Bunk vs Roller trailer ? Easy choice in NE

[tartuffe]

I back my trailer to where the bunks are about 3/4 underwater, line her up relatively straight and drive her right up to the point where it hits the roller at the winch. Lean over the bow, hook it up, 1 or two full turns of the winch, cut engine, tilt, and tell whomever is driving to drive.

Do you have to roll the boat all the way on or does it roll off when you quit giving the engine throttle?

[phatdaddy]

maybe i don't understand, but with a bunk, you drive it up to the bow stop. with a roller, if you drive it up to the stop, it will roll back down and then you have to winch it back up to the stop. i have had my trailer for about 14 years and have never had more than 3 ft of cable off of the winch.

edit:tartuffe, you are a faster typer than i am.

[RidgeRunner]

Faster than I on the typing as well.. My finger gets tired.

Too many working parts. Advantage bunk trailer. I too have not seen more than 2' of winch strap in the past 10 yrs or so. Until I drop the boat off on the ground for one reason or another, then I wish it was a roller trailer with a power winch for getting the boat back on again. Bunk trailers have a tendency to float without the boat on so backing off the end of a ramp isn't as hairy, unless the boat is still on it.

[bgreene]

Originally Posted by tartuffe

I back my trailer to where the bunks are about 3/4 underwater, line her up relatively straight and drive her right up to the point where it hits the roller at the winch. Lean over the bow, hook it up, 1 or two full turns of the winch, cut engine, tilt, and tell whomever is driving to drive.

Do you have to roll the boat all the way on or does it roll off when you quit giving the engine throttle?

I don't drive on - it's generally bad for the ramp - blowing out the dirt below the ramp and forming a deep hole over time from guys doing the same thing, again, again......

I let it roll off under control........then use my dock lines to ease it up about 1/2 way back onto the trailer. I then connect the cable, and winch it up easily across the rollers. I do this alone, or with assistance.

[phatdaddy]

and the deep hole allows us guys with bunks to launch,

all is good

[jasoncooperpcola]

Originally Posted by RidgeRunner

Faster than I on the typing as well.. My finger gets tired.

Too many working parts. Advantage bunk trailer. I too have not seen more than 2' of winch strap in the past 10 yrs or so. Until I drop the boat off on the ground for one reason or another, then I wish it was a roller trailer with a power winch for getting the boat back on again. Bunk trailers have a tendency to float without the boat on so backing off the end of a ramp isn't as hairy, unless the boat is still on it.

Same here. They ought to sell 3' winch straps.

[Destroyer]

You guys keep talking about how good bunks are, then you go and submerge your $3000 trailer in salt water and complain a few years later because you have to replace springs, brakes, crossmembers, etc.
The only part of my trailer that gets wet are the tires and maybe the bottom of the first crossmember. I have my cable out to the end of the trailer, then using the dock lines, I just guide the bow to the edge of the trailer, snap the hook onto the bow eye, pull the lanyard for the powerwinch and guide the boat on while the winch pulls her aboard. When I get home a quick washdown with the hose to remove any salt off the back and I'm good to go. I truthfully don't think I've ever replaced a spring or a brake due to rust or corrosion. So you bunk guys go ahead and keep dunking your trailers all the way into the brine... The trailer makers just love you. Advantage - roller trailers

[spareparts]

every time I think about a roller trailer, I envision a couple of old farts(think Oz and Lee ) with some antique tri hull, arguing at the ramp, Usually one of them has his long pants rolled up above the knee trying to keep from getting wet(still gets soaked) while hooking up the rusty cable, while the other one(usually seated in the boat and with a beer) is telling him what he's doing wrong. After listening to the winch cycle for about 20 minutes winching the aforementioned floating water hazard onto the undersized break back roller trailer, they finally pull away from the ramp (meanwhile at least 20 other people have loaded and unloaded their boats in the adjacent ramp). About the time they crest the top of the ramp, you hear something break, the whizzing sound of a winch in high speed, and the crunching sound of water logged fiberglass hitting the asphalt. The following arguments and actions tend to be along the lines of a three stooges movie . This is a scene I've seen to often


In all seriousness, when I worked at the Sea ray dealership, I launched and loaded probably an average of four boats a day, With the bunk trailers, I was always able to safely launch and load the boat by myself. With roller trailers, we always had something go wrong, granted these trailers were used and abused, but they gave us a lot of issues. Rollers are very expensive, especially if you get the non marking kinds. the hardware on a lot of trailers is proprietary and expensive(odd brackets and pivots). We also had quite a bit of damage from roller trailers to the boat hulls, We ended up converting all of our rollers(except for the biggest trailers for 35'+) to bunks. The only reason we left the big trailers roller was they usually fit the hulls better and gave us clearance for the props. When I bought my V, it had a heavy duty single axle roller trailer under it. I don't know if it was the original one or not, but there was no way it would sit level and even on this trailer, I tried to adjust the rollers, but there was no way to get it to fit with out one set of rollers sitting on a strake. I gave the roller trailer to my father and bought a used galvanized tandem axle bunk trailer. the boat sits at least a foot lower, and sits even now, with nothing resting on the strakes.

As far as advantage to one style or the other, it boils down to what fits your boat, what makes loading and unloading your boat at your particular ramp easy and safe

[bgreene]

Oh yeh......welll I've had both roller and bunk in the past and when I decided to buy my first ever NEW trailer...............drum roll........I went ROLLER !!!

Hey.........whatever " floats your boat " ...... !!!

For the assorted conditions I find, assorted ramps, low and high tides...... the roller works better for me.

Destroyer - wow, good to see you all fired up on this thread ! Gotta love the enthusiasm !

[tartuffe]

^^^ Spare's post +1

Especially the part about taking forever. He's guiding his boat on and getting it all lined up blah blah blah, good luck doing all that when you are loading on the Intercoastal with a stiff wind, a tide change, and a 50' Jarrett Bay or the like cruising by at 25 knots heading back to the docks, not to mention the 10 fishing boats lined up behind you.

I'm sure rollers work great on Golden Pond but they ain't worth a squat in my world.
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