Trailer Damaging Hull

[jerms234]

So our families boat is a 91 Celebrity 180CX. I'm not sure if we are the third or 4th owner. However I'm fairly sure the trailer is a pieced together mess. For instance it has a surge brake coupler but the axle doesn't have brakes, ya it makes a lot of noise and is horrible to tow.

That being said, I have no idea if this trailer was designed for the boat or not and frankly I think it might be responsible for my now minor leak in the hull near the stern. Above one of the bunks on the right, the fiberglass has some minor crushing damage and I think it could be caused by the way the trailer supports the boat.

Basically the bunks are supporting the boat entirely. The keel is at least 4" off the rollers at the bottom of the keel and the keel never touches a roller. The bunks are probably 6' - 7' long and are supported by 3 cross members. There are only 2 bunks on the trailer one left and one right. The boat is also semi supported by the front bow pad above the bow loop.

My question is does this seem typical? I've read that the keel should support approximately 80% of the weight with the bunks used for stabilizing rather than the weight.

What are your thoughts and opinions.

 

[StingrayMike]

Post some pics, would defiently help diagnose the issue

 

[ssobol]

Trailer bunks should extend far enough back to either be even with the transom of the boat or extend past it a little. This lets the vertical load of the transom transfer directly to the bunks. If the back of the boat hangs over, the bunks are supporting the hull on the flat part. If the bunk is aligned with a longitudinal stringer, it might be ok, but it would seem that in your case it is not. You may also not have sufficient number or wide enough bunks to distribute the load on the hull properly.

My boats never had keels touching the trailer, but I do/did have a larger number of bunks.

 

[Tnstratofam]

My 20 foot Stratos bow rider is completely supported by the bunks. The keel only touches the rollers as it is loading or unloading, and it is the factory trailer. Pics of your setup would help determine if the trailer is setup incorrectly or if it is even the correct size.

 

[MTboatguy]

Need to have pictures of how it sits on the trailer, before we can even start to help you figure what is going on. Based on your description, something is way out of wack.

 

[Maclin]

Regarding the coupler, do you have it locked so it does not try to compress as you stop? If not I recommend doing that, there should be a way to do that within the coupler mechanism.

My boats have only hit the rollers as they are coming off or going back on the trailer when launching and retrieving. I have always had bunk trailers and the hulls have not rested on the center rollers once they have slid up and onto the bunks.

 

[Blind Date]

I had a '90 Celebrity 180, which I believe is the exact same boat you have. The factory Heritage roller trailer did not support the keel. I've also heard that the majority weight should be on the keel rollers, as that is the strongest part of the hull. But you never see trailers set up that way. As already stated above, need pictures.

 

[smokeonthewater]

That "should support the keel" thing is a common misconception.

While it is true that some boats have structural keels such as many sailboats, boats such as this have most of their strength in the stringers on either side of the engine.... The keel is usually only a little stronger than the bull of the hull but the stringers are much stronger....
This boat should be supported as near to the stringers as possible and under the transom

 

[jerms234]

No Title

Sorry guys I knew you'd want pics. Here is what I could get real quick if you'd like better ones please let me know. The bunks end about 2" short of the transom on the hull I would say they sort of support the transom but could use to be longer, or the boat could use to be further forward on the trailer, one or the other.

 

[smokeonthewater]

If the transom isn't supported it isn't supported at all.

Further you need more than a 2" thick bunk under it... It should be over the steel brackets holding the bunks.

 

[ssobol]

Can't see how the transom is supported (or not) in the pictures you supplied.

As mentioned above the bunks should align with the stringers, but you don't appear to have an adjustable trailer. Everything appears to be welded in place. You may be able to add bunks by drilling and bolting.

One picture (1st one) seems to show that the bunk is not secured to the steel support. If the bunk slips you will have another hole in your boat.

It's not clear how long the bunks are in relation to the boat length. You should add at least two more bunks parallel to the ones you have now to help support the main weight of the boat. Wider ones will also help. You probably should add shorter bunks towards the front of the boat as well. My trailer has at least 6 bunks (maybe 8, can't remember) for a 22' boat.

 

[jerms234]

No Title

Ok I was wrong on the transom support measurements. The boards go to within 1" of the rear edge of the transom the support for the bunks is forward of that a few inches. Pics attached.

 

[Maclin]

Based on what I see in the first pics in post# 9 and #12, agreeing with ssobol, you have some bunk-to-bracket attachment issues that I would want addressed.

My opinion is that the rear bunk bracket is in an ok place, the bunk will spreadt the load from "behind" the bracket and in front as the stern weighs in on it as long as the wood is solid. Bunks tend to rot and fray from the ends.

 

[Maclin]

If the boat can move forward on the trailer at all then the rear would be near perfect in my opinion. Can you post a pic of the front from the side, showing the winch stand and bow setup?

 

[Bayou Dave]

She sits very high on the trailer. My boat sits only a couple of inches above the rollers. This is how mine sits.Hope these links work!

http://s166.photobucket.com/user/Da...a04-90626379c5b1_zpsqkazby4n.jpg.html?filters[user]=142247879&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0
http://s166.photobucket.com/user/Da...6d5-52df76f757b2_zpsywfqdd2k.jpg.html?filters[user]=142247879&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=1
http://s166.photobucket.com/user/Dave4164/media/Bunks_zps3ugohi0l.jpg.html?filters[user]=142247879&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=3

 

[Bayou Dave]

Looks like those links are messed up. Sorry 'bout that. I'll try another method to upload them.

 

[Bayou Dave]

This is what I was trying to show:

http://s166.photobucket.com/user/Dave4164/media/Bunks/Bunk transom_zpsslzvmae3_3.jpg.html

 

[bassman284]

Why do the rear and center cross members look like they're bent all to hell? That can't be right, can it?

 

[Bayou Dave]

Why do the rear and center cross members look like they're bent all to hell? That can't be right, can it?

That is the way the factory set it up. It allows the deep V hull to rest lower on the trailer.

 

[ssobol]

Can you post pictures of the damage you initially mentioned?