Trailer Bunks

[Skipper D]

Fixing up an older galvinized trailer here in the shop to take my 18 ' , removing the rollers and swicthing to bunks , any one know the right way to locate them on the trailer with out a hole lot of trial and air , is there a formula for doing this by any chance .........................................

[Skipper D]

Fixing up an older galvinized trailer here in the shop to take my 18 ' , removing the rollers and swicthing to bunks , any one know the right way to locate them on the trailer with out a hole lot of trial and air , is there a formula for doing this by any chance .........................................

 

 

lol...........I MUST'A ASKED THE WRONG QUESTION.............NO COME BACKS

[HTHM]

Just make sure that the weight is evenly distributed over the hull. Your 18' glass or alum?

[Skipper D]

Just make sure that the weight is evenly distributed over the hull. Your 18' glass or alum?

 

Thank you HTHM , yes its glass , i kinda was hoping there was an easy formula to follow when installing bunks , a messurment for getting the height of them right , i might be lucky'er then most to do this as i have the hoist in my shop were i can suspend the boat and put it up and down on the trailer till i have then right , just alot of frig'en around that way thats all ............

[blue pickeral]

Maybe someone with the same boat and a bunk trailer can take measurements for you? Try googling though, as I remember one trailer manufacturer had a tutorial on it. Going back some time, so can't be any more helpfult than that.

[Skipper D]

Maybe someone with the same boat and a bunk trailer can take measurements for you? Try googling though, as I remember one trailer manufacturer had a tutorial on it. Going back some time, so can't be any more helpfult than that.

 

 

Thank you BP ...... i'll check that out , never thought to go there...........

[smally21]

if you have a hoist you are golden. suspend the boat above the perfectly centred trailer. lower until you have acheived a height over the fenders that is acceptable. raise the bunks up between the chines and tighten. make sure you dont line up with transducers or other equipment.

 

another way to do it if you have access to the boat out of the water is take measurements from the drain plug to the centre of the chines and adjust accordingly. pretty hard to get the height right this way.

 

the bunks should be placed as wide apart as possible but remember the in and out position of the bunks will be what determines the height of the boat...

 

no formula i ever found, there were a few boats i just knew but generally had to adjust most every time.

[Skipper D]

if you have a hoist you are golden. suspend the boat above the perfectly centred trailer. lower until you have acheived a height over the fenders that is acceptable. raise the bunks up between the chines and tighten. make sure you dont line up with transducers or other equipment.

 

another way to do it if you have access to the boat out of the water is take measurements from the drain plug to the centre of the chines and adjust accordingly. pretty hard to get the height right this way.

 

the bunks should be placed as wide apart as possible but remember the in and out position of the bunks will be what determines the height of the boat...

 

no formula i ever found, there were a few boats i just knew but generally had to adjust most every time.

 

Good stuff Smally21 , thanks for the help , once i have the boat hang'en things should go not to bad .............

[smally21]

have both the trailer and the boat level. dont adjust the winch post/bow stop until the very end when the trailer/boat is settled into its final spot.

 

keep an eye to the clearance of the front cross member to the boat but its rarely an issue.

[Skipper D]

have both the trailer and the boat level. dont adjust the winch post/bow stop until the very end when the trailer/boat is settled into its final spot.

 

keep an eye to the clearance of the front cross member to the boat but its rarely an issue.

 

 

Thanks for the help again , i'll let you know how i make out with it in the end ..............

[whitbyboatguy]

should the transom be fully on the bunks?

[Skipper D]

should the transom be fully on the bunks?

 

 

Things over hanges on my other boat and trailer by a foot , thought i'd let this one do the same , is this a bad thing .....?

[Billy Bob]

My boat transom comes even with the rear roller and bunks.....

 

My boat weight is mostly on the rollers (hard yellow type) and both my rollers and bunks have been adjusted to the lowest setting I can get away with......this way my bearings/hubs NEVER touch the water and I don't have to repack them for YEARS.......like 15 years.... ...but every boat and trailer is different......BTW launching is a BREEZE using this method....

