Loading issues

Son has a Lund Mr Pike 17 on a shorelander roller trailer. Boat is impossible to load centered on trailer. Loads off center about 4 inches. Power loading or cranking it on, the end result is the same. Only way to load even close is to push like h@## on side and that means getting in the water. We’ve tried loading with the trailer in deeper or shallower. Rollers look to match up evenly side to side. Any ideas would be helpful. Boat was almost given away last Saturday night right at the landing. Luckily nobody else there!!!!

I have a Lund 1600 explorer with the shorelander trailer I had the same problem. When loading I am always to far to the right side for some reason when I get about 3 or 4 feet to go I stop and turn the steering wheel to the right and finish power loading. For me the boat loads the rest of the way centered just like it is suppose to be. I have been doing this the past 3 years and it works for me. Good luck.

Good luck I had the same boat and a Sparten roller trailer, I tried everything under the sun to get it to load straight, finally converted it to bunks perfect every time

Most of the time this is
happening is because you are putting the trailer in to deep. Try stopping when the tires are half to 3/4 submerged.

If the boat pulls to one side or the other, adjust one of the rear roller racks (opposite side) outward toward the fender an inch or so. If the boat pulls left, move the right roller rack outward; if the boat pulls right, move the left roller rack outward, I had to do this to my friends boat after we had a heavy load on his boat from Minneapolis to Dryden, his did the same thing as yours, drove us crazy the whole trip

I have a Lund 16’DLX,{glorified resort boat] and I had the same problem left or right. First I mounted guides near the rear and then I moved both sets of rollers outward. I’ve had no trouble since.

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Most of the time this is
happening is because you are putting the trailer in to deep. Try stopping when the tires are half to 3/4 submerged.

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Grump is right on here. Roller trailers are made and set to guide your boat on properly. Back in until your back rollers are in about a foot of water. Power load or hand load and the rollers will guide the boat to center.

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I have a Lund 1600 explorer with the shorelander trailer I had the same problem. When loading I am always to far to the right side for some reason when I get about 3 or 4 feet to go I stop and turn the steering wheel to the right and finish power loading. For me the boat loads the rest of the way centered just like it is suppose to be. I have been doing this the past 3 years and it works for me. Good luck.

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I had the same problem with my Crestliner 1750 with a Shorelander trailer. It always loaded to the right and rested against the guide-on. The 5 years I owned the boat I always used the big motor to push the back in over to the center when power loading. Have bunks on the new boat and it loads perfect every time.

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Most of the time this is
happening is because you are putting the trailer in to deep. Try stopping when the tires are half to 3/4 submerged.

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Grump is right on here. Roller trailers are made and set to guide your boat on properly. Back in until your back rollers are in about a foot of water. Power load or hand load and the rollers will guide the boat to center.

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I put mine so the rear rollers are just under the water maybe six inches top. Haven’t had any issues since I started doing that.

The alumacraft 175 my dad has is a pain to get on straight too. I end up backing it back in the water to try and push it over a few inches all the time.
With ours the roller trailer really doesnt seem to “naturally make the boat go on straight”. It definitely seems to need some additional guide bars or something to keep the back end straight.

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Most of the time this is
happening is because you are putting the trailer in to deep. Try stopping when the tires are half to 3/4 submerged.

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Grump is right on here. Roller trailers are made and set to guide your boat on properly. Back in until your back rollers are in about a foot of water. Power load or hand load and the rollers will guide the boat to center.

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I put mine so the rear rollers are just under the water maybe six inches top. Haven’t had any issues since I started doing that.

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The guideline I used to use was when the water touched the bottom of the fenders on a somewhat normal launch (neither too steep or shallow)

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Most of the time this is
happening is because you are putting the trailer in to deep. Try stopping when the tires are half to 3/4 submerged.

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Grump is right on here. Roller trailers are made and set to guide your boat on properly. Back in until your back rollers are in about a foot of water. Power load or hand load and the rollers will guide the boat to center.

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I put mine so the rear rollers are just under the water maybe six inches top. Haven’t had any issues since I started doing that.

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I had the same issue until I moved one set of rollers slightly out( The side with my big A…. ). And stopped backing in when the most forward set of rollers just submergerd on shallow ramps and stick out above the water on steep ramps.

