Going to start redoing my trailer.

[baseball_guy_99]

Hunting season is just about over and I have about a 2month gap before I start fishing. So I would like to redo my trailer.

I plan to do away with the rollers and replace them with carpeted bunks, whack off the side bars and replace them with side bunks, put carpet on the mine belt up front, and repaint the whole thing using bed-liner.


If anyone has any questions or comments feel free to ask. I will add pics as I go.

 

[KRS62]

I hope to be doing the same thing soon. I will be watching your post to see how it goes. What kind of bed liner do you plan on using. Something store bought or do you plan on taking it somewhere? Are you going to sandblast it first?

KRS

 

[richg99]

One difference between rollers and carpeted bunks can be additional difficulty in getting the boat on or off of the trailer.

A solution to that is to put PVC / Plastic "slick strips" on over the carpeting...or even in place of the carpeting.

On a couple of boats, I've cut up 4 x 8 PVC garden lattice and countersunk bolts to hold the strips on to my carpeted bunks. It is not always necessary. I have not put strips on my trailer yet. ( 160W Lowe ). Just an FYI.
regards, Rich

 

[baseball_guy_99]

The main reason I want to replace the rollers is because of how expensive the rollers are. $4 apiece for the rollers and I know most of the bars that go through them are bad so those are $6 apiece. That's $10 per roller... so thats about $200 bucks just for the rollers.

 

[baseball_guy_99]

Here are a few picks of the side bars now. The reason i want to replace them with side bunks is because everytime you trailer the boat the side of the boat gets scratched because of how narrow the bars are (pics included)

 

[KRS62]

I've got side bunks as well as the guide poles. All the ramps in my area make the guide poles almost a necessity. I have 2 or 3 inch aluminum tubing welded in a 90 with PVC over it. Once recently broke, so I had a welder put it back together and put a very small angle piece on there as well. It's kind of like yours, but about 6 inches long.

KRS

 

[richg99]

I added ONLY guide poles. Now, the boat centers herself when I drive on. Also, backing up is enhanced since the poles stick up high enough to see... even when the boat is off of the trailer. I couldn't be happier. No scratches to the sides anymore, either.

I was extremely lucky in that the trailer already had steel walking areas near the stern. All that I had to do was bolt 3/4 inch galvanized pipe flanges on each side. Then, I screwed a 3/4 inch galvanized pipe into each flange.

The pipes were about 30 inches long. I dropped five foot high ( or maybe four foot high) 2 inch PVC tubes over the galvanized pipe. The PVC rotates freely around the pipe, so no friction is present.

I added caps and was sure to drill big holes into either side of the caps. If you don't give air a place to escape, when you back the boat down a steep ramp, the PVC will rise up (due to air pressure) and float off of the trailer.

Please don't ask how I learned about this issue...Ha ha regards, Rich

 

[KRS62]

Here's a shot of my guide poles and side bunks. In my situation, the side bunks NEVER help with loading the boat in the water. They are always too deep under water. The guide poles help more, but I have also had to re-back in from time when the boat has sat on top of a side bunk.

KRS

 

[richg99]

This " new to me " trailer has extra carpeted bunks, forming a V INSIDE of the regular bunks. Those "V" bunks straighten my semi-V boat out so well that I hit the four inch wide front stop EVERY time!

Even in some serious side wind situations..this is the best launching/recovering trailer/boat combo that I've ever had. That includes about 15 or more trailered boats! Rich

 

[DBrooke]

One difference between rollers and carpeted bunks can be additional difficulty in getting the boat on or off of the trailer.

A solution to that is to put PVC / Plastic "slick strips" on over the carpeting...or even in place of the carpeting.

On a couple of boats, I've cut up 4 x 8 PVC garden lattice and countersunk bolts to hold the strips on to my carpeted bunks. It is not always necessary. I have not put strips on my trailer yet. ( 160W Lowe ). Just an FYI.
regards, Rich

Those strips are nice, but keep in mind everywhere I've read specified "not for use with riveted boats"
One good thing about bunks instead of rollers is in most cases you can unhook the boat from the winch and not worry about the boat rolling off the trailer :lol:

 

[richg99]

Hmmm never heard the caution about riveted boats...but, I never had a riveted boat, either. Thanks for adding that bit of knowledge. Rich

 

[DBrooke]

I forget the exact reason, maybe the rivets hang on the sticks and tear out of the hull, or uneven pressure? Here is a quote I pulled from the product description...
"Launch & load your boat with the greatest of ease by installing some TACO Marine Trailer Glyde Sliks on your trailer. Glyde Sliks mount right on your carpeted bunk boards. All kits include stainless steel screws and instructions. They are economical, injection molded with special anti-friction and UV inhibiting additives, and they have a 3-year replacement guarantee against breakage. Color: White. 1.5" W x 24" L.

Not recommended for aluminum boats with riveted hulls.

Note: If boat is over 2000 lbs., order 2 sets to install side by side (6 pieces on each side)."

 

[baseball_guy_99]

Got the roller bunks off and started wire wheeling away. Tested the primer on the front and it seems to be fine. It's a rustoleum filler primer.

Now I just need to get some bunk supports and then work on the side bunks.

Here are a few pics I snapped while workin on it.

 

[ENIRB]

I just acquired a replacement trailer... looks oddly similar to yours.
Do you have any information on the trailer? (make/weight capacity)
I need to do minor adjustments, but it fits my 14' V-hull perfectly.

 

[ENIRB]

Here's a picture...

 

[baseball_guy_99]

It's a 1973 Holesclaw...I'm not sure about the weight/capacity. It fits my 14/48 very well though (except for the bars on the side)

 

[baseball_guy_99]

Well I got the floor of the boat to where I want it for now so I can get back to working on the trailer. I bought replacement rollers for the middle rollers and started removing the old ones. Some of them were a pain in the @$$! I'm still working on trying to get the back 2 off (I ran out of PB Blaster so I have to get some more)

 

[baseball_guy_99]

Well I am going to have to move on to the angle grinder and or cut off torch. Some of the bolts are being too stubborn for the impact wrench.

So I shot some more primer and did a some paint on the front half of the trailer for the heck of it. I'm using the Rustoleum "Hammered" spray paint in black. I chose this because we had a can of it that was marked down to $2 so it bought to try it out. I'm really pleased with how it is turning out so I think I'll do the whole trailer in this paint.

 

[rusty.hook]

This is the way I fixed mine for loading, side guide bunks and lights out of the water.

 

[baseball_guy_99]

So in order to save some money (which I don't have much of haha) I just decided to cut the side supports down about 6". That will keep from scratching the side of the boat up and will just replace the 2 rollers. I got the whole trailer primed and about 75% of it painted.

I ordered the bunk supports the other day off ebay. So I'm expecting them in any time now. I made my bunks and I think they turned out well.