New trailer suggestions for my 20' (Seafari)?

[JUST JOHN]

Hi all, so my 1991 single-axle Magic Roller trailer is getting a little long in the tooth, and on Saturday I snapped the cable upon reload on our first boating day of the year. I'd like to know your suggestions for a new replacement for my 20' Seafari. A search showed some hits for Owens and Sons. I'm in NY if that affects my shopping options...

I'm fine staying with a single axle due to less maintenance, price, and maneuverability, but can be persuaded into a duel axle also... We do currently trailer the boat (for at least the next 3 years...) Typical trip to the ramp is 15 miles each way, with mixed highway/local roads, and I do carry trailer roadside coverage in case of emergencies.

Any recommendations, suggestions, etc? Bunk vs. rollers? I've used a roller trailer my entire life and I'm a little concerned about bunks having me dip my trailer/vehicle deeper to load/unload. My home ramp is a gentle slope, and another ramp I use occasionally has a drop-off that I'd need to stay clear of (with a single axle).

The "alignment feature" of bunks is a desirable characteristic, since my SeaCraft is ALWAYS crooked on the damn roller trailer (weight of oil tank and battery on starboard side maybe?)!

What trailers fit the 20' SeaCraft hull the best? Ideally I'd purchase something set up already as life has never been crazier.

[SailorChlud]

I'd say stick with roller trailer and single axle. As for adjustment off the bat, your dealer should be able to get you close, but you might have to move the rollers a few inches either way after you see how the boat recovers the first time out. I have a 5Starr that has been good with a torsion axle.

[Capt Terry]

Originally Posted by SailorChlud

I'd say stick with roller trailer and single axle.

John- There are lots of opinions on trailers and all are appropriate per the individual user. I still love my aluminum, tandem axle, bunk trailer with a winch which I bought in '78. I also have roadside assistance, but for a flat, mine is easily replaceable and quicker with the good tire on blocks of wood, than waiting for assistance. But if you, like Bushwacker (search his remarks), don't like to dunk your trailer, go with the roller. Good luck!

[JUST JOHN]

Thanks for the input guys! Great to hear from you both! I don't mind dunking the trailer; wheels are typically fully submerged... it's the (new) tow vehicle I want kept on dry land! I called Owen's & Son and spoke to Jeff... only negative/unknown is shipping from FL to NY. I will try local dealers also, but in the mean time I've orders a new 7/32" winch cable, Yates V-stop, and repaired the old cable (cut shorter and swaged a new sleeve and thimble on). Maybe I'll start replacing some rusty bits because money is just going out like crazy now... The weather forecast is crap for this holiday weekend up here :'(

[steel686]

I bought an Owens and Sons and couldn’t be happier with it. It was a single axle and ended up being cheaper with trucking to MA than a big name brand. Great people to deal with. PM me and I can give you the shipper I used.

[JUST JOHN]

Originally Posted by steel686

I bought an Owens and Sons and couldn’t be happier with it. It was a single axle and ended up being cheaper with trucking to MA than a big name brand. Great people to deal with. PM me and I can give you the shipper I used.

PM'd!

I'm starting to consider maybe converting my roller trailer to bunks, replace the leaf springs and some ugly hardware...Haven't yet made any calls to local dealers...

[Bushwacker]

Originally Posted by JUST JOHN

PM'd!
I'm starting to consider maybe converting my roller trailer to bunks, replace the leaf springs and some ugly hardware...Haven't yet made any calls to local dealers...

I would NEVER convert a roller trailer to bunks!! You might want to check out the EZ-Loader roller system - their nylon bushings rolling on aluminum shafts require no lubrication, so basically maintenance free. The only complaint I had with mine is that the black rubber rollers left black marks on the hull. Changing to the yellow polyurethane rollers fixed that problem. The only other issue is that because the roller system has so many degrees of freedom, if your boat doesn’t sit level in the water, it will come on the trailer the same way! Took a while to get my boat properly balanced, but once I did that, and adjusted the rollers so that they ran right along the sides of the vertical steps on the center panel, I found that I could retrieve the boat single handedly in virtually any cross wind or cross current condition with no problems. It came on the trailer straight and level every time. Retrieval speed with a power winch might be a little slower than a float on trailer, but you have to balance that vs the time spent maintaining springs, brakes and lights on a trailer that you have to dunk! (I did add a couple of keel rollers on both sides of aft cross member, but found that I could always launch and retrieve my Seafari with only getting the tires wet; never got the axle or springs wet on my 6M single axle EZ Loader. Bought it I in 1985 and when I sold it in 2017; the only major maintenance I had done to it in 32 years was replace the rear X-member a couple years before I sold it.)

