Boat Trailers – Bunk or Roller?

My wife and I bought our current boat a year after we got married. 16 years later and growing boys, its too small. We have been shopping for a new boat and plan to buy anytime between now and spring. We are planning a 19′-20′ boat, most likely tin. We have always had a roller trailer (1600 Crestliner Super Hawk). The boats we have looked at all have had bunk trailers. (ALumacraft Trophy and T-Pro, Crestliner Fish and Super Hawks, Lund Tyee and Pro-V) I am not really opposed, just haven’t really thought about it. We fish mainly big waters but do local fishing too (Mankato area). opinions?

Also, brands to consider or really to avoid? front steps? Drotto?

I’ve had both and I would never go back to a roller.

Bunk for this guy. Front steps nice but not necessary.

There’s a reason most boat trailers aren’t using rollers anymore. Bunks > rollers.

Same as the others have said I would never go back to rollers unless it was a little boat and at that point I don’t think it would really matter.

I assume the only reason folks choose rollers is for questionable/shallow boat launches.

Does a drotto make sense for bunks though? doesnt’t the boat sit on bunks well enough to latch it without a drotto?

Had both and wouldnt go back to bunks

Mike m wrote:

Had both and wouldnt go back to bunks

care to elaborate? I would appreciate it. Easy of loading? don’t care to drive on?

No need for drotto on my bunk. I drive up to hook clip it crank one time. Bunks just take a bit to get used to as far as how deep you put the trailer in the water to load. How mess around with it for an hour and I’m sure you will figure it out. I would only think of a roller trailer on 16 ft or less boat. Bunks are much easier once you get it down.

joe-winter wrote:

I assume the only reason folks choose rollers is for questionable/shallow boat launches.

Does a drotto make sense for bunks though? doesnt’t the boat sit on bunks well enough to latch it without a drotto?

Yes the Drotto still makes sense if you are loading and unloading by yourself a lot.

Yeah I would like to hear that response as well. I have had both as well. I wasn’t a fan of the roller trailer. I did have a bunk trailer that was much taller than my present bunk trailer that I had an issue getting the boat off at a couple landings. I haven’t had that issue with my present trailer. If the landing I used all the time was really shallow, or you couldn’t power load that would be the only way I would ever go back to a roller trailer.

joe-winter wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>michael martine wrote:</div>
Had both and wouldnt go back to bunks

care to elaborate? I would appreciate it. Easy of loading? don’t care to drive on?

I was always a Big Fan of bunk trailers and did not think I would see the day I owned a Trailer with Rollers. My current boat has a roller trailer. Most of the newer roller trailers if set up correctly load just as easy as a bunk trailer. Rollers will unload way better in really shallow landings. Some of the landings I’ve used a Buck trailer would need to back in till way after their front tires were in the water and even then they would struggle to get the boat off. If you don’t fish anyplace with shallow landings I’d say the bunk may be a slightly better option. If shallow landings are common I’d go rollers for sure.

I have a roller trailer and launch very shallow. It makes loading and unloading easy with a 17ft 7 boat. It always goes up real easy and straight on.
My winch rope broke the other day though cranking it on and almost lost the boat back in to the lake. That wouldn’t happen with a bunk

Recently switched from roller to bunk. Big fan of the bunks for all the reasons mentioned. Only issue I could see is launching in really shallow water or a launch without much grade. Haven’t had that issue yet.

Trailer steps are the bomb, too. I don’t see much reason for a drotto with bunks but I know others like them.

I will also chime in for all the that have said people saying that a drotto latch isn’t needed or worth the money on a bunk trailer on this site the last month over a few different posts. Not all trailers, and boats are the same. I have seen several people say that their boat doesn’t slide back after they drive it up tight, so the drotto isn’t worth the money. To them I would say yes that would be the case. Keep in mind that some boats will slide back unless the landing is almost flat and you pull the boat out with kid gloves. My boat will always slide back at least a little, but normally about 3 to 4 inches if it weren’t strapped tight or with the drotto. If I pull the boat out and try to crank it up tight it will not move the 3 to 4 inches. If I tried to leave more of the trailer out of the water it won’t slide to power it up tight. There may be a fine line to make it work and stay put but I had never hit that threshold. I have another friend that has a nice step system and for him that works well. When I bought the boat I have now it had a step system on it that was terrible. It felt like a fun house ride that swayed all over the place with my 225lbs fat ass, so for my situation the drotto works well.

