FlounderFan

My 16' McKee had an excellent Shorelander trailer set up nicely. My 17' McKee has a well built trailer that's a bit skimpy, but is 'old school' leaving the boat sitting much higher than the 16'.

My 14' came w/rusted out trailer & then I was given a great galv roller trailer, that looked to be a 16'-18'. Thought I'd move the 17' onto the new trailer & put the 14' onto the other. Trouble is, side-by-side, the 16'-18' trailer also looks skimpy next to the big McKee. Seems like I have 2 trailers that are small for a 17' & large for a 14'! Need my 16' back!

Regardless I don't like the rollers, partially b/c they lift the hull 12" above the dropped frame, but mostly b/c they don't work/fit well on the cathedral hull & look designed for V-hulls. Thinking of converting to bunks, but that leaves me scratching my head when I look at the hull. Would like to see some trailers that are well set up for the 14' McKee's unique dimensions. Has anyone else already invented this wheel? Please post your favorite, simple, sturdy, stable, low to ground, easy launch/retrieve bunk set up. Don't mind the oversized trailer, I'm ~80 miles from either coast & $3 gas means the little boat behind the minivan needs to get wet more often.

lorotelli1

FlounderFan-

The trailer for my 14-ft Mckee had only two short bunks with no center rollers. The previous owner did a good job of piercing the hull with the corner of a bunk when the boat did not sit square on the trailer.

So, as recommended on the contiuouswave.com website, I set my trailer up with fixed center rollers supporting the center chine... supposedly the strongest part of the hull. Rollers from bow to transom are as follows: 4-inch spool roller mounted to traile tounge, two 5-inch v-rollers mounted to crossmembers, and 8-inch v-roller at the rearmost crossmember. In positioning the height of each roller, I first fully supported the boat on jackstands. This allowed me to raise each roller to exactly the position it needed to be in to evenly support the curved chine the full length of the hull. I then repositioned the two bunks just inboard of the two outboard chines (got that?... read twice) to further support and balance the boat side to side... but not necessarily take the full hull weight.

Seems to work well.