roller to bunk trailer--Who has done this?

[Starzofchaos]

I am in need of replacing my keel roller, it is tearing up the keel big time. You can see the pic of it in my profile where the roller sits at. I put that there to replace a broken pvc centering... thing. We thought it would be a good idea to replace it with a keel roller. It turned out to be a not so good idea. I like the bunk boards for the keel that tsubaki has on his boat, i just need to see them better or even find out who makes them.
One place wanted me to use a swiveling bunk board bracket to fit on there, but didnt say how I would attach it at or if I can angle it to fit the keel.
Any Ideas?

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by Starzofchaos

I am in need of replacing my keel roller, it is tearing up the keel big time. You can see the pic of it in my profile where the roller sits at. I put that there to replace a broken pvc centering... thing. We thought it would be a good idea to replace it with a keel roller. It turned out to be a not so good idea. I like the bunk boards for the keel that tsubaki has on his boat, i just need to see them better or even find out who makes them.
One place wanted me to use a swiveling bunk board bracket to fit on there, but didnt say how I would attach it at or if I can angle it to fit the keel.
Any Ideas?

A properly fitted keel roller will not tear up the keel. The whole reason for the roller is to prevent the keel from being torn up. I'm willing to bet that your keel is hitting something as your boats launching or retrieving. But the roller (if it's adjusted correctly) should never do anything except allow the keel to glide across it.

[reelapeelin]

Originally Posted by Destroyer

A properly fitted keel roller will not tear up the keel. The whole reason for the roller is to prevent the keel from being torn up. I'm willing to bet that your keel is hitting something as your boats launching or retrieving. But the roller (if it's adjusted correctly) should never do anything except allow the keel to glide across it.

How big a roller was it and did it spin properly?...sometimes they stop turning on their shaft...

[Starzofchaos]

The keel roller is a 12" thermal plastic roller from yates. I can tell where it took off the gelcoat due to some left over paint embedded in the roller.
After the weight of the boat sitting on the roller for a while it developed a flat spot, and its starting to bend making it hard to roll.
So I got a few choices left, either replace it with a self centering polyurethane roller or do away with it all and do the brackets and bunk board. Or add in another cross beam aft and keep the roller to help center the boat. Either way I am looking at 100 bucks to fix this problem.
I noticed in the past that the 3x3 tube the I beams connect to sits almost 4" forward of the roller cross beam. I can tell it has done some damage in the past. I've looked at other Aluminum trailers on the internet and seen that this tube doesn't extend nearly as far aft as mine does. This is the reason that we had to keep the keel roller so it doesn't contact the tube. I'll go this weekend and get the boat off of the trailer and take more pictures.

[reelapeelin]

Originally Posted by Starzofchaos

The keel roller is a 12" thermal plastic roller from yates. I can tell where it took off the gelcoat due to some left over paint embedded in the roller.
After the weight of the boat sitting on the roller for a while it developed a flat spot, and its starting to bend making it hard to roll.
So I got a few choices left, either replace it with a self centering polyurethane roller or do away with it all and do the brackets and bunk board. Or add in another cross beam aft and keep the roller to help center the boat. Either way I am looking at 100 bucks to fix this problem.
I noticed in the past that the 3x3 tube the I beams connect to sits almost 4" forward of the roller cross beam. I can tell it has done some damage in the past. I've looked at other Aluminum trailers on the internet and seen that this tube doesn't extend nearly as far aft as mine does. This is the reason that we had to keep the keel roller so it doesn't contact the tube. I'll go this weekend and get the boat off of the trailer and take more pictures.

Yeah...once that roller won't roll freely, it becomes a problem...the pin going thru the roller is't strong enough to support the weight of a V20 on it's own....had the same issue...never tried this, but considered putting TWO rollers back to back on the same cross-member to double the support...I did the two bunks you describe....more $$ but it solved the problem...

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by reelapeelin

Yeah...once that roller won't roll freely, it becomes a problem...the pin going thru the roller is't strong enough to support the weight of a V20 on it's own....had the same issue...never tried this, but considered putting TWO rollers back to back on the same cross-member to double the support...I did the two bunks you describe....more $$ but it solved the problem...

I've seen setups like that where you have 2 keel rollers set next to each other about 2 inches apart on a swivel bracket. Lets the rollers tilt a little forward or backward as the boat comes across them, and carries twice the weight of a single.

As far as the roller flattening out, get Yates brand yellow poly rollers... I've had great success with them in the past and they don't seem to flatten near as much as the black rubber kind. plus they don't leave black marks on your hull.

[Genie Aye]

Okay--here are pictures with the boat off of the trailer.
Opps--a fish picture slipped in--LOL