trailer evaluation

[adaptolife]

I bought my 93 Aquasport Osprey 200 3 months ago. Previous boats were 14-16' aluminum vhulls. Put 14" tires on the trailer, and thats about it. Got to take her out 4 times, and all times the boat launched fine, but loading was a PITA. Even though there are drive-on guides, the trailer did not seem to center the boat at all. Got to looking at rollers and bow stop position, and it needs some work.

The trailer has guides, 2 bunks, 3 keel rollers, and the V bow stop.


The bow stop needs to be replaced with something that wont leave black marks. Shouldn"t the boat eye be up against the bow stop?


The front 7" keel roller is split, and is several inches away from the hull. Going to replace it, but not sure about final adjustment.


There is a 12" roller midway back, with a few inches between it and the hull. Will replace, but I think location is fixed.


This pic shows the rear keel roller and bunks. Will replace roller.


She is sitting a few inches off center. The guides are in great shape, but there is about 6" between guides and rub rails, and they should be tight to the rub rails. They are adjusted in as far as possible with current setup. Need to relocate guide mount to allow adjustment, unless the guides can be bent inward without breaking them.


The jack and chains will be replaced.

Also replacing wiring.

So, thats my plan. I am hoping that properly adjustment of guides and rollers will improve trailer loading.

[seabob4]

Your bow block to bow eye is fine, nothing says the bow eye has to be hard up against the bow block...you just don't want it far away, know what I mean?  The keel rollers simply keep the keel from scraping the trailer cross members when loading, once she hits the bunks, she'll be off the rollers.  Just replace them and maybe the roller pins, so they actually rotate.

The guide-ons?  move them in so they are a couple inches away from the rubrail when the boat is centered.  You don't want them hard on the rubrail.

Where do your bunks end in relation to the transom?

[wingtime]

I was told the bow eye should be right against the bottom of the bow bumper.  As it sits now if you stop quick the bow can ride up and even jump over the bow stop.  I have found it is best if the guides are either almost touching or even preloaded against the rub rail.  That way it will force the boat to center on the trailer.

[Circle Hooked]

IMO lower that winch a few inches until your winch strap is level with the eye not pulling up on it, that would be the proper fit and it will winch up easier

I have found it is best if the guides are either almost touching or even preloaded against the rub rail. That way it will force the boat to center on the trailer.

I agree, to much room for slop other wise

Do you drive the boat on or winch it up ? if you drive it on that V guide you have isn't really designed for that.

Either way, I built this for about 20 bucks and my boat always goes on straight, you can buy these but if you have a saw and a drill it's easy to make your own, hit me up on the abc site if you have questions about it.

[adaptolife]

I drive the boat onto the trailer. What would the function of the pvc V guides if not to guide boat while driving on?

[Capt. Bob]

What would the function of the pvc V guides if not to guide boat while driving on?

That is the function.
How well it works depends on certain things but I found mine works fine. They again are not meant to support the hull but rather help with alignment. I have yet another roller forward of the guide that the keel rests on once winched in place. As WT stated, lower your winch to allow the bow eye to align just below that "v-block".

Also, it appears that you have some additional strap attached to the bow eye and the winch stand. You would be better served if that strap were attached to the trailer frame itself exerting force downward. This (along with some type of forward keel support) will go a long way in keeping the boat centered on/attached to, the trailer while driving.

Lastly, a polyurethane roller would help with the black marks, assuming you can fit it in place of the v block.

Good luck.

[Bergertime]

Adaptolife-

I am still a newbie at all this but I had a similar problem with my 245 Osprey when loading her on the trailer.  Now that I have had her a year I load and go like it's my job.  Here are a couple things that helped me...

1) Experiment with how deep you drop your trailer in at the ramps you use.  Water level and ramp angle can influence this but I have found that if I back my trailer in just so that I see the tips of the bunks it's the right depth for me.  This helps step two.  Goes without saying your rig will differ.

2) I could never get her on straight driving her up all the way on the bunks so now I just driver her up just enough to poke the bow onto the bunks to keep her locked in place.  I climb down and winch her up ensuring that she rides on straight by making adjustments as necessary to ensure bow meets the roller center.  I have found that the boat almost always centers itself when I winch it on only needing minor adjustments.  I purchased a two speed Fulton winch (F2) and I can do this in a minute or less usually.  Now the downside is have to perform some gymnastics getting down to the trailer and usually have to get my feet wet but down here not a huge deal.

Along with the other suggestions the upgrades you mentioned are a good idea.  Those black rollers and wedge will inevitably start leaving ugly black streaks if they are not already doing so.  I invested in some good Stolz rollers (can be pricey) but they are over a year old, get used weekly and still look brand new.

