trailer question

[evknot0127]

hey guys i am a new member thats going to have a bunch of questions lol but i just picked up a seacraft the other day...the boat is a 71 20' SF seacraft with a f115 yamaha on it...(aboslutely love the boat and motor) but the trailer i kinda need some help on...the trailer i bought it with is a bunk trailer but some of the brackets i guess you would call them? (peices that hold up the bunks) are rusted and im kinda a freak about having all good shit.. my buddy on the other hand said he would sell a pretty much brand new roll trailer to me for cheap? do you guys have any preferences on which trailer is better ( bunk or rollers) and is there a way to convert the roll trailer into a bunk trailer? any info is appreciated thanks guys and happy to finally own a seacraft!!

[Bushwacker]

Which type of trailer is best for your situation depends on a lot factors, like how you use the boat, how far and fast you tow, what the ramps are like where you use it, what's the tidal range, is power loading allowed, etc. Bunk/Float-on type trailers are popular around here where tidal range is only 2-3' and most ramps have pavement extending several feet into water below normal low tide level. (May need 4WD truck to pull it out on a steep ramp at low tide!) They work great if you always have a buddy who can handle truck while you drive boat off and on trailer. Advantages are light weight if it's aluminum and low CG if it uses small tires. With small tires, it'll have to be a tandem, which is a little more stable when towing, but has 2x more tires, bearings and springs to maintain. Compared to a roller trailer you don't have to dunk, the trade off is higher maintenance on all the stuff that gets dunked in saltwater, like wheels, springs, axles, bearings and lights, along with short life of the small tires (=high rpm) and bearings. Some places don't allow power loading, and if tidal range is 6'+, you may not be able to dunk the trailer deep enough at low tide to get the boat on it, so then you'd need a roller trailer. Also should have brakes if you tow on interstate; if bunk trailer, will need all SS brakes. Don't need SS brakes on a roller type if you don't dunk it. I used drum brakes for years till I started towing a lot and got tired of trying to keep 'em adjusted; switched to Kodiak disks with SS calipers but conventional steel rotors.

I personally prefer a GOOD ALL-roller type where you can launch anywhere, anytime, and only get the tires wet, which eliminates all of the maintenance noted above. If it's a cheap one with only a few rollers with steel shafts on the keel and it still has the small bunks at the back, you'll probably still have to dunk it, so you'll still have all the corrosion issues of bunk trailer PLUS the additional headache of keeping the rollers greased and rolling! A cheap roller trailer will cost MORE in the long run in terms of time and maintenance!

EZ Loader makes a good stout roller type which I like because it has lots of large diameter rollers, with aluminum shafts and nylon bushings so they don't corrode or need any lube, although the OEM washers will eventually rust unless you replace them with stainless. I also replaced all the black rubber OEM rollers with the yellow polyurethane type because the black ones were leaving marks on the boat. I also added a couple of keel rollers on the aft cross member because the SeaCraft deadrise up front is so steep that the keel will hit cross member before the side rollers are engaged, as you'll see in photos below. (Notice that how aft X-member tilts and only the TIRES are in the water!)

EZ Loader has a clever arrangement of articulating arms and pivoting cross members where each pair of rollers are balanced against another pair so as to spread the load and keep any one roller from being overloaded. This can be a problem with a series of keel rollers mounted on cross members, as one roller can put a lot more load on the boat than the others if it's too high or if the stiffness of each cross member isn't identical. The only drawbacks to the roller type I can see is weight (haven't seen any with aluminum frames) and the fact that you need to add a Powerwinch for single handing if you're old and lazy like me! The EZ-Loader rollers have so many degrees of freedom that if you don't have it adjusted right and the boat lists to one side, it'll come on the trailer the same way! Once you get it adjusted right however, it will load perfectly straight regardless of cross wind or current, which can be a problem with the float-on/drive on type.

Bought current trailer new over 25 years ago and I think I've repacked the wheel bearings 2-3 times when adding/changing brakes; springs, axle and wheels are all original (6000lb axle w/HD 6 lug 16.5" wheels w/BIG slow turning tires.) Used in salt water year round about 1x/mo. Recently replaced aft X-member due to rust for a little over $200; it wasn't sagging but had lost ~50% of original thickness and I didn't trust it any more! Rust was from salt water dripping off boat, not from dunking. Aft X-member on previous el-cheapo Rocket non-galvanized roller/bunk trailer rusted out in about 5 years!

