My old boat had a bunk trailer and my new Alumacraft has a roller trailer, problem is how do you hold the boat while you try to remove the safty strap and Hook and keep the boat from taking off down the trailer?
my dads crestliner is a rolling trailer and we keep it hooked at the bow untile we are most of the way in the water then un hook it if your by yourselff you just need to bring sandles or water boots so you can get in and than un hook it when you get it far enough in. roller trailers are a pain in the A** my boat is a bunk trailer i love it.
I just back in far enough that the boat is floating, then unhook the strap.
Back in, fire up the motor, put it in forward, walk up and unhook the chains. Done deal.
i would buy a new trailer.
You will get used to it. Just back the boat in like you are used to. Most likely wont need to back it in as far as a bunk trailer. Not sure about why you guys are getting your feet wet unloading. Go back and unhook the safety chain. Then while holding on the arm flip the lever and un hook the strap. Only on the most steep landings will the boat roll back. If ti does just follow it back with the cranking arm. Once and a great while you need to step up on the trailer and unhook the strap. More times than not I unhook it right away and push the boat off or go get back in the truck and launch it off.
Red door, Myr mar are a couple of the steeper ramps I have used. You finding much stepper than that?
I unhook the safety chain on level ground and then back the boat off the trailer with the strap.
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Back in, fire up the motor, put it in forward, walk up and unhook the chains. Done deal.
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Back in, fire up the motor, put it in forward, walk up and unhook the chains. Done deal.
This works, and you don’t have to gun the motor, just click it into gear.
I have a retractable rope on my boat. I back it into the water. Grab the rope and let her roll off. Before I had the retractable rope I just had a length of rope with a hook on it that I would clip on.
To be honest, I don’t push my boat off until the motor is good and running and idling on it’s own. I’ve had a few times where I pushed it off, tied it to the dock and then parked the truck. Came back and no start on the boat. It’s a pain to reload with no motor so now I make sure it’s running before letting her go.
Put 2×2 in stake pocket of pickup. Tye rope to cleat on boat, pull rope tight and winde rope around 2×2 five times. Unhook chain and strap while holdind rope, boat will roll about 6 inches as the rope tightens around 2×2. Now just unwind rope and let it roll off. Keep rope in hand and tye off to dock. This is the way i do it when fishing myself.
I have an all roller Shorelander and really like the trailer. Take the keel roller closest to the winch I pulled the pin out and replaced it with a bolt. Tighten down the bolt just enough so the roller is just a bit snug. On all but the steepest landings the boat will stay put until I give her a bit of a shove. Unloading in real shallow landings it does take more of a push to clear the keel from the first roller. Loading just power load, the boat will not roll back except for the steepest of landings.
I heard a loud crash, apparently a guy unhooked his safety chain and strap on a Rainbow Flowage landing while the water was way down and his boat made it off the trailer before he got to the water. The brand new 50hp skeg kept it from rolling all the way off and I cranked it on while while he slowly backed the trailer back, but it wrecked his day. It could have been worse.
I always leave it hooked till the boat rolls into the water and then unhook and with a short or long rope control the boat after the pressure is off the strap.
Mark
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i would buy a new trailer.
This ^^^
“A roller trailer and a steep landing”
Why power loading will never go away.
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You will get used to it. Just back the boat in like you are used to. Most likely wont need to back it in as far as a bunk trailer. Not sure about why you guys are getting your feet wet unloading. Go back and unhook the safety chain. Then while holding on the arm flip the lever and un hook the strap. Only on the most steep landings will the boat roll back. If ti does just follow it back with the cranking arm. Once and a great while you need to step up on the trailer and unhook the strap. More times than not I unhook it right away and push the boat off or go get back in the truck and launch it off.
Red door, Myr mar are a couple of the steeper ramps I have used. You finding much stepper than that?
+1 and I never get wet feet.
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“A roller trailer and a steep landing”
Why power loading will never go away.
FWIW – I have never seen a bunk trailer owner winch his boat up…power loading appears to be the norm there…..but I have seen a lot of roller trailer owners winching…..
T
The reason why one would get their feet wet is if its a steep landing but the actual ramp and water depth is not that deep and they need to back in far enough to get the boat to float.
I have been at landings that are very steep but then have to back in to where my rear truck tires are touching water.
Unhook the safety chain back in until the boat slightly floats, release the crank and slowly back it off. If by yourself tie a rope to front cleat and to the dock, if no dock tie off to tongue of trailer.
I have never seen a bass boat with a roller trailer. ever. there must be some reason for that.. like, for one, you get full and even weight distribution.. meaning that the bunk carries the weight of the boat, throughout the bunk, instead of on a point or a roller..
