What the heck am I missing here?!?

countryboy26047

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
303
First off let me say.... GRRRRR!!!!!!! ok, so some of you may remember a little while back I posted about refinishing my bunk and roller trailer that came with the old tri-hull I got back in April... When I refinished the trailer, I did not change any adjustments on any of the rollers or bunks (other than ripping off the old rotted bunks and replacing them with new). Since I got this boat, it has always sat pretty darn high on the trailer, but it always launched/retrieved easily, using the rollers at it should...

Well, today, I guess I was either bored or just stupid... decided that I wanted to try and get the boat to ride a little lower on the trailer. Once I started taking a look at everything (boat still on trailer), I noticed that my front two rollers were 'bottomed out' on their adjustments, but the rear two were up past the cross-members by about 2".... I ALSO noticed that, someway, somehow, my bunks were bearing all of the weight of the boat, and the very rear of the keel was just kind of 'skimming' the rear roller........ explains why I had such a hard time getting the dang thing back on the trailer earlier today!! :facepalm:

So anyhow, I got out some blocks of wood, cut a U into one of them (as the rear of my keel is more U shaped than V), and proceeded to jack up the stern just enough to be able to adjust the rollers and bunks down without having the weigh of the boat on them... What I did (and could most definitely be wrong lol) was measured the space between the front two cross-members, and the tops of the roller brackets. I used these measurements (which were both exactly the same) and lowered the rear two rollers to the same height. Next, I took the difference in the previous height of the rear rollers and the new height and dropped the bunks by this amount, plus 3/4" more as, like I said, before the keel wasn't touching the rear roller.

Now to the point and my question... I have measured every possible part of the bunk set up, measured from the floor to the point on the hull where the bunks rest, and checked the boat and trailer with a level... All the measurements are EXACTLY the same, and the boat/trailer is PERFECTLY level, however all the weight of the boat is resting on the rollers, and the bunk on the right/passenger side, and just BARELY grazing the other bunk... I have been messing with this stupid thing for that last 2hrs. and cannot for the life of me figure out WHY, with the bunk heights exactly the same, would it only rest on one?? Oh yeah, also, the boat is perfectly centered on the rollers....

I wish I could get some pictures,but alas, my cell phone is a P.O.S and decided it doesn't want to work right now... but hopefully my ridiculously long description of the problem will be enough for someone to give me some ideas.... As always, Thanks in advance for any help
 

countryboy26047

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
303
Re: What the heck am I missing here?!?

Forgot one other detail ( as amazing as that may be after that novel I just wrote).. but I can rock the boat back and forth, and it sorta teeters on the keel rollers, almost as if I needed to just raise the bunks a little, but the problem here is, the front bunk brackets are slotted for up/down adjustments, however the rear brackets are not slotted, but just have square holes that are 1 7/8" apart on center.. so if I try and raise them, it's going to put me back where I was with the boat resting on the bunks instead of the rollers bearing most of the weight...
 

Mi duckdown

Commander
Joined
Apr 14, 2007
Messages
2,575
Re: What the heck am I missing here?!?

Pics would help. It should rest on the bunks. Lower the rollers or raise the bunks.
Really need Pics to help you out>????
 

foodfisher

Captain
Joined
Feb 18, 2009
Messages
3,756
Re: What the heck am I missing here?!?

After reading the novel:Dand not having a combination trailer ,I'd say the rollers are used to facilitate the loading unto the bunks which in turn should support the load/boat. If the weight is on a roller/s the small footprint of the roller/s will leave imprints.
 

countryboy26047

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
303
Re: What the heck am I missing here?!?

I finally got it figured out.. turns out, I had to raise the rear of the bunks back up, and adjust the rollers accordingly.... What caused all my anguish and headaches??.... the fact that I FORGOT about the freakin handle that is folded up under the bunk on the drivers side... the way my trailer is apparently set up to work is this:

While transporting, you pull out that handle, and crank the bunk up until both bunks are supporting most of the weight.. when you launch/retrieve, you crank the handle the opposite direction, lowering that bunk, which then places almost all the weight on the keel rollers, therefore allowing the boat to roll off the trailer... with that bunk fully lowered, there's still enough weight on the bunks that it won't just take off, but with it lowered, now when I give the bow a push when launching, it should come off MUCH easier than it was (hopefully).

Now that I actually learned how this trailer is SUPPOSED to work, I actually despise it due to the fact of that one extra step.. not so much when launching, but just that it's just another thing to remember after we retrieve the boat.... raise that bunk back up, or drive home with a boat that's leaning drastically to the left...
 

foodfisher

Captain
Joined
Feb 18, 2009
Messages
3,756
Re: What the heck am I missing here?!?

Or just leave the bunk up when retrieving and watch your muscles grow.:rolleyes:
 

royal0014

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 6, 2010
Messages
874
Re: What the heck am I missing here?!?

Didn't Daddy ever tell you, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
:D


<<)))(((>>
 

hungupthespikes

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Sep 25, 2009
Messages
814
Re: What the heck am I missing here?!?

Be careful if you "measured from the floor to the point on the hull" , not a good idea. Most floors have a pitch for water to run off, maybe not much but enough to mess up your numbers. Found a couple pieces of some square tubing, C-clamped across the bottom of the trailer worked.

:facepalm:
huts
 

countryboy26047

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
303
Re: What the heck am I missing here?!?

Funny that you mention that, as I did just that at first lol. Once I stood back and stared evil-eyed at the trailer for a minute, I thought to myself "You dummy, you can't measure that way!" I ended up measuring from the frame cross-members to the hull, being careful to measure at the same exact spot on either side.
 

loose rivet

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
Messages
151
Re: What the heck am I missing here?!?

Normally when I'm fitting a boat to a new bunk and keel roller type trailer I'll set the rear roller as low as it can be, measure and set the forward most roller to where I think it will end up being then lower the boat down till it rests on the rear roller, level with the trailer.
Then I bring all the keel rollers up to contact the boat. Then I raise the bunks snugly up against the hull. If the bunk brackets aren't adjustable, I usually make them adjustable or swap them out for those that are.

Without pics, I can't say I can picture you set up with a handle to raise and lower the bunks though.
 
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