One note of caution related to the EZ Loader trailer is that there is so little friction in the roller system that you will need to use the brake feature on a power (or manual) winch when launching the boat, or it can come off the trailer so fast that the bottom of transom can hit concrete if launching at a shallow ramp! Personally I liked having the capability of being able to launch the boat by my self at virtually any ramp; I felt like I could have even launched the boat in my front yard if necessary! But that means the boat must be well secured on the trailer when towing. You can’t depend on friction from bunks to keep it in place when towing!

[JUST JOHN]

Thank you for your always-insightful post replies Denny! I'm glad you still stay active on the forum! We are all lucky beneficiaries of your continued participation! Hope all is well with you and yours, and the new rig.

I do like my roller trailer. Mine does have a lot of friction. I could not manually push the boat aft to replace the Y-block stop yesterday in the driveway. Also, I have 43 years worth of bottom paint on my SeaCraft so not sure how well it would slide on bunks... I would need plastic-topped front bunks I'm told. My takeaway is I should lube (replace!?) my rollers...

My black rubber (yates?) wheels do mar the hull after the slim occurrence that they touch the gelcoat above the black bottom paint. I'll look into the yellow polyurethane rollers if I end up refreshing my trailer, which is likely.

One idiosyncrasy of my trailer occurs when I dunk it too far. In the past, the starboard rear roller floats and can "kicks up" on end. I learned what not to do, and also affixed a rubber block to limit it's travel, so it doesn't happen much anymore. Also, I edited my above post to include the likely reason why my boat is always mounted skewed to port on the trailer... I'm sure it's due to the weight of oil tank and battery on the starboard side (duh!). I never thought of it until you mentioned balance!

[Bushwacker]

Hi John, I’ve included some thoughts/comments in bold type below.

Originally Posted by JUST JOHN

. . . I do like my roller trailer. Mine does have a lot of friction. I could not manually push the boat aft to replace the Y-block stop yesterday in the driveway. Also, I have 43 years worth of bottom paint on my SeaCraft so not sure how well it would slide on bunks... I would need plastic-topped front bunks I'm told. My takeaway is I should lube (replace!?) my rollers... Yes, with EZ Loader rollers AND axles! (Check out the parts on the EL web site or examine one of their trailers.) Your rollers may have flat-spotted. The ribs on the EZ Loader rollers limit the amount of flat-spotting and allow them to roll even if a couple of ribs are mashed flat. The yellow urethane rollers have lower ribs but are much harder and don’t seem to flat spot at all. I believe I drilled out the bores on some early urethane rollers and installed the plastic bushings from the EL rollers, but I think they now make them with hard plastic hubs to fit the EL axles so you don’t have to use the bushings; that setup on the large (~1”) diameter aluminum EL axles (which have 1/2” flats on the front and back sides that seem to reduce roller contact & drag) was nearly frictionless and did not require any lube! These little details are why the EL rollers seem to work so much better than conventional rollers on round steel shafts. My trailer had 2 racks with a total of 8 rollers supporting the front half of the boat and 2 racks with a total of 16 rollers mounted to the rear cross member, which was attached to the side rails with a couple of bolts that allowed the entire assembly to pivot. When launching, the bow would rotate up about 30 degrees when the CG passed over the rear cross member, and that’s when you needed the brake on the winch!

One idiosyncrasy of my trailer occurs when I dunk it too far. How far you back the trailer in is real important! If you back it in too far, the rollers don’t have a chance to guide the boat on the trailer. I installed a couple of urethane keel rollers on both sides of the aft cross member to start guiding the boat up on the trailer. (The SeaCraft hull is so deep forward that when you first start pulling boat on trailer, the keel will will hit aft cross member before the gang of small rollers make contact!) I backed trailer in so that the keel roller was just below the bow eye on the boat. (That would just barely get the tires wet on most ramps; the springs, axle and most of the rims were clear of the water.) That roller kept the boat centered on the trailer until the rollers on the rack engaged with the vertical steps on the hull, continuing to guide it straight on to the trailer. When the CG crossed over rear cross member, the bow would drop down on the front bank of rollers, which were also aligned with the vertical steps, and that continued to guide the boat straight on the rest of the way up the trailer. In the past, the starboard rear roller floats and can "kicks up" on end. I learned what not to do, and also affixed a rubber block to limit it's travel, so it doesn't happen much anymore. Also, I edited my above post to include the likely reason why my boat is always mounted skewed to port on the trailer...it's due to the weight of oil tank and battery on the starboard side (duh!). I never thought of it until you mentioned balance!

[bumpdraft]

The last trailer I had with a winch. I think it was about 1972 or 73.