I just picked up a clean older Mirrocraft Lake Fisherman 16.5' aluminum V hull. It came with a trailer but its way too short and way too high off the ground to launch at most of the shallow ramps here.
The boat weighs in at about 1100lbs on the trailer tops. I'm looking at two trailers, one is a wide frame bunk trailer with the bunks laying flat, this trailer has a max boat length of 16' with minimal tongue extending beyond the bow stop. This one has 4.80x12 tires.
The other choice is a slightly heavier full roller Load Rite trailer with 12 rollers in all, its rated at 1900lbs GVW. The trailer weighs in at 380lbs. This one uses A78-13 tires.
My thought is that since I often pull the boat with the car my best option may be the roller trailer since it will keep the car from having to back as far down the ramp to launch. But along the same lines it adds the most weight to the whole rig.
In my search for a better trailer however I talked to a Mirrocraft dealer and was told that Mirrocraft absolutely does not recommend the use of a roller trailer on their aluminum boats? I've heard this before but years ago had a Starcraft Super Sport that lived its whole life on the same style trailer with no issues, and that boat wasn't nearly as stoutly built as this Mirrocraft is.
My guess would be that with 12 rollers and how light the boat is, chances are there wouldn't be more than a few pounds of pressure on each roller. On my Starcraft I could force my hand between any of the rollers with ease. This boat is far lighter. Since I launch soley in saltwater, I'd strongly prefer to run the roller trailer as it means not having to dunk the whole trailer to launch or load the boat.
The current trailer is only 48" wide at the wheels, the boat has an 84" beam width. This means the boat is sitting completely above the wheels and fenders up high on the bunks. To float the boat off now I need to back into some ramps far enough to wet my front tires. That's not a good option for any tow vehicle in saltwater. The bottom of the transom is over 24" off the ground, on most of the ramps here the trailer wheels reach the end of the ramp before the boat gets wet with the current set up.
The two goals of replacing the trailer are first off to make it possible to launch and load the boat without getting the car wet, and second to lower the boat as much as possible so I can launch at all the newer ramps which have full concrete pads. The larger tires on the roller trailer will also help with the rough roads leading into most of the ramps around here, the tiny 12" tires all but get swallowed up in some of the ruts and holes on the back roads.
Has anyone ever actually seen an aluminum boat damaged by a roller trailer?
The boat weighs in at about 1100lbs on the trailer tops. I'm looking at two trailers, one is a wide frame bunk trailer with the bunks laying flat, this trailer has a max boat length of 16' with minimal tongue extending beyond the bow stop. This one has 4.80x12 tires.
The other choice is a slightly heavier full roller Load Rite trailer with 12 rollers in all, its rated at 1900lbs GVW. The trailer weighs in at 380lbs. This one uses A78-13 tires.
My thought is that since I often pull the boat with the car my best option may be the roller trailer since it will keep the car from having to back as far down the ramp to launch. But along the same lines it adds the most weight to the whole rig.
In my search for a better trailer however I talked to a Mirrocraft dealer and was told that Mirrocraft absolutely does not recommend the use of a roller trailer on their aluminum boats? I've heard this before but years ago had a Starcraft Super Sport that lived its whole life on the same style trailer with no issues, and that boat wasn't nearly as stoutly built as this Mirrocraft is.
My guess would be that with 12 rollers and how light the boat is, chances are there wouldn't be more than a few pounds of pressure on each roller. On my Starcraft I could force my hand between any of the rollers with ease. This boat is far lighter. Since I launch soley in saltwater, I'd strongly prefer to run the roller trailer as it means not having to dunk the whole trailer to launch or load the boat.
The current trailer is only 48" wide at the wheels, the boat has an 84" beam width. This means the boat is sitting completely above the wheels and fenders up high on the bunks. To float the boat off now I need to back into some ramps far enough to wet my front tires. That's not a good option for any tow vehicle in saltwater. The bottom of the transom is over 24" off the ground, on most of the ramps here the trailer wheels reach the end of the ramp before the boat gets wet with the current set up.
The two goals of replacing the trailer are first off to make it possible to launch and load the boat without getting the car wet, and second to lower the boat as much as possible so I can launch at all the newer ramps which have full concrete pads. The larger tires on the roller trailer will also help with the rough roads leading into most of the ramps around here, the tiny 12" tires all but get swallowed up in some of the ruts and holes on the back roads.
Has anyone ever actually seen an aluminum boat damaged by a roller trailer?