I had the same issue with mine…now if I back in so the rear of the fender flares, just touch the water, I am good Also, standing in the center of the boat when loading, helps keep it perfectly vertical

the roller brkts can be turned a little, too, to roll the boat one way or the other. loosen the brkt on the trailer frame, twist, and retighten.

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And stopped backing in when the most forward set of rollers just submergerd on shallow ramps and stick out above the water on steep ramps.

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This is what I do too.

Unless you are trailering several miles, does it really matter if it is 4 inches off center? I’m curious to what effect not centering your boat on your trailer will have?

How do you get the strap connected on a roller trailer when loading by yourself. unless I strap with the motor in gear and walk to front of boat it rolls off the trailer if I don’t have the trailer in deep. but then it is skewed on the trailer. aaarrrgggh

With the boat on the trailer look at how it sits in relation to the rollers. With a jack you can move the boat to the center of the trailer between the rails, main frame on the outside edge. With the boat on the jack yet off the rollers you unloosen the rollers and slide into a position that the rollers will not interfere with the strakes, but will still use them as a guide to center the boat. If you use a measuring tape and measure from the edge of the frame to the edge of the roller assembly you should have the same distance on the two front sets of rollers and the same distance on the back two sets of rollers. Unless the access is really uneven this should work. I have never used guideons until this year, the trailer came with them installed.

I have a 1750 fishhawk with a Shorelander roller trailer and used to have the same problems. A friend of mine has the same setup, but he has a short set of bunks about 18″ long about mid to 2/3 to the front of the trailer. He never had an issue getting his boat on straight. I went to 61 marine north of Hastings and had them order a set for me. They are in the shorelander accessories catalog for about $50-60. Took about 10 minutes per side to install and no more problems. No more boat rolling back off the trailer when loading either and they center the boat up on the trailer. Just enough resistance to keep the boat on the trailer, but not so much that it will not roll off the trailer with a little push when putting the boat in the water either. Like the others have said, don’t back in to deep either. I will add a picture of the bunks when I get home from work.

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How do you get the strap connected on a roller trailer when loading by yourself. unless I strap with the motor in gear and walk to front of boat it rolls off the trailer if I don’t have the trailer in deep. but then it is skewed on the trailer. aaarrrgggh

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Leave it in gear, get up to the front and put the strap on and then turn off motor. You don’t have to have your motor gunned to wash out the ramp just in gear. I can load my boat by myself in a couple of minutes and be out of the water.

Buy a bunk trailer

Here is the picture of the short mid trailer bunks I posted about earlier that solved my loading straight problems. About 6″ wide and 12″ long.

Those only work with a center keel roller trailer. If you have a trailer with the sets of rollers up front those bunks will not work.

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Buy a bunk trailer

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Unless you like to open water fish in the winter and do not have a heated garage.

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Buy a bunk trailer

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Unless you like to open water fish in the winter and do not have a heated garage.

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Yup, us duck hunting guys that hunt when its 10-15 degrees out all have heated garages to put our giant boat blinds in

You just have to back it in the water for a few minutes so the ice melts.

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Yup, us duck hunting guys that hunt when its 10-15 degrees out all have heated garages to put our giant boat blinds in

You just have to back it in the water for a few minutes so the ice melts.

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Touche! I just like to stir the pot during Ford vs Chevy discussions. I’m sure there are not any landings steep enough where dunkin’ and waiting for melt might be an appreciated behavior.

You want the flattest ramp you can find so the whole trailer sits in the water and you dont dunk the back end of the boat under water. Takes 3 or 4 minutes to thaw it out and you are ready to go.

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Unless you are trailering several miles, does it really matter if it is 4 inches off center? I’m curious to what effect not centering your boat on your trailer will have?

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The effect is the fingers pointing and the “look at how that idiot loaded his boat” as you go down the road… Not to mention, all the cops pulling you over and checking sobriety

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Here is the picture of the short mid trailer bunks I posted about earlier that solved my loading straight problems. About 6″ wide and 12″ long.

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Where did you find them ?

Laugh all you want at me. My boat is straight, it’s the dang trailer that is crooked.

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Here is the picture of the short mid trailer bunks I posted about earlier that solved my loading straight problems. About 6″ wide and 12″ long.

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Where did you find them ?

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I purchased them from 61 Marine in Hastings. They are in the Shorelander trailer accessories book. Any boat dealer that sells Shorelander trailers should be able to get them.
They were about $60 including shipping.