New trailer, some questions on setup

[Wave34]

I bought a new trailer last fall just before winterizing my boat, so I didn't have time to test it, I only pulled the boat out of the water once.

My first question is about the height of the boat on the trailer.
There is 4'' between the hull and the top of the fender. My friend who owns the same boat but different trailer, has 2-1/2'' over the fenders. A iBoats user reports to have 1-1/4''

My friend says that I should lower my fenders and cut my bunks to lower the boat, so I don't have to backup too much in water. BUT, a work colleague who also owns a similar boat, tells me to be careful with that and I should stay like that because the boat may touch the cross members.

My friend's trailer also has drop axles with the springs under them. On mine, I have the same drop axles, but the springs are over them.

Is my boat sitting too high?
Will lowering it 2'' make a big difference in retrieving it at the ramp?
(pictures at the end of the post)


My second question is about the length of my bunks.
All the trailers I see have a short length of outside bunks at the rear, and a short length of internal bunks at the front.
On my trailer, the four bunks are full length.
Is that better because it supports the boat on a longer span or it create a problem with friction while loading?

 

[harringtondav]

Lowering a boat on it's trailer will reduce the distance you have to back it down the ramp before it floats off. If you trailer regularly, and have trouble getting your tow vehicle too deep, it may be worth the trouble. But your pal is right, you need to keep your keel above the cross members.

Most of the weight in a boat is in the aft 1/3 of its length. I suspect that is behind this trailer's design.

 

[Wave34]

Lowering a boat on it's trailer will reduce the distance you have to back it down the ramp before it floats off. If you trailer regularly, and have trouble getting your tow vehicle too deep, it may be worth the trouble. But your pal is right, you need to keep your keel above the cross members.

Most of the weight in a boat is in the aft 1/3 of its length. I suspect that is behind this trailer's design.

Sorry for my poor English, but when you say: I suspect that is behind this trailer's design, does that mean it is good or not?

 

[harringtondav]

Sorry for my poor English, but when you say: I suspect that is behind this trailer's design, does that mean it is good or not?

Good. "Suspect" is my weasel work for "I don't know, but am pretty sure". Longer bunks may help drive on loading, especially with a steep ramp. But your four bunk set up looks like plenty of support. I own, and prefer a two bunk, flat adjustable bunk trailer -- assuming the boat mfg approves that set up. Some boat construction requires more support surface.

My Shoreland'r 'Equiload' trailer is very easy to adjust the boat's height. It supports each bunk at three locations, and allows bunk flexing to distribute the load along the full length of the bunks.

 

[Watermann]

You're not describing any difficulties your having launching or retrieving just that it's not the same as others set up. I'd have to say after seeing your set up that everything is as it should be and good to go.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I bought a new trailer last fall just before winterizing my boat, so I didn't have time to test it, I only pulled the boat out of the water once.

My first question is about the height of the boat on the trailer.
There is 4'' between the hull and the top of the fender. My friend who owns the same boat but different trailer, has 2-1/2'' over the fenders. A iBoats user reports to have 1-1/4''

your comparing tomatoes to apples to orangutans. 4 different trailer manufacturers on the same boat and you are arbitrarily comparing the height to the fender?

that is a nice custom made trailer. use it and go boating.

 

[Wave34]

You're not describing any difficulties your having launching or retrieving just that it's not the same as others set up. I'd have to say after seeing your set up that everything is as it should be and good to go.

I only used it once last fall. We had difficulty centering the boat on the bunks. When going out of the water, the boat was leaning on one side. We had to try 4 times to get it right.
This winter I made some centering posts that will certainly help with the centering.

Maybe the trailer was too deep in water, but at first, it was not, and I was not able to winch the boat to the stop roller because it was rubbing on the bunks and it is heavy like 7500 lb. That's why we backed up a bit more, then a bit more again.

I am asking this because at one point I was nervous to fall the trailer at the end of the ramp and get stuck.
But I'm a newbie, so may be it was not justified.

 

[Wave34]

your comparing tomatoes to apples to orangutans. 4 different trailer manufacturers on the same boat and you are arbitrarily comparing the height to the fender?

that is a nice custom made trailer. use it and go boating.

Yes sir, I'm going boating soon.

 

[Watermann]

Have fun and you'll get the hang of how best to retrieve your big boat.

 

[Lowlysubaruguy]

It does look like you could lower the bunks and not have any worry about boat contacting the trailer however it looks like the only way to do that is by cutting the bunks themselves.

Something that I cant tell from the pictures is the actual contact between the boat and the bunks often these style bunks are cut at an angle to match the boats hull usually done by a wood working shop or someone with a big enough band saw to be able to control the cut evenly . Doing this may lower your boat and aid in its loading an unloading but you’ve already covered them so if the boat actually loads ok I might live with it.. The higher the boat sits the deeper your trailer has to be and the less stable it is on the highway not that an inch or two is going to make a huge difference on the highway but it might..

find a not so busy launch and see if you can master the sweat spot or depth of your trailer if there really isn’t one lower them and possibly have a little angle put into the cut. I use two different launches and both of them have a huge difference in angles so trailer depth is not a constant unless you use on particular launch most of the time