Trailer setup-I'm soo screwed!

[Dodgerrr]

I will try and get right to the point. Getting this boat back on the trailer is a nightmare. By the time I am done, I'm soaked to the bone and exhausted from trying to lift the bow by hand high enough to enter the front bow supports.
Pictures included are basically measurements of where my boat sits on the trailer. I have waaaay tooo much tongue weight. Takes two guys to lift it.
Question: Where should I start adjusting the trailer? Looking at other V20's I notice that the winch is much lower.
Thanks everyone.
Dodgerrr.

[tsubaki]

I've not read anything about "correct trailer setup" but I've made several boat trailers over the years, to fit each individual boat.
First, every trailer is different but there are a few rules of thumb.
The top spool of the winch needs to be at the same height as the bow eye. Too low and you are actually winching the weight of the boat down and not across the rollers.
Depending on the setup of the keel rollers (if any), all of them normally contact the keel when trailering the boat as do the bunks (again if any).
Tongue weight is supposed to vary as to the weight of the fully loaded boat. On the smaller boats, I normally have 50-75lbs of tongue weight, the setup on my V has between 100 and 150lbs of tongue weight.
Normally you position the boat over the trailer to have the best contact locations of the rollers for the trailer and boats sake, then adjust the winch stand to fit and then adjust the axles (forward or back) to accommodate the desired tongue weight.
Too much or too little tongue weight will produce a massive towing hazard of the vehicle becoming suddenly uncontrollable, usually when braking or when a bump or dip in the road is encountered.
I could not tell if your axle setup will allow adjusting forward or not. If not, relocating the rollers or even having to completely redo the roller system may be necessary after you have positioned the boat to achieve the desired tongue weight.

[tsubaki]

I can't quite make out the whole setup on the trailer but it may be as simple as pushing the boat back (say 6" at the time) and see if the rollers still contact everything appreciably, check the tongue weight and then adjust the winch stand back (or is it welded?) and the winch up.

[Destroyer]

First off, I agree with everything that Tsubaki just posted.. Now, lets take it back even a step further.... You say in picture three that your "eylet still gets hung up on the lower support when you try and winch it in". I'm confused. (Don't worry, that's normal for me) What eyelet? Do you mean that the bow eyelet that you connect your winch cable to gets hung up on the first trailer crossmember as you start to winch your boat in? If that's the case your trailer isn't in the water far enough. Simply put more of your trailer in the water. At the very least your rear lights and the first crossmember should be totally submersed. Ideally, your boat should actually float over the first crossmember and then make contact with the rollers.

Looking at your pictures it appears that your winch is slightly (not overly bad, just slightly) low. The top of the winch and the top of the bow eye should be the same height when the boat is completely winched in and at rest in the stops.

Looking at the picture of the side rollers under the boat in the back, they appear to be properly adjusted to the width of the boat. I don't see them contacting the lifting steps on the hull anywhere, so the boat should just roll in nice and easy. Are there center rollers along the entire length of the trailer or just at the front where you had one put on?

If they are just at the front, and presuming that both your front and rear side roller brackets are set to the same height, then I would suggest that you lower your rear set of rollers one inch. (Usually the brackets that hold the rollers to the trailer crossmember will allow for 3-4 inches of up or down movement for adjustment in one inch increments) That will make the bow of the boat lift as it hits the second set of rollers, (the ones closer to your truck) and will give you extra clearance as you come to the front tongue and the rollers you had put on.

A boat should want to follow the winch line up the trailer like a puppy following you around.. It shouldn't be a job or a chore.

Send us more pics of the underside of the boat where it contacts the trailer, the overhang of the boat off the rear of the trailer, and the rear crossmember of the trailer.

Oh...one final thought. If for some unholy reason the trailer axles are not adjustable you can still get some adjustment of your tongue weight simply by moving the winch support either forward for more weight or rearward for less weight.

Hope this helps somewhat. :beer:

PS.. looking at the last picture, it looks like your rear axle is almost even with the end of your trailer. That's a ton too much tongue weight. Move those axles forward.
Also, is the "lower support" you mentioned the bottom V roller on your winch?

[Dodgerrr]

Great replies!
Believe it or not, I am putting the trailer in the water far enough. This was confirmed the day that I put it in too far and the wheels dropped off the the ramp and I had to dive into the water and lift the rear of the trailer up while a buddy hit the gas on the truck. That is when I had my single axle trailer. What fun! That water was soo thick with alge-gross! I had to go down about 12 feet-told my buddy to hit the gas in 10 seconds, the peckerhead waited for 30. I could have killed him!
The "eyelet" is indeed the boweye. The lower support I refer to is the two "V"s that the bow rests against when pulled in tight.
When the trailer is in the water and the frontmost roller contacts the bow, the height difference between the bow eye and the winch is 8-10 inches. Therefore I have to winch it up and in. This is when the boweye makes contact with the lower "V" rubber. This is followed by a great amount of grunting and swearing to get it on top of this rubber. At this point the cable is rubbing the steel frame and with additional grunting/lifting I can then get the bow to finally rest against the two V supports. Note: The stern is still floating about a foot off the trailer. It would make sense to put the trailer in the water farther but I am already at the end of the concrete. (underwater) The surge brake fill cap is just above the water level. Thanks again Dodgerrr.

