Bunk position and height

[tonynoriega]

After putting new 2x4 bunks on my trailer, I noticed that they are pretty close to the same height as the rear roller...

Should the boat rest on the bunks or on the roller?...OR if possible, both?

Also, should I tilt the forward portion bunks down, by adjusting the height of the bracket, or leave them level with the rear?

 

[ggoldy]

They're gonna need more information/pictures to be able to answer with any acuracy.

 

[SumDumGuy]

fwiw I set the rear roller lower than the bunks.

 

[Slick17]

Normally the roller is about the same or slightly lower. The bunks are there for the boat to sit on.

 

[Kismet]

I had to mess around quite a bit fixing up an old trailer I have. It came with no bunks at all. My first attempt had them slightly taller than the rear roller, but with rigid attachment. This caused me problems in getting the hull to roll up for positioning on the trailer while in the lake at the ramp. The hull would drag on the bunks.

Got better brackets and went at it again, and finally ended up installing a rear-most roller slightly taller than the bunks, which allowed the hull to roll up a bit onto the bunks.

When I pulled the boat up with the winch, the boat settled on a prow support, the two middle rollers, and the bunks. The keel was slightly above the rear roller.

This was a 14' Tin, and I'm old, so I couldn't just horse the thing up. Works fine now, but lying on my back manipulating things was NOT amusing. :?

Best wishes. Have fun.

 

[tonynoriega]

It took a little work, but I think I got it settled...

I raised the rear brackets up just about as high as they could go.

Remembering I had some old 2x6"s up there and replaced them with 2x4"s which decreased height.

Tilted the brackets inward to account for the angle of the boat and got a very nice result.

Resting on the bunks and not the roller.

 

[He Reigns]

One of my upcoming project for the 16' jet Jon is redoing my trailer. In the fall we have to launch is shallow water at times. I plan to lay the 2x4 flat and to place the axel above the springs to lower the boat about 3 1/2". We don't use rollers, we use UHMW on the skids.

 

[He Reigns]

[attachment=-1]uploadfromtaptalk1401986537062.jpg[/attachment]

This gives a idea of present height. Lowering, even a few inches makes a huge difference with low water......food for thought.

 

[flatboat]

Don't need the rollers , I'd take them off just in the way to lower bunks .like He Reigns said lower is better. spray silicone {whole can }on the carpeted bunks. When its time to launch .... DON'T UNHOOK IT .... ,put the back 2 inches of the bunks in the water . hold on to the boat , unhook it and give it a GENTILE shove . the boat will slide off with ease . ..... you can tell the onlookers "it's my dry launch method ,you should try it " ...... I saw a guy the other day back his boat so far back all of it was floating ,water was up to the floor of his car , knee deep to un hook it, only thing sticking out of the water on the trailer was the winch .Couple of us tried to explain he didn't need to go back quite so far ..... he proceded to tell us he has been launching boats for 40 years ............

 

[lovedr79]

I might try that silicone idea. my bunks are as low as I can get them and it still rides really high, heavy dang boat and the ramp angle is not that great where I launch at so I have to back way down to launch.

 

[Seon]

As mentioned, that roller isn't necessary.

I just rebuilt my trailer under a 16' Westcoaster and used starboard strips screwed on 2"x4" untreated board. As for the height, I had to place the boards high enough so that there was enough clearance between the skeg and ground because my Johnson 40hp VRO doesn't have a power tilt/trim.

 

[BigTerp]

All good advice. He Reigns is right on about as low as possible. Makes it easier to launch/retrieve your boat. I use parrafin wax on my carpeted bunks and just recently replaced my rollers with thermoplastic ones. Makes a BIG difference in ease of launching and winching back up. It was quite the hassle getting my trailer bunks and rollers set up just right, but worth the headache.

 

[Dark3]

Also they make plastic pieces that go on the top of bunks for low friction launching. Kinda in between carpet and rollers. You can get sets of them at basspro and other places