Can you just bend roller arms back?

gsbodine

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 4, 2004
Messages
346
Hello all. <br /><br />Well, as you can imagine things were pretty crowded this weekend on the lake. When I came back up to get my trailer from the parking lot, somebody had clipped the end, breaking a taillight and bending up one of the rear roller arms pretty good. <br /><br />We managed to get the boat back on the trailer without hassle, though the port keel now sits on the rear pair of rollers instead of inside them. When I use the boat at that ramp, I only have to tow it a few hundred yards, so it's not a big deal right yet, though I do like to go elsewhere occasionally. Fixing the light will be easy enough, but can I just bend the roller frame back, or would that weaken the structure too much? I think I could get them back more or less in the right spot with a crow bar--at least get the keel inside and not leave scuff marks on the hull, anyway.<br /><br />We're talking about a 19ft. aluminum boat. Not sure how much it weighs, though, really.<br /><br />Thanks.
 

roscoe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
21,744
Re: Can you just bend roller arms back?

Don't know if I would want to support my boat with a weakened roller bracket. But I don't know exactly how your trailer is set up.<br /><br />Roller assembly bracket has broken twice on dad's trailer. Both times, the boat dropped down onto the trailer frame and punched holes thru the hull. That tends to ruin a vacation, especially when you are 150 miles from repair facilities.
 

quantumleap

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Feb 16, 2004
Messages
813
Re: Can you just bend roller arms back?

If you're going to bend it back, heat it up with a torch during and after the bending to retain some of it's strength.
 
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