Picking the right trailer?

boatboss

Cadet
Joined
Sep 7, 2014
Messages
20
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?
 

roscoe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
21,657
Many many aluminum boats come on a roller trailer from the factory.
Lund, Alumacraft, starcraft, Tracker, etc.

Let me guess, the dealer has a bunk trailer he wants to sell to you?

Go with the roller trailer. It will be fine.

Happy boating.
 

bonz_d

Vice Admiral
Joined
Apr 22, 2008
Messages
5,274
I'll get into the mix again. There are 2 boats listed in my sig., both are on roller trailers and both are aluminum. Yes rollers will make it easier to launch and recover at shallow ramps.

Now if the ramps you are using are as shallow as the ones I use I would really suggest looking for an older tilt bed trailer of either type. With one of those you can load and unload that boat anywhere including your back yard.
 

boatboss

Cadet
Joined
Sep 7, 2014
Messages
20
The dealer has all types of trailers, he claims that Mirrocraft themselves specify bunk trailers only, but that I assume is for a new boat, mine is 35 years old.
A bunk trailer can be way cheaper but my concern is having something that I can tow with the car and something that will work on shallow ramps.
One concern I do have is that the roller trailer is a bit heavier than I need, I wish they made a lighter roller trailer. This boat is nothing but a big row boat with a side console and outboard. The lightest roller trailer I've found is the 14-17' 12 roller models with 14" wheels.
The boat has lots of ribs, spaced pretty close, maybe 12" apart or so.
The trailer its rigged on now is too high, a roller trailer will be about the same height but it'll allow me to roll the boat off at the water's edge rather than dunking the whole trailer, and maybe even the back wheels of the tow vehicle. To me the ideal trailer would be low and wide, with the hull sitting low between the wheels on rollers, but all of the roller trailers I've seen set the boat pretty high.
Where I'll be launching 90% of the time, its saltwater, with a strong current. There's no shelter from the current and I've seen people back in too far and get their vehicle washed off the ramp. Loading the boat usually takes two people, one guy needs to be on the dock on the upstream side with a tether line to the stern keeping the boat in line with the trailer. It usually takes wrapping the rope around a railing a few times and slowly letting out line as the boat leaves the water onto the trailer. At low tide, there's a risk of the boat being ripped under the docks by the current. Several of the ramps here have similar conditions, most people try to launch or load at slack tide but that's not always possible.
 

bonz_d

Vice Admiral
Joined
Apr 22, 2008
Messages
5,274
The SPARTAN that is under my old Lund is about 250lbs and I believe is a 1200-1400# capacity depending on tires. They are now owned by Tebben Ent.

http://tebben.us/trailer.html

The one I have is very simular to the one pictured in the Roller Tailer Series accept the one I have also tilts. Wish I could find one to fit my Alumacraft!
 

reelfishin

Captain
Joined
Mar 19, 2007
Messages
3,043
I wouldn't be too concerned about the roller trailer, divide the weight of the boat by the number of rollers and you have a rough estimate of how much pressure at any given point, with the most weight being at the stern due to the motor. The bow stop and winch also takes some of the weight.
If you boat weighs in at say 1,100 lbs, then no one roller is likely to have more than 95 lbs of pressure. Take into account that a boat like the lake fisherman was built without a floor, even a grown man walking around in the boat is applying far more pressure at any given area than any one roller will be on the trailer.

I owned several aluminum boats over the years, almost every boat over 500lbs was on rollers.

Even with a full roller trailer you may find a set of guide on posts useful if your dealing with strong current.
 
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