Loading a roller trailer

I have had this rig for over a year now and have unloaded/loaded approx. 30 or more times. Cannot for the life of me get this one on straight. I have tried many things many ways…to no avail. I get it real close when I can jack the trailer hard left at landing. It rides high on the Port side. I was wondering, what would be the ramifications if I moved just the port (or left) rollers out towards edge of trailer just an inch or so. Would that force the boat to then fall a little to the starboard side. Also I have the center roller where I could angle it so that it pitched the keel back toward right a little. In essesence unlevel, at an angle. Trust me when I tell you I aint that inexperianced with boat loading. This has me going nuts.

Crispy

I would make sure that the rollers are equally spaced and riding in the rite spots on the boat.

When I got my first roller trailer I played with it for a year, trying to get the boat to load nice and straight…I talked to my dealer and he recommended that I back the trailer up just far enough into the water to just cover the back rollers….Just so they are just barley under water…then drive it on slowly, steering to center the boat..Sometimes I get it to the bow roller, sometimes I’m just a bit shore and crank it up the rest of the way…

I hope this helps!!!

Leave the straps loose and let it bounce for a couple miles she is like new. I gave up on trying to get it dead on I just load it and go.

what Mr. Koonce said. I even leave the back rollers completely out of the water or just 1/2 way under. i don’t usually power load. I have a 17′ tin boat and can winch it on with no problem. straight every time.

I swear by Roller Guides. Cost $109.00 at Cabelas, takes 10 minutes to put on. NEVER again worry at a boat ramp. The guys who recommend rear rollers only in the water are right too. But with the roller guides, it’s not that critical. Think about it. Port and Starboard are perfect, bow eye centered on mast, a perfect triangle – flawless – even in a crosswind.

have a link?

Is the boat a tiller or counsol? I have the same problem with my counsol. I found that if I move to the center of the boat before the front hits the rollers that it will center better. Then it is so close, I just don’t worry about it anymore.

Rear rollers barely covered, crank it up. PVC guides are also a huge help especially in chop and wind. When you get it down, you will be faster than the powerloaders. Piece of cake.

web page

I use the above (but not with the LED option). My PVC pipes are open at the top. When I launch the boat, I’ll pull out the strap far enough to hook it into one of the PVC tops. Then when I back the trailer into the water, the strap is already out and reachable from the boat. Just connect, crank, and go. No more trying to have your buddy throw you the strap and conk you in the head with the clip while you do a balancing act on the bow of the boat.

Mike

Best tip someone once gave me is to stand in the middle of the boat when you’re heading onto the trailer – increases success rate considerably. Works for my wife also.

Pete

I added my kicker to the starboad side of my boat, since then, I have pretty much given up tryng to get the boat on level, a few things I have tried with some success, is standing in the middle or as far to port as I can while driving onto the traier. I also found that making sure both my livewells are full seemed to offset my weight and that of the kicker motor. I also move my large tackle bag to the side opposite me.

I will have to try leaving the trailer out of the water more, after reading this thread I am in way to far!

I’ve got a 19′ aluminum that really gets grabbed by cross winds and current. I took off my small guides and put on larger ones. I back in until they are just out of the water and am able to load almost all the way to the hook, I just leave it in gear and then reach down and hook it up. When the boat comes out of the water and settles onto the trailer it centers very nicely.

Here’s the link to what I use…

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?type=product&cmCat=Related_IPL_020653&id=0030707017526a

Hey, thanks for the suggestions. I am going to try Erick’s! Seriously I have tried all these. My problem is not getting it cradled into the rollers, it is that my boat lists to the starboard side, cause of the console steering. Also I mounted my Minkota Maxum on the wrong side. But I thought that if I did offset the portside rollers a little more to the outside of the frame, that it would force the craft to slip to the starboard side, thus centering the boat, properly over the wheels. Maybe I am not explaining my idea good enough. In essesce, the rollers would not be equally spaced as they are now. Also speaking of roller spaceing, is there information that prescribes the proper measurements of rollers relating to the offsetting distance from center keel, ect. Wow way to complicated. Like I said I am concidering the bounce method.

Back rollers BARELY covered, nose the boat onto the keel roller, hold her in gear while attaching strap and then crank her up. Once you find your trailers sweet spot, it will be a piece of cake. It will always be off a smiggin either way, but not a ton-beauty of a roller trailer.
Unloading, dunk it deep and let if float off, Loading barely have the thing in the water.

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Back rollers BARELY covered, nose the boat onto the keel roller, hold her in gear while attaching strap and then crank her up. Once you find your trailers sweet spot, it will be a piece of cake. It will always be off a smiggin either way, but not a ton-beauty of a roller trailer.
Unloading, dunk it deep and let if float off, Loading barely have the thing in the water.

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My girlfriend first time ever loading a boat put it on, back rollers barely out you will be golden, no need to spend a dime, just keep off that throttle!!

After having to setup many new trailers, I have found that the front rollers do most of the guiding. If you eyeball the front of your boat and look for the v-portion, this is where you want the rollors to make contact with. I dont mean right in the very front, down towards the bottom where the v starts to flatten out. The rollers need to be set equalled distances off the frame of the trailer. As for the back set try to widen the rollors out further then the front set. Make sure the back of the transom sits on top of the back set of rollers. Keep in mind if you have strakes on the bottom of the boat, use these as guides to adjust the rollers too. The strakes help imensly with the guiding on of the trailer.
My rule of thumb on a Lund with a shorelander/ezloader is the front set rollers was measured at 20 inches from the frame.