First time Trailer question

[zgarbuz]

First time posting here. I recently bought a 19' searay seville bowrider with a trailer. I have 2 questions which I hope someone can help with.

1). The center of the boat sits above the rollers as shown in the photo. Is that normal or do I have to adjust the rollers & bunks?

2). The winch assembly looks funny to me but I can't put my finger on it. Do I need to adjust that in any way.

Thanks everyone.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: First time Trailer question

1) SHould be ok, those rollers are to help during loading, not supposed to touch when the boat is fully on the bunks. Kind of odd to have them on a bowrider trailer.
2) What a cobbled mess - looks like someone tried to jimmy rig the bow stop. I'd make good and sure that thing is stable and doesn't move around. If it were my trailer I'd replace the whole mess up there with a one piece.

Judging by #2 I'd check over the whole trailer really well, no telling what else the previous owner might have done. I'd also make sure the trailer is rated for the load. Looking at the fenders on it, that trailer is a lot older than the boat sitting on it and did not come with the boat.

 

[zgarbuz]

Re: First time Trailer question

Thank you. The previous owner had it up at the lake for the past ~7years and didn't use it on the road.

Do you have a photo or a link showing a proper setup? Also, should the trailer be as long as the boat or can it be ~1.5' shorter?

 

[oldjeep]

Re: First time Trailer question

THis is just a random picture from the internet, but is more like what you would normally see on a bowrider trailer. Usually you would want the back of the bunks to be even with the transom, 1.5" might not be a big deal

 

[gozierdt]

Re: First time Trailer question

Those are adjustable bunks, I'd lower them until at least part of the boat weight was resting on the rollers. Use three car jacks, one under the keel in front, other two at the rear corners. Use pieces of 2x4 on top of the jacks to distribute the pressure. measure how far down you want to lower the boat, then lift it up just a little, lower the bunks, and let it down slowly- a little at a time on each jack.
EDIT- I went back and looked at the first pic again. Maybe the PO raised the boat up because it was too close, or hitting, the fenders when the boat is on the keel rollers. As you do your measurements, make sure you measure clearances to the fenders.

The bow stop/winch looks to me like a PO raised up the winch and bow stop so that the winch pulls up on the bow as the boat comes home on the trailer. I'd rather have the bow stop below the eye on the bow of the boat. But a lot of people don't like that because the bow eye can hang up on one or both of the rollers- especially on a steep ramp where the boat is at a high angle relative to the bunks, so the bow is lower than it will be as the boat settles down on the bunks. It can be a pain. I think he raised the bow stop up to eliminate that problem. I don't like attaching the bow stop that high because it can create a lot of torque on the tongue if the boat sways as you travel. But if you get it settled down well on the bunks and keel rollers, any swaying should be minimized. So it's not a big problem in my eyes.

I would do some patch work on that damage to the keel you can see in the first picture. All the gelcoat is gone, and the fiberglass roving is exposed. You don't want water to start to penetrate the glass, which it will do if you don't get a correct patch done. If the fiberglass isn't damaged (can't see enough detail in the pic to see if it is or not), you'll need to grind it out and replace with some new glass. If it's just the gelcoat that's gone, you can use some MarineTex to cover and seal the area.

 

[superbenk]

Re: First time Trailer question

I'd rather have the bow stop below the eye on the bow of the boat. But a lot of people don't like that because the bow eye can hang up on one or both of the rollers-

That seems like a bad idea. In the event you make a quick stop and the boat tries to surge forward all you have is the winch spool itself to hold the strap down while the bow eye tries to yank the strap up & forward. When the rollers are above the eye, the bow has to pull the strap straight back & then up around the roller which is a less advantageous angle (from a moving boat perspective) thus making it more likely to stop the boat from flying forward.