[Skipper D]

My boat transom comes even with the rear roller and bunks.....

 

My boat weight is mostly on the rollers (hard yellow type) and both my rollers and bunks have been adjusted to the lowest setting I can get away with......this way my bearings/hubs NEVER touch the water and I don't have to repack them for YEARS.......like 15 years.... ...but every boat and trailer is different......BTW launching is a BREEZE using this method....

 

thats slick Billy Bob ,hub never touch water , i like that trick , what ya have for a boat tho ...........

[Billy Bob]

I have a 1985 16'4" - 84" beam Grumman with a Johnson VRO 50hp outboard.

When I purchased this rig brand new I upgraded to 2 trailer sizes larger then what would have come with the boat....A Tee Nee Bunk Trailer

Here's my trailer and you can see that's as far as I put her in the water for launching and retrieving...

Note the extremely high water conditions we had this spring in WNY..

[smally21]

the bunks dont have to be directly under the transom. we almost always set them up this way, on a custom adjustable trailer there is no reason for them not to be. when loading boats on trailers that were not adjustable sometimes you would need to hang the boat off the back a little to get the appropriate tongue weight.

 

bunk placement would be slightly different for outboards, IOs, and genuine inboards.

 

where youd have a greater problem is the transom being forward of the bunks, where it would end up ripping off transducers and such.

 

and conventional trailer launching will require the trailer to be in the water regardless of how low you get it.

[Skipper D]

I have a 1985 16'4" - 84" beam Grumman with a Johnson VRO 50hp outboard.

When I purchased this rig brand new I upgraded to 2 trailer sizes larger then what would have come with the boat....A Tee Nee Bunk Trailer

Here's my trailer and you can see that's as far as I put her in the water for launching and retrieving...

Note the extremely high water conditions we had this spring in WNY..

Neat stuff to know , nice trailer too ..........

[Skipper D]

the bunks dont have to be directly under the transom. we almost always set them up this way, on a custom adjustable trailer there is no reason for them not to be. when loading boats on trailers that were not adjustable sometimes you would need to hang the boat off the back a little to get the appropriate tongue weight.

 

bunk placement would be slightly different for outboards, IOs, and genuine inboards.

 

where youd have a greater problem is the transom being forward of the bunks, where it would end up ripping off transducers and such.

 

and conventional trailer launching will require the trailer to be in the water regardless of how low you get it.

 

Thank you ,then i am on the right trac with my ideas , no stupid mistakes done yet ...nice .....

[Billy Bob]

the bunks dont have to be directly under the transom. we almost always set them up this way, on a custom adjustable trailer there is no reason for them not to be. when loading boats on trailers that were not adjustable sometimes you would need to hang the boat off the back a little to get the appropriate tongue weight.

 

bunk placement would be slightly different for outboards, IOs, and genuine inboards.

 

where youd have a greater problem is the transom being forward of the bunks, where it would end up ripping off transducers and such.

 

and conventional trailer launching will require the trailer to be in the water regardless of how low you get it.

 

I agree with everything you posted except the last sentence....don't believe me....PM Big Cliff as he witnessed my technique on June 24th..

 

With the rollers baring the majority of the boats weight the bunks are used to stabilize the boat in transit. This makes launching and retrieving possible without getting my hubs wet, thus no wheel bearing failer because of water damaged bearings....

 

But I'm sure all boats and trailers cannot be done this way....when most rigs are purchased the bare minimum trailer is applied to reduce total costs....BIG MISTAKE....

Edited September 14, 2011 by Billy Bob

[smally21]

whatever you say man

 

by the way those cross memeber rollers aren't designed to be load bearing, they are for simple protection of the keel during launching and loading on steep ramps - the bunks are load bearing not for stabilizing....

Edited September 14, 2011 by smally21

[Billy Bob]

Not on my set up......as I said....I purchase a MUCH larger capacity trailer in order to launch and retrieve without my wheel bearing EVER getting wet....a little extra $$$ 26 years ago has really paid off over the years...

[smally21]

as we've heard