll guess this is because the roller insert was not one continuous piece. Right now both rollers in use are OK, but I just was more sturdy rollers. If I ever have to trailer this rig back north, I'll have serious work to do.

NO pics attached, for some reason the upload fails, never had this problem before. The pics might explain more. I'll try to figure out why I can't insert images later. Thanks for your help.
 

alldodge

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Re: Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

NO pics attached, for some reason the upload fails, never had this problem before. The pics might explain more. I'll try to figure out why I can't insert images later. Thanks for your help.

The pic failure is probably because it is to large and needs to be resized. Either need to make it smaller or use something like photo bucket and copy the image over here.

http://forums.iboats.com/non-boating-technical-topics/how-posting-pictures-videos-533219.html
 

smokeonthewater

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Re: Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

your pics MAY be too big.... if so and if you are using a pc you can open em w paint and resize em.

BTW nothing wrong with putting some weight on the rollers... Some trailers even get set up w most of the weight on the rollers.

In the past I have used the yellow poly self centering rollers and put far more weight than you possibly could on them without even deforming one.

It was mentioned above to try a narrower roller and that would be worth considering... a 9" x5 /8" shaft will be MUCH more resistant to bending than a 13" x 5/8" shaft.

BTW bunks can be replaced with nothing more than a wrench for the lag bolts and a hammer to drive roofing nails to hold carpet. OR if you use carriage bolts add a drill..... If you can afford a winter rental property for the winter you can afford $10-$50 worth of tools...... If your bunks are in that bad of shape you could save your self a lot more than that in damage to your boat.
I've seen first hand what happens when a bunk falls off and someone drags their hull on the steel bracket.... NOT pretty
 

Frank Acampora

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Re: Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

104_7302.jpg104_7368.jpg104_7304.jpg102_6448.jpg104_7301.jpg

For a 1900 pound boat 2 X 4 bunks are simply not sufficient. Here is a boat that only weighs 700 pounds, 1000 with engine, and I used 4 X 4 bunks plus two center rollers on the frame--yes, simply to keep the keel from contacting it. The bunks take all the weight when the boat is loaded. Disregard the second photo: It is from another trailer. However, these are black rubber keel rollers and since the boat does not rub them, there is very little to no color transfer. Look closely and you will see black marks from the outer ribbed rollers.

Note the old trailer in the last photo. While undersized for the load, it still had 4 x 4 bunks although they were 2 feet shorter.

Replace your bunks with 2 X 6 if the supporting clamps only allow a 2 inch nominal thickness.
 
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smokeonthewater

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Re: Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

my 10,000 lb boat has 2x6 bunks BUT it has 4 of them... 2 long and 2 short

normally I would disagree about 2x4 not being enough but since the you said they are 9' and only supported in 2 places I have to agree than 2x6 would be a better choice

Honestly too, they don't need to flex as much as you might think... bunks supporting the stern and keel rollers supporting the bow would be perfectly acceptable
 

wrench 3

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Re: Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

I had trouble with my 26' cruiser cutting into the roller on the rear crossmember when loading in shallow water. I made up a rocker setup like the one on Frank's trailer and it solved the problem.
 

smokeonthewater

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Re: Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

BTW... Frank, You need a bigger trailer for that boat

EDIT: well I guess if it's really is no more than 1000 lbs it's probably ok
 
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mrmamiller

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Re: Trailer Keel Roller, Need Help

Thanks for the continuing information, it really helps. Smoke, I brought a lot of my tools south with me, enough to do the job. I bought a few jackstands here and have a few bottle jacks. From having put new bunk brackets on the front to take the pressure off the roller, I can see that to go further, the boat will have to come off the trailer, as I just don't have enough jackstands, bracing material and jacks.

I like the idea of a 9" roller on the front, as I certainly don't need a 12 incher. Rollers: I hope the pics work now, re-took them with settings on the smallest size. The blue roller which came with the trailer to me has an aluminum insert which is 1 3/8" and nylon caps with a 5/8" ID. That's why it caved in. The replacement yellow poly roller has an insert which is 3 pieces. Guess that's why it folded up, but after a month of sitting in warm weather, it looks OK now. Still BassPro junk.

I guess if the trailer frame itself was strong enough, I wouldn't mind putting a lot of $$$ and effort into this. I was going to address the issue of the trailer frame at some time, but will do it in another thread so as to not cloud things.

I'll try the pics now....Pics of old rollers will have to wait for the next post...

IMG_3143.JPG IMG_3144.JPG IMG_3145.JPG IMG_3146.JPG IMG_3147.JPG
 
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