I think the OP's winch/strap & bow eye are all in the proper positions (roughly), but I agree that bow post looks pretty ghetto. I think the rollers on his bow are riding too high & I think that bow post would be weak in the event of a sudden stop & might snap off. So just because everything appears to be in the right place relatively speaking, I think the OP needs to seriously evaluate the quality & state of that bow post.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: First time Trailer question

Those are adjustable bunks, I'd lower them until at least part of the boat weight was resting on the rollers. EDIT- I went back and looked at the first pic again. Maybe the PO raised the boat up because it was too close, or hitting, the fenders when the boat is on the keel rollers. As you do your measurements, make sure you measure clearances to the fenders.

I agree with this and will add that any time there are keel rollers on a trailer that they should be making contact with the boat otherwise there is no point in them even being on the trailer. A single guild roller at the very end of the trailer is a different issue and is there for just that purpose.

 

[fat fanny]

Re: First time Trailer question

The boweye should be pulled up against the roller tight or you will know it as soon as you make a quick stop this also helps the stability of the boat on the trailer also make sure you are sittin on the trailer square in relation to the bunks. The post for your winch needs to be at more of an angle to add stability and lowered so it's just above the boweye. If it were me I would re-fabrcate a ne set up out of a pc, of 4" square tube and be done with it.

 

[partskenn]

Re: First time Trailer question

I second the comment on the keel repair. You don't want that bare fibreglass exposed like that, it will only get more expensive ( or time consuming), if it's ignored.

 

[zgarbuz]

Re: First time Trailer question

Wow, thanks everybody for all the advice. I'll check the boat clearances tonight.

If I move the whole bowstop/winch assembly toward the hitch, would that affect the stability of the trailer?

Also, how do I do the fiberglass repair on the keel? Does anyone have a good resource for this?

 

[gozierdt]

Re: First time Trailer question

West System has a good manual for repairs on fiberglass. What you want is on page 5.

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/assets/HowTo-Publications/Fiberglass-Boat-Repair-and-Maintenance.pdf

The main question is do you see fracturing of the glass fibers imbedded in the resin when you look closely at the crack?
If you do, you should really grind those away and put some glass back in it's place. But that means you need to grind out
8x wider than the current damage to allow adequate strength. If you don't see the fibers damaged, you can use a number
of epoxy or polyester "fix-a-dent" kinds of materials. One I really like is Marine-Tex. It's a filled epoxy, so it has good
abrasion strength, and has a high viscosity so it won't drip out of an upside-down repair like you'll have on the keel.

If you search through the "Restoration" section of this forum- further down the page- you'll find many threads on similar
repairs. Here's one I found searching on "keel repair" that looks similar to yours.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=474600&highlight=cracked+keel

 

[zgarbuz]

Re: First time Trailer question

Thank you. About this Marine-Tex, is that a finish product? What I mean is that I'll be applying it on the bottom, so I'm assuming it will drip/run. So would I have to sand it down? Or apply something over it to make it smooth?

 

[gozierdt]

Re: First time Trailer question

MarineTex is a high viscosity epoxy. Think "soft butter", or "sticky oatmeal". You can apply it upside down and it won't run. Mix per directions and apply with a putty knife (after prepping the damage area per the West System booklet). Apply a little above the existing hull surface, but as close as you can get it. after it cures, sand it down to match the hull profile. If you need to take off quite a bit, start with 80 or 100 grit. Then as you get close, go through 120,150, 180, 220, 320 grits. Since it's on the bottom of the hull, you don't need a completely shiny surface, and even if the MarineTex is whiter than the hull, it won't be very noticible. If you want to get fancy, you can buy tinting colors to get closer to the hull color. It also does not need any other surfacing material over it, it is waterproof. If you have any other gouges in the hull, it's really easy to hit them with 100 grit paper, then fill the gouge with a little marinetex, and a light sanding afterwards.

 

[NYBo]

Re: First time Trailer question

The bow eye should end up between the two rollers, and snug up to the top roller when the winch strap is cinched tight. Obviously, that means the strap has to run between the rollers. You're going to have to lower the assembly.

 

[emoney]

Re: First time Trailer question

Looks to me like the top part of the roller/winch needs to be lowered and it then maybe moved "toward" the boat, if anything. It's together right, just a little to "tall".