Adding Keel Roller - The Hull Truth

GP-TJ · 04-23-2008, 11:01 PM

I posted a while back about adding a keel roller to my bunk trailer. I finally bought the roller and clamps but it won't fit between the hull and the cross member. The cross member is v-shaped so I thought about taking the 12" back and get a smaller one. The other option I thought of was to raise the bunks a little bit. The boat seems to sit a little bit bow down on the trailer so I thought about just raising the front of the bunks (I only have 2 bunks total supporting the boat). Should I raise the front of the bunks, the entire bunks, or smaller roller? I was trying to get the widest roller possible.

Any ideas on the right way to proceed?

GP

Hawkeye · 04-24-2008, 04:27 AM

If its just the bow area, jack the boat up and carry that weight onthe keel roller. Thats what its for. Its common to carry some weight up there. Keel is the strongest part of the bottom anyway. A couple inches of bow rise is not going to change the way the bunks carry the back of the boat.

Mr. Demeanor · 04-24-2008, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Hawkeye - 4/24/2008 3:27 AM

If its just the bow area, jack the boat up and carry that weight on the keel roller. Thats what its for. Its common to carry some weight up there. Keel is the strongest part of the bottom anyway. A couple inches of bow rise is not going to change the way the bunks carry the back of the boat.

I have to disagree with a couple of things posted. A keel roller is not designed to support weight. It is designed to guide your boat into place on the bunks. If you tried to support weight with it you would just bend it. Bunks distribute weight over a large area. A roller would concentrate all the weight in one little spot.
The boat needs to sit flat on the rear bunks then everything should be adjusted to meet the hull from there. A couple of inches of bow rise would not let the boat sit flat on the rear bunks and again would concentrate the weight on two spots instead of distributing it.
If you have a decent size boat on an aluminum trailer, it likely has some flex in it. You can check this by pulling a string along the top of the I-beam. You can remove the flex by putting a jack stand under each I-beam just in front of each fender. Then loosen you winch strap and start dropping your tongue with the tongue jack. Once the I-beams contact the jack stands, they will start to straighten out. Your bow roller will drop away from the hull and need to be re-adjusted. This should also give you some more space for your keel roller.

GP-TJ · 04-24-2008, 08:40 AM

My trailer only has 2 bunks and no rollers at all at this time. It is a galvanized tandem axle trailer with 2 cross-members with the two bunks mounted to them. It is symmetrical. I do have a bow stop roller. The boat is sitting firmly on the bunks at this time. The hull actually gets deeper toward the bow entry. I think that is why it seems to sit lower to the front cross-member than to the back one. I think a smaller roller would be the way to go to allow the roller to sit below the keel.

GP

Mr. Demeanor · 04-24-2008, 11:39 AM

I am assuming the bunks are bolted to braces in two places, front and rear. Can you raise the front of the bunks a little and drill new holes for the bolts? That would raise the bow a little. My boat sits like this on my trailer.

GP-TJ · 04-24-2008, 01:25 PM

That's what I was thinking. I can go up one more notch on the front brackets. They will then be all the way up and the rear will be down one notch from the top. I didn't think about drilling a new hole for the screws into the bunk though. I guess I would have to do that too.

GP

GP-TJ · 04-24-2008, 06:34 PM

Tonight I returned the 12" roller, bought an 8" bracket and 8" poly (yellow) roller. Got 2 poly end caps and an 11.25 shaft. Put a few washers between the bracket and the endcaps to take up some space and put it on. I have about the same coverage as the 12" roller but with no edges to hit. The roller is sitting just below the hull. It is actually touching it but I can still turn it pretty easily.

I might put one on the back of the trailer in the future. It has a light bar on there so I will probably get the relocation bracket from ez loader.

GP

Brad1 · 04-25-2008, 03:04 AM

Quote:

Mr. Demeanor - 4/24/2008 10:05 AM

Quote:

Hawkeye - 4/24/2008 3:27 AM If its just the bow area, jack the boat up and carry that weight on the keel roller. Thats what its for. Its common to carry some weight up there. Keel is the strongest part of the bottom anyway. A couple inches of bow rise is not going to change the way the bunks carry the back of the boat.

I have to disagree with a couple of things posted. A keel roller is not designed to support weight.

Mr. Demeanoris correct.

Also, rather than using the 8" bracket, go with a 12" roller and get the roller bracket from EZ Loader: http://estore.ezloader.com/product.asp?0=213&1=254&3=2157

Look closely at the picture of the bracket in the link I posted above. You will notice that the hole for the roller shaft isNOT elevated above the top ofthe top of the bracket. Thiswould have allowed your roller to fit between the hull and trailer with clearance.

Now look at these brackets and note how the hole for the roller shaftIS elevated about the top of the bracket: http://www.boatersworld.com/product/...ckets-hardware. Now you may have bought the one piece roller bracket, but it doesn't matter because they're the same way and that is why your roller didn't fit.