Is it true that Easy Load roller trailers ruin fiberglass boats???

[dfrants]

Many years ago a salesman at a boat dealership told me that a trailer with all rollers will damage a fiberglass boat, that’s why Ranger, Skeeter, Hydrostream, Chrckmate, etc are sold on bunk trailers. But, is it true???

 

[tpenfield]

Your question is really about roller trailers vs. bunk trailers. . . . not specific to EZ load . . .

Bunk trailers distribute load better vs. roller trailers put point loads on the boat hull. It can be a concern for some boats, but a trailer with more rollers can be sufficient. It also depends on the boat as well, thicker hulls being better.

So, a broad statement about damage is not true. It is more situational of boat and trailer.

 

[Lou C]

I would say use whatever the manufacturer advises.
I have had a roller trailer under my boat for many years with no damage. In my boating environment, a bunk trailer would be a pain due to shallow ramps. The trailer has 24 rollers and the boat weighs approximately 4100 lbs. Just had it weighed, the weight ticket was 4960. I could probably add a few more rollers, but it has been fine the way it is.
My brother had a similar size boat on a bunk trailer, and I found it to be a pain to use, even on the nice steep town ramp. Winching up the boat was a chore, the roller is much easier. Roller trailers are more common here than bunk trailers due to wide swings in water depth with the tides (approx 6').

 

[redneck joe]

Winching up the boat was a chore, the roller is much easier.

bunk slicks work

 

[tpenfield]

The bunk trailers are often referred to as "float-on" trailers, meaning that the trailer has to be deep enough to get the boat on about 90+% onto the trailer before winching. Shallow grade ramps can be challenging as @Lou C noted.

 

[Scott Danforth]

as stated prior, its not a brand of trailer, its a bunk trailer vs a roller trailer.

My current boat has had both types of trailers. a roller trailer and a bunk trailer. the bunk trailer requires less maintenance, the roller trailer is easier to load/unload on shallow ramps

However the fiberglass on the bottom of my boat is nearly 3/8" thick

if you have a cheap roller trailer with minimum rollers, each roller puts a significant amount of point loading on the hull. some roller trailers have as many as 80 rollers on them. some have as little as 8

if you have a thin hull such as a stingray or a balsa cored hull such as a hydrostream or any of the jet boats, you may want to shy away from rollers as the hulls do not do well with point loading

some really thin aluminum boats do better with bunks than rollers as point loading will dent them (like squishing a beer can)

 

[Stinnett21]

I'm guessing that dealer sold Ranger, Skeeter, Hydrostream and Checkmate lol.

 

[dingbat]

Not sure how easy it was to load a #4,800 boat, but mine sat on a 32- wobble roller (Load-Rite) trailer for 20 years w/o issues until I switched to a Drive-on trailer a couple of years ago.

The running surface on my hull are solid glass, 5/8"-3/4' thk.
Mileage will very if your hull is constructed differently

 

[redneck joe]

So this made me look at mine. Hope this is not a derail but an addition to b he thread.

Above is a pic with bunks and rollers.

My 18 foot aluminum has 16 rollers, beilive to be all factory issued.

I couls easily add bunks to the outside of the rollers. Would that work/help/impede?

Side question, i only have one keel roller and its about a third of the way back from the bow eye. Would additional jeel roller help?

 

[dfrants]

The manufacturer of the boat that I'm looking at went out of business 20 years ago, so I can't ask them what they recommend, the seller of the boat isn't the original owner, but he said that the original trailer rusted apart so it was replaced with an Easy Loader all roller trailer.

 

[tpenfield]

The manufacturer of the boat that I'm looking at went out of business 20 years ago, so I can't ask them what they recommend, the seller of the boat isn't the original owner, but he said that the original trailer rusted apart so it was replaced with an Easy Loader all roller trailer.

OK, as you look at the boat on the trailer, do you see any deformation marks from the rollers?

 

[eggs712]

I had a mid-70s 16' runabout on a roller trailer until recently. Likely original, as the rollers wore through the gelcoat and created an 1/8" divot into the hull.

This was a crappy boat with a great motor, so its only purpose was to get me by when my 'nicer' boats had issues, so I didn't care.