[evknot0127]

that trailer looks brand new! yeah i fish all over the delaware bay so i go to many differnt ramps some shitty and some very nice but here in delaware at some ramps our tide will drop close to ten foot so i think in my best interest it would be smart to do the roll trailer...is the roll trailer bad for the hull at all? and if you dont mind when i pick up the other trailer from my buddy ill post some pics and maybe you can help me out with it a bit...just trying to have all my shit well maintained and nice looking...got alot of buddies around here who just wing it and there whole rig looks like shit and they just prey we make it there cuz the tires are old etc etc etc and i hate that....as for the roll trailer i am purchasing i am only paying 500 for it and im pretty sure the winch is worth close to that since its a brand new power wench and brand new cable....my buddy only bought a new one because he wanted the dual axle for his 21 foot jones bro instead of the single...but with my 20' seacraft i only want the single axle trailer (less maintenience) and maybe a little lighter... i will find out exact year of trailer and what kind it is

[DonV]

When you go to buy a coupler lock save yourself some money. Do it this way, I already had the Master lock with 3/8" boron alloy shank. All you are trying to do is make it difficult for the scum balls!!!

[Bushwacker]

Originally Posted by evknot0127

...is the roll trailer bad for the hull at all? and if you dont mind when i pick up the other trailer from my buddy ill post some pics and maybe you can help me out with it a bit...

Bearing load on the rollers is nowhere enough high enough to hurt a SeaCraft hull due to it's heavy layup (the 20's are about the same as a 25 Bertram; the 23's are about like a Bertram 28) and the stiffness provided by the vertical hull steps and the 4 big beefy f/g stringers, which were installed about halfway thru the layup and tied together on top by the deck/inner liner. I figure my max boat weight fully loaded w/gas for a long cruise with a couple of big coolers full of beer and groceries, and the galley seat water jug full, is about 3800 lbs. With 25 rollers supporting the hull, that works out to an average load of about 150 lbs/roller. I can actually wiggle the rollers near the transom with the boat sitting on them, so I don't think that's too much. Might be a different story on a lightly built boat like a Bayliner or a foam sandwich hull like an Aquasport or a Whaler, but I'd have absolutely no concerns for the SeaCraft hull. One note of caution: there is very little friction in the rollers on my trailer! I could unload it on my front lawn if I had to, so the boat MUST be tied down before towing, BOTH FRONT AND REAR! Depending on the winch brake/clutch to hold it is asking for trouble! I also have to use the friction clutch to control it when unloading or it can roll off the trailer fast enough for the transom to hit the ramp even in a couple feet of water!

If you can post some pics of the trailer, we can figure out what adjustment capabilities it has. As far as adjustment, I like to spread each pair of rollers as far apart as possible, and then locate the bunk holding the rollers so the outer rollers are right up against the outer step. You can easily do all this with boat on trailer with a bottle jack on the frame and some 2x4's between chine and jack. Once the rollers engage that outer step as you winch it up the trailer, they'll do a good job of guiding it on straight. If you click on the following link http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z...oading%20pics/ it'll take you to my Photobucket folder containing a slideshow of my boat as it's winched up the on the trailer that shows how the rollers lock on to the step to guide it on.

[pelican]

the best advice is,get a good quality roller trailer...i own 4 all roller service trailers - you could not give me a bunk trailer.you're in delaware - big tide swing,bunk trailers are tough to launch and retrieve from,when it's low tide,in our area.a bunk trailer requires the trailer to be backed way into the water - the pictures above show it best,wheels are barley wet - can't do that with a bunk trailer...

[pianewman]

Bushwacker, you've provided an excellent overview. Now I understand why all the float-ons in FL, and the roller-types up here (VA).

My memory of pulling my dad's '74 Tsunami onto the E-Z roller, though, is one of sheer terror, listening to the winch strain, and the cable popping and singing. We were all terrified of the cable snapping and flying through the back of our '69 Rambler Ambassador. Add to that the fear of dunking the hubs, and risking my dad's wrath...

Funny, though, we thought nothing of pulling that rig with the same car, air-bag shocks in the rear, custom welded hitch, six adults in the car. We managed a few r/t from VA. Beach to FL, cruising naively at 65mph down I95.

I'd love to have that Tsunami back...dad sold it in VA Beach in 1989...it had been meticulously maintained...

[evknot0127]

Karavan Ry long day- roller trailer... Year of The trailer is a 2000... I paid 500 bucks for it with brand new tires, power winch with new cable, bearings only
Have about 60 miles on them... Good deal? Or what you guys think I don't know much about these trailers

[evknot0127]

Why is the weight of my seacraft? J.w 20'SF with a f115 yamaha

[eggsuckindog]

under or at 3K actually, but 3500 load would work fine.