Bunks with Teflon glide strips are the cats meow.

-J.

joe-winter wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>michael martine wrote:</div>
Had both and wouldnt go back to bunks

care to elaborate? I would appreciate it. Easy of loading? don’t care to drive on?

ive got a 17.5’ deep v , I like it for the ease of loading and unloading, especially shallow boat landings. Back up so the winch is at the waters edge , unhook, give A little push and its off . Rope tied to pull it to shore of course. When loading , drive it on , hook up ssfety chain snd go.

Jon Jordan wrote:

Bunks with Teflon glide strips are the cats meow.

-J.

Do those come after-market? or a specific brand of trailer?

I’ve seen some people replace their wood bunks and bunk carpet with Ultimate Bunk Boards. I don’t personally know anyone but they have good reviews and would be a more permanent solution than standard wood bunks with marine carpet.

https://www.ultimatebunkboards.com/

I was at La Cannes and they have an Eagle trailer that looked really nice and quality.

I was at Northstar Powersports and they had Shor’lander. Didn’t seem as nice.

i have only owned Karavan. was fine.

Any thoughts as to trailer brand? I am talking dual axel.

joe-winter wrote:

We have always had a roller trailer (1600 Crestliner Super Hawk). The boats we have looked at all have had bunk trailers. (ALumacraft Trophy and T-Pro, Crestliner Fish and Super Hawks, Lund Tyee and Pro-V) I am not really opposed, just haven’t really thought about it.

You have had some good responses and as you can see, the opinions vary.

My question to you is; Have you been satisfied with your present roller trailer when used at the launches you frequent? Do you foresee launching conditions changing when you purchase a new but bigger boat?

FWIW; I have three boats. The two smaller boats are fiberglass over wood construction and sit on bunk trailers. The other boat is a Crestliner tiller and sits on a roller trailer with a Drotto latch.
I don’t see any compelling reason for me to make any change in any of my boat/trailer configurations. That said, the boat on the roller trailer takes less effort to launch and less HP to fully load back onto the trailer,,,,,,,,,,,, at the launches I frequent.

gimruis wrote:

There’s a reason most boat trailers aren’t using rollers anymore.

Price point

Dealers can offer a lower price point on a rig set up with a bunk trailer. The same rig set up on a roller trailer will cost more.

The EZ loader bunk trailer I had was a well built trailer just too tall. The Warrior 208 a friend has is a EZ loader and he is very happy with it so far. My first EZ loader was roller trailer and the axle was either bent or not aligned very well. It carved tires big time. My present Ranger trailer has been good. My first ranger trailer had issues. They have redesigned them from the first and is much better now.

joe-winter wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Jon Jordan wrote:</div>
Bunks with Teflon glide strips are the cats meow.

-J.

Do those come after-market? or a specific brand of trailer?

After market add on like these:

http://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/tie-down-engineering-bunk-slick-boat-trailer-glide-ons

I will never own a roller trailer. Both of my boats are bunk trailers and they load effortlessly. If you have experience with a bunk trailer you can load and unload as fast without a drotto as you can with one. I’ve launched my fiberglass Tuffy in 20″ of water on a shallow muddy ramp.

Rollers add more moving parts that could potentially break, corrode, stick, etc. not to mention what they will do to a glass boat over time (and some aluminum as well).

I have the ultimate bunk boards on my G3 they are good not as slick as I hoped but better than carpeting. Other boat 16 Lund had rollers made it into a bunk trailer best thing I ever did. I too had a post about this not to long ago.

Biggest thing about bunk trailers in my opinion is like mentioned the trailer height or where the boat sits on it, get the style that the boat sits down lower, that will allow you to launch in most cases just fine.

Jon Jordan wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>joe-winter wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Jon Jordan wrote:</div>
Bunks with Teflon glide strips are the cats meow.

-J.

Do those come after-market? or a specific brand of trailer?

After market add on like these:

http://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/tie-down-engineering-bunk-slick-boat-trailer-glide-ons

I have these (similar) and they work great. Just check the screws every once in awhile to ensure they aren’t sticking up.

Also side note, bunks can have your boat freeze to them vs the rollers don’t freeze up well. Not sure if you fish in the freezing months or not.

thanks everyone for the input. its been a fun process of picking out a new boat. But a lot of questions come up that I haven’t put a lot of thought into. This stuff really helps. Thank You