1 step foward 2 steps back!
 

Took the day off from work yesterday to celebrate my birthday by going fishing. Inevitably when I do this mother nature decides otherwise. So plan B was to change out the rollers that have been giving me issues & causing some damage to the hull.
Well I load up the truck with tools & generator
then& head off to the trailer supply to get supplies. Then off to the a quiet ramp to launch the boat & do the work. Well since the rollers haven't been rolling I've had to put the trail further into the water & float off thus causing the bow to float off to one side or the other. When I motored off for the last time I felt a suspicious thud & chalked it up to another scratch in the gelcoat. I started my work on the rollers, which went surpisingly smooth. I was able to break all the old bolts by hand & didn't need the sawz-all until later when I had to cut out the roller rods. Got everything installed & ran a line to get all rollers level, then tightened down the bolts.
Before
http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC01387.jpg http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC01388.jpg
After
http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC01390.jpg
http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC01389.jpg

Looks 100% better!
So I back the trailer down & now I will no longer need to put it in the water as far. I take advantage of the quiet ramp praticing loading & unloading. Since I mostly fish solo or have the wife & my 3y/o daughter, it's a one man show. Man what a difference the new rollers made! I will really have to be carefull not to drop her on the asphalt & keep her hooked up until ready to offload.
So I pull her out to inspect the roll heights & discover this!
http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC01394.jpg
http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC01393.jpg
http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC01392.jpg
http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC01391.jpg
http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC01396.jpg http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/DSC01395.jpg

This boat has so much senti mental value to me but I'm beginning to beleive it's going to be the death of me!

Oly has done some gelcoat work for me in the past & will be doing this repair as well but man o man this was not the way I wanted to spend my b-day! Oly suggested later getting rid of the gelcoat & going with paint. Will the paint be more durrable? Once the repairs are done should I go with a keel gaurd type product. I think some of these damages are a direct result of the boat sitting for soooo long on the trailer.

Thanks for the rant! :D

Re: 1 step foward 2 steps back!
 

imo you need 98% of the weight of your boat supported by the bunks. those rolls shouldnt have that much weight on them to case that damage....

Re: 1 step foward 2 steps back!
 

yep - adjusting the trailer is getting the boat on and slightly loosen the bunk posts - with a large hammer knock them up until they take the weight mostly off the rollers - rollers are only for loading per se

Re: 1 step foward 2 steps back!
 

What I was told is that you want the weight on the rollers & the bunks are mainly to keep the boat from tipping. I always thought it to be the way you guys are saying but the last three trailer professionals told me otherwise. I am so confused! I originally went to the trailer shop because I wanted to add foward bunks but was swayed not to. ARRRGGGGG! Time for some beer!!!!!!!!

Re: 1 step foward 2 steps back!
 

Amen brother...tip a few back....Oly will take care of you :cool:

Re: 1 step foward 2 steps back!
 

get rid of the rollers (i know you just bought them) and get v berth bunks for the front. main bunks should support almost all of the weight and the v berths basically support a small amount but line you up for straight loading. you wont regret it......