Trailer trouble with a roller

[bootyinblue]

My fellow Seadogs & Dogettes (doesnt quite have the same ring to it)

I have an issue with my trailer and need some instruction, inspirtation or just someone with a welder and some time.

I have a steep driveway into the garage and when reversing the trailer in, the back end of the trailer bottoms out on the garage floor as the wheels dip in the drain area. To fix it I tried ramps etc before bolting on a keel roller upside down as a 'jockey wheel'. It rolls along the garage floor for about 2 seconds before the wheels take up the weight again.

My problem is..... The bracket holding the roller is slowly collapsing. I have reversed it a few times to promote 'even collapsing' but now it jams the roller and is starting to shred it as it skids rather than rolls.

Solution is... Are there stronger brackets available? Were they stronger years ago, and if so, Ray do you have one in the shed? Can someone weld up a new bracket, or truss an existing one to make it stronger?

[AZZA]

Hi booty is your axel slung under or over your springs if you move it to under or fit blocks between axel and spring it would maybe lift trailer enough to stop the problem you would just need to drop the trailer a bit further down the ramp. also I have a mig if you want I am sure we could come up with some solution. My mate had the same problem with his ski boat and we fitted urathane rubbing blocks

[rayke1938]

You could try using a wider double post roller or raise the rear of the trailer but that would make it harder to get the boat on the trailer when retrieving.

To raise the rear you would have to get a couple of new slipper brackets and weld them onto the existing ones and then slip the rear of the springs into the new bracket.

Cheers

Ray

[bootyinblue]

Ummmm would that be the double post bracket that you can see the right way up in picture one.... Duh, now you know why I am not in surviellance.

I think the double post one will be the shot and just offest it a bit so it doesnt clash with the other supports.

Thought about doing a spring over conversion and putting in spacer blocks, but it not only would mean launching deeper, the windscreen has about 40mm clearance under the eave now on its way into the garage, and any higher I think I could be in trouble.

Cheers guys...

[bigtez]

Could you just swap them over so the single post roller supporets the boat and the double is your 'jockey wheel'?

[bootyinblue]

You guys are on fire....

I am off to buy a new single poster and that will now become the keel rollers and the double posted wiill become the jockey wheel.

Cant see a drama in it as the boat olnly uses the last keel roller to come up on, but once in the trailer the keel is cut away there so nothing is sitting on it for transport!

See I knew this place was a wealth of ideas and knowledge :-)

[Feral]

Have you thought about chucking a sleeper or two in the dip in the drive way for the wheels to run over?

[bootyinblue]

Yea I have Feral, but it would look a bit ordinary I think on a concrete drive. I also thought about a single piece of chequerplate over the gap would work, till I got a price!

BigTez is on the money in swapping the supports over.

[Feral]

You dont have to leave them there Booty! Chuck em on when you take the boat out, pick them up after putting it away!

[bootyinblue]

Feral wrote:

You dont have to leave them there Booty! Chuck em on when you take the boat out, pick them up after putting it away!

That sounds like hard work! They are heavy bastards and you have to line them up and balance on them.

Enough excuses?

[Feral]

yeah those will do!

[bootyinblue]

Phew..... now where is your excuse for not being at Anaconda last night ;-)

[Feral]

Mate I was there yesterday arvo! 1:30 to 2:30! My missus worked last night so I had to be home to baby sit!

[bootyinblue]

bigtez wrote:

Could you just swap them over so the single post roller supporets the boat and the double is your 'jockey wheel'?

Well here is the result. After about 4 hours of blood, sweat and beers (Yep, even I didnt think it would be that hard) I now have a single post up top as a keel roller and a double post as my rear jockey wheel.

While I was under the trailer though I noticed something else strange. My boat is supported on 1 keel roller in the centre and 1 up the front and the 2 bilge strakes. Now I thought the keel took all the weight and the bilge strakes just balanced the boat on the trailer. No wonder its sometimes a bit stiff to get off without wetting the strakes.

Should I add more rollers?

[benno573]

yeah, it should be sitting with most of the weight on the rollers mate. stop being slack and do it properly... bloody coppers... any short cut is a good one.

[bootyinblue]

Especially in the donut queue!

Next problem is there is no more cross members to bolt rollers to. Its the way it came out as a factory setup.

Was looking at a gantry getting welded in there, so might configure some roller supports at same time.

[benno573]

it shouldn't be too hard to raise them up slightly surely? we talking 5-10mm or more?

[bootyinblue]

Raise what? The keel rollers? If so then there is really only 1 that supports the spine of the boat once winched up to the post.

[Feral]

Did the boat come with the trailer?

If yes, there are enough rollers, make sure that when the boat does not have the strap on, it can rock from side to side, with a gap of about 5mm to the "slide" on the "up side" when rocked.

Is your boat unpainted alloy?

If yes, you could change the rear roller to an aluminium one for robustness, one of the problems with a low number of keel rollers is the rear roller centre pin often bends, so the roller wont spin properly, making it hard to get the boat on and off! (The Aluminium rollers dont bent the centre pin, I fixed a lot of probs with my trailer doing this)

If the trailer was not matched to the boat by the manufacturer, I'd make up another couple of bolt on cross members with rollers on and put them between the existing ones.

If you have changed that rear roller to a single post one, keep a very careful eye on it, as they are weaker than the two post, and launching retrieving may bend it.

[bootyinblue]

Yea... its the original trailer with the boat, so will leave it be. I had a thought that after the incident where the boat hit the house (some older members might remember that post) which bent the stem post, that the boat might have moved forward on the trailer, but I have just checked some photos prior to this incident and the keel is not on the roller there anyway.

Thanks Feral, I had an alloy roller in my hands last night to buy but put it back. Will keep an eye on the rear roller/pin assembly. Once the boat is in position, there is no weight on the rear roller due to the keel cutaway section.