PS.  Link to Stolz stuff at Worst.  I would shop around...   http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... sNum=50816

Hope this helps..

B

[adaptolife]

Seabob, the bunks are 8.5', and end 3.5" from transom edge.

[Georgie]

I'm a bit late to the party, but the one thing that seems most obvious to me is your bunk height vs. keel roller alignment.  Right now, the bunks touch the hull approximately 6 or more inches inboard of your chines and hold the boat so high that your keel rollers are useless.  If you move the bunks outboard a few inches each, you'll accomplish a few things: 1) widening the bunks will drop the overall boat hight and help the keel engage the keel rollers when loading, 2) the bunks will be closer to the chines which are MUCH stronger and less likely to deform under load, and 3) the wider bunk base will be more laterally stable for the boat during any unanticipated maneuvering if your strap failed.  I would NOT try to raise the keel rollers to match the existing boat hight b/c the keel rollers become much weaker when raised, and it also looks like your forward keel roller would need to come up so high that you would render your V-guide useless, and might even run into a situation where the keel gets trapped in the gap between the roller and one arm of the V-guide.  The only reason you may not be able to do this is if lowering the hull results in a conflict with the fenders (and from what I can tell the clearance does look tight).

Ultimately, to perfect the load, you want your bunks supporting the hull JUST inside the chines, and keel rollers should just kiss the bottom of the keel when she's sitting perfectly.  The keel rollers should NOT carry any of the weight of the boat.

That said, I also agree that the bow support should be changed to Poly and lowered a few inches so that the bow eye sits right below the poly cushion when the boat is fully loaded on the trailer.

The PVC trailer guide-ons are intended to help keep the bow aligned near the center of the trailer when first approaching the ramp, but only proper alignment of bunks and rollers will make her center properly each time.

Let me know if any of the things I mentioned will result in conflicts.

Good Luck!  

[adaptolife]

Wow. Looks pretty ugly up close. The hull seems to be guided by the V guide u-bolt. The keel should be on this roller. I dont think I can lower the hull on the bunks unless I raise the axle and fenders. Only have an inch clearance on top of fenders. The keel must be contacting a keel roller on loading though. Nice black streak on keel. I'll try to get the boat straight on trailer and take pics of bunk position. I'm thinking, though, that repplacing rollers, adjusting winch position, and adjusting front keel support roller so it supports the keel will put me where I need to be (other than practice). Looking at a $79 jack from Overtons thats #2500 cap with a foot, and has a leg that slides out and held with a pin.

 

[Circle Hooked]

I drive the boat onto the trailer. What would the function of the pvc V guides if not to guide boat while driving on?

It's to guide it on sure, but by floating the boat on or pulling it up by winch, not by driving it on, big difference in force and speed between the methods which is JUST A PART of the reason you are hitting the bolt when you load.

The V block assembly on this page is a true drive on guide http://www.rollsaxle.com/parts.htm and other companys make them.

As with all posts on this or any forum, we all THINK we're experts and have our opinions, including me   (and you know the saying about opinions)   so take it all in and do what make sense to you and I'm sure you'll come out fine  

[Capt. Bob]

If the roller directly behind the u-bolt is the correct size and height, you should not impact the bolt, either driving or floating.

Is that roller mount adjustable?

Mine does not have a roller but rather a pad between the guides to protect the keel. When properly loaded, the keel does not rest on that pad but rather the forward roller.



I have no keel rollers astern of the guide, just urethane plates to protect the keel if necessary.
My bunks are fairly close to being over the stringers on each side.

[gman 82 aquasport]

An easy fix for your guides would be get a piece of galvanized pipe that fits inside your pvc ones and use stainless screws to attach them ,get 2 per side u-bolts that will go around the pipe and up and around the rear cross member, allowing you to move them in and out, leave an inch or so for a little play and that should help with the alignment when loading
Your front roller looks like it might be adjustable(didn't see any welds) if so get you a new non-marking roller and raise it just so as the bow loads up to it, it keeps the keel off the bolt on the pvc v-guide, but doesn't let the keel rest on it after it's all the loaded..just my .02...Play with it some and like others have said the more you load it the more easy it becomes

[flounderpounder225]

IMO, get rid of those keel rollers, their as useless as you know what on a boar hog... mine were always getting trashed, and when they break down and the shaft is exposed under the weight of the boat, they tear your keel up.  Put a set of long 2x6 carpeted up the center for your keel to guide up and on when driving on.  This was the best thing I did to my trailer, my big Osprey drives up on it, and centers every time.  Here are some pics from my conversion viewtopic.php?f=11&t=10701&start=15

[Bergertime]

Marc.. just went back to that thread you linked to and saw my thumb!  Wow.. some painful memories there for sure!  That hurt like a biotch  

B