[Destroyer]

Ok, I'm stumped. You have what looks like a Shoreline trailer. They were made back in the 1980's. Wonderful, really strong trailers. But to the best of my knowledge they never made a combination roller-bunk trailer. You have bunks in the back and rollers in the front. The back bunks are placed where the rollers should be, and the frame they are resting on is still the roller frame that allows it to pivot in and out. I really don't know what is causing th problem when you winch it in. I understand that it's hitting the lower bow support. I just don't know why.

I have two suggestions:
1) Buy a single support style winch stanchion so the eyelet doesn't get in the way of the lower one. (look at the picture of my boat)
2) Convert your trailer to one or the other ....bunk or roller. Most people here seem to like the bunk style, due to it's self centering of the boat. I personally prefer the roller style, but hey, that's just me. But in all cases go one way of the other. If you go bunk then get regular fixed bunk brackets, don't use your present roller brackets/framework... Bunks are not meant to tilt except for a very limited amount...certainly not like a roller bracket assembly does.

I'd love to see a video of you loading your trailer. If you have the ability to shoot one it would be a great help to everyone, myself included.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l111/Destroyer511/Boat%20Pics/V20-10.jpg

[RidgeRunner]

I'll take a stab. Try not backing down so far in the water. Most errors on the boatramp I see are from people backing the trailer so far down in the water there is little there to guide anything but the bow onto the trailer. I have a bow pulpit on a Boston Whaler that has given me fits on and off the trailer. It keeps wanting to catch on the winch stand. The prior owner nearly ripped it off. I have found that if I leave more of the trailer out of the water the keel will find the front v-guide (roller) and raise the bow to the point where the pulpit clears the winch stand. With properly functioning rollers you shouldn't need to bury the trailer. It might be worth a try. Another note, the keel roller in your picture is very narrow. If you are driving it on the trailer a little more width might make it easier, if something could be adapted there.

[Dodgerrr]

[QUOTE=Destroyer;160024]Ok, I'm stumped. You have what looks like a Shoreline trailer. They were made back in the 1980's. Wonderful, really strong trailers. But to the best of my knowledge they never made a combination roller-bunk trailer. You have bunks in the back and rollers in the front. /QUOTE]

Well Destroyer, you are very observant. First off all, your boat is absoultely stunning. I wish mine looked as good as yours. Secondly, you are correct about the bunks and rollers.
The trailer that came with my boat was a single axle but when I looked at the trailer ownership, it said 2 axles. The single axle trailer with the boat on it weighed in at 4200 Lbs. The axles on the single were rated at 3600 lbs. After looking at most of the pics on the site it occured to me that most everyone use dual axle trailers. Before I sold the the trailer, I swapped the rollers for the bunks as you see here. Hoping that would solve my problem- it didn't.

I could provide a video of me at the dock. I normally generate quite a crowd of people. and a line up of boats waiting to dock. I think you just want to see me in action cursing and swearing. Getting soaked to the bone and then the grand fineally...everyone is applauding when I am finished. It might be rated PG13.

I be on holidays in 2 weeks and plan to put the boat in then. Be sure to watch when I try to pull the boat out with my 2 wheel drive GMC. After about three attempts, The crowd starts to pile in the box to add traction....what fun!
Dodgerrr

[bradford]

I agree with Ridge Runner. I your boat is floating above the trailer in the stern by a foot or so, the bow eye is going to be at a lower angle.

[Dodgerrr]

I happened to stumble upon a site that is very detailed in setting up your boat to your trailer.
Here's the link...
http://www.shorelander.com/pages/forum/f_trstep1.html
Let me know what you think. It may even be good enough to store on this site for future boaters.
Dodgerrr.

[Destroyer]

That's an interesting read. Not everything applys of course, since not every trailer is a shorelandr', but the general gist is pretty good. I liked the part about what they suggest the tongue weight to be. I'm over by about 100 lbs. Guess I have some adjustments to do. Thanks for the post.

On a side note and to get back to the original thought of this thread, I just wanted to point out basically the same thing that others have mentioned.. If your boat floats on the trailer that much then you are submerging your trailer too much. Basically I've found through experience that I want to submerge my last crossmember just enough so that the prow (bow) of the boat does not contact it as I start to winch in. The last thing I want is fiberglass hitting steel. (I actually prefer trailers that have a center keel roller mounted there, just to prevent that from happening). I don't put the trailer in much beyond that point. (And since every trailer is set up differently this is only something you can learn by doing it on your trailer with your boat). As soon as I know I can can winch my boat in without the bow hitting that crossmember that's the level that I stop submerging my trailer.

My suggestion would be to find an unused or very little used launch ramp (maybe a park or small lake?) and launch and retrieve your boat several times, varying the depth of your trailer until you find that sweet spot where you know the boat will come in like a puppy dog.

[RWilson2526]

does your double v bow support pivot at the center? I have a double support as well, mine will do the same thing, (bow eye hangs up on the bottom support) I finally figured out to rotate the center supports clockwise so the uber v support is now in front of the bottom one. that way the boat comes in, clears that lower eye and then the boat makes contact with the upper support first and pulls the supports back into position as the boat loads all the way up.


http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc48/Rwilson2526/v-20/DSCF2209.jpg