Roller Trailer conversion

[bashr52]

The rollers on the trailer for my 21" center console is in bad shape. Most of them are rusted/cracked and some are falling apart already. There are 64 rollers on they two tilting sections. To replace all the rollers and get the trailer back into prime condition, it's going to be over $500.

Has anyone ever converted their roller trailer to bunks or a float-on style? I'd have to split the bunks to basically have 2 tilting sections.

 

[MTboatguy]

Actually there have been quite a few threads on doing exactly this over the years.

https://forums.iboats.com/forum/gen...142-roller-trailer-to-bunk-trailer-conversion

https://forums.iboats.com/forum/gen...er-to-bunk-conversion-of-my-gavanized-trailer

 

[Chris1956]

Have you looked for a wholesale place for replacement rollers and hardware?

When the washers and retainers went bad on my trailer, I found that standard SAE galvanized washers (very cheap) and 10D galv common nails were an adequate replacement.

You will need to hunt around for the rollers. You might try the trailer store in Delaware ("Northeast" something). They are not wholesale, but are cheaper.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Better off with the roller setup, just did one and the rollers were $13.00 and the hardware kit about $2.00 .Have the same 64 trailer and have not replaced and rollers yet. The trick is to keep them well lubricated so they do roll.
Motorcycle chain spray grease is a nice product.

 

[MTboatguy]

There are rollers all over the big auction website, that is where I buy them when needed, the last couple of them I got for my trailer I got 2 of them for $20 shipped to me, so $10 each.

 

[bashr52]

The cheapest I have found so far is around $35 for a set of 4 (with all the hardware). That puts me at $560 to do them all. They are all in bad shape. The person who had the trailer before me did not take care of it at all. I have replaced the worst of the with some used spares that came in the boat, but even they were in bad shape. The issue is they are cheap rollers, they have a washer pressed in each end that rusts out and fails, the whole length of the roller is not in contact with the shafts. Now that I have moved to VA and the trailer is exposed to salt water, it is not helping the overall poor condition. I do spray off/wash the trailer after each trip, but the majority of the damage has already been done to them.

I'm thinking some synthetic boards on the pivoting sections with teflon skids would be a lot cheaper.

 

[Chris1956]

Bunk trailers put a lot of friction on the hull, compared with roller trailers. It is best to float the boat onto the trailer. That usually means a flat ramp. Do you have such a ramp?

 

[JimS123]

Sounds like you got a good deal on the parts. I just paid $2100.00 to convert a bunk trailer to rollers. If you have a good fun time now launching and retrieving your boat, and are enjoying memorable boating times with your family, the few bucks you need to spend now to fix the trailer are chump change. Maintain the new rig and you'll have many years ahead of you.

 

[MTboatguy]

I would not trade my roller trailer, it works great for many of the ramps we have around here.