I personally would not own a roller trailer, no matter how the boat came packaged. either the dealer would change and fix it , or I would find a dealer that wanted to sell me a boat in the way I WANTED IT, and not in the way HE WANTED IT.. 
too many times I have seen under powered boats, or underpowered trolling motors installed on a boat, because that what the dealer has most in stock.. so you buy this underachieving boat.. and then you have to pay extra to make it do what you wanted it to do in the first place.. by trading out a trolling motor, or by buying one ,and selling yours a loss. .
not counting that you have to beat the crap out of an underpowered engine just to make the boat perform.. so your engine has a shorter life..
and its all because you “listened to the dealer” instead of listening to what you needed in a boat, a motor and a trailer..
old rat,
i think your in the wrong post here, the guy was asking for advise on roller trailers (which he has) and steep landings.
something you obviously know nothing about.”i would not own a roller trailer” no body cares.
me personally, i run a alumicraft navigator 175 cs and i would not be caught dead with a bunk trailer. not that i think they aren’t any good but there are some boat landings (and i use that term loosely)i use that if i had a bunk trailer i would NEVER be able to get my boat on or off the trailer. as far as you then going off on dealers, what point are you trying to make? and how is what you babbled about going to help the original post?
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old rat,
i think your in the wrong post here, the guy was asking for advise on roller trailers (which he has) and steep landings.
something you obviously know nothing about.”i would not own a roller trailer” no body cares.
me personally, i run a alumicraft navigator 175 cs and i would not be caught dead with a bunk trailer. not that i think they aren’t any good but there are some boat landings (and i use that term loosely)i use that if i had a bunk trailer i would NEVER be able to get my boat on or off the trailer. as far as you then going off on dealers, what point are you trying to make? and how is what you babbled about going to help the original post?
Thank you Slack.. You beat me to it.
The biggest mistake I make launching w/ my roller trailer is not unhooking the safety chain before backing down the ramp. It’s tough unhooking once the pressure of the boat is put on the chain. I keep the the boat tied up until in the water, then let off the trailer slowly. I don’t worry about getting my feet wet. I wear knee high rubber boots when the water is cold and don’t care about getting my feet wet when the water is warmer.
one , I seldom if ever, get my feet wet, to the point of maybe the bottom of my soles..once or twice a year..
and two, a friend of mine was “sold” the aforementioned underpowered boat, because that’s what the dealer had.. and so it applies with the roller trailer, since the original poster previously had a bunk trailer..
and three, if I am wrong, well, I have been wrong many times before and will be again..
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and two, a friend of mine was “sold” the aforementioned underpowered boat, because that’s what the dealer had..
Kind of a two way street there Rat. Your friend “bought” said underpowered boat and could have just walked away and went somewhere else.
he was given the old, “how fast do you need to go” story.. and the same with the trolling motor.. until he got out on Lake Onalaska in the wind.. and couldn’t move.. on high bypass.. and it wasn’t that windy..
it was put together, and totally underpowered front and rear.. how do you say to the saleman, who out and out states,, Oh yeah, this will do it for you..
we found out in one afternoon.. it was a mess.
Poor salesman for sure. They may have got rid of a rig, but lost a customer in the long run.
And with many new buyers, have to trust the salesman.
I have a roller and use it at Everts on both the North low ramps and the South steep ramp. There are times when I ask for help on the low ramps or have to get wet up to my ankles. Good thing for me is there’s many good people that are willing to help out.
I was helping load boats at the Ramp at Everts last weekend when everyone decided to get off the water. Personally, the only difference I could see in the two was that the boat had to be motored on all the way up the the stop pole. Trying to crank them a foot or two was way too much work. The trailer was backed up a little and the operator zipped it up a little further. (If the trailer was backed in a little further to begin with this wouldn’t have been an issue) It was easier to crank up a roller.
Now I’m just talking about loading. I wasn’t around for launching.
Rat, you’re exposing yourself again. 
yeah my slip is showing.. 
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I have a retractable rope on my boat. I back it into the water. Grab the rope and let her roll off.
Do you by chance have a pic of that?
Mike and Kirk
Anybody with a bunk obviously hasn’t fished those sweet little lakes that we like to frequent in upnort sconnie. I couldn’t own a bunk either. I get in the water to winch it up and it doesn’t bother me one bit. Some of those launches are no more than beaches. I never plan on owning a 20 ft glass boat with a 225.
SteveO,
My thoughts exactly. The landings on Big McKenzie and a couple other lakes over by Webb Lake are really shallow and you can end up backing your truck in 25 yards to get enough water to push the boat off a roller trailer. A bunk trailer you would be 75 yards from shore before the boat is floating. How do you launch there without getting your feet wet?
I had the same problem when I went by myself. So I fastened with a bolt a large wood dowel about 2 inches long on the other side from the handle of the winch. I hook the mooring rope into the eye on the boat and wrap it a couple of times around the dowel and keep it tight. Then remove safety chain and remove tension on the strap while holding the boat with the mooring rope. Get enough of the strap loose to remove the hook from the eye and slowly let the mooring rope release as the boat slowly backs off the trailer. Works good for me, painted the dowel and bolt the color of the trailer.
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