New to the Deep-V boats questions

I bought a Trophy 170 last fall and so far love it. But this is the first boat I have ever had that has a roller trailer. There comes that question. I have considered switching to a bunk trailer but really don’t want to spend the money on it. With my pervious boat (bass boat) I could have that thing on and off the trailer in no time. This thing is killing me. The roller trailer is kicking my butt. I can never seem to get it on the trailer strait. It always sets off to one side no matter how much I try. I’m just looking for a little advise. What am I doing wrong? Is it into the water too far, not enough in the water?

Check out Drotto Boat Latch, I put it on my roller trailer and will never look back.

I would bring the trailer out of the water a little more when loading. Might help you in getting it straight. Once the keel hits the front roller, you want the rear rollers to be physically touching the hull when you latch it to the front post. It will keep the boat from moving side-to-side on the rollers before you pull the boat out.

I assume you are driving it on. Roller trailers are designed to auto align the boat as you crank the boat on.

With my Shorelander roller trailer and Lund aluminum, if I want a perfect load, I’ll back in until the back rollers are half way under the water line. Assuming the trailer is pretty level and I hand crank from there it will be perfectly straight on the trailer. My boat has about 2″ clearance each side between the wheel wells.

From there you can start to develop short cuts. I do drive it on more than I use to. When I do that I’m probably 6″ deeper with the trailer.

Does the boat list to one side due to weight distribution, including the driver if power loading?

Every ramp is different, some are steep, shallow or tilted. I watch both fenders for water depth as well as the bow roller. Many times people back in too deep when loading.
I’ve found a good system for powerloading, but if cranking I find I need to be a tad deeper with the trailer.
I recommend finding a good landing on a quiet day and experiment a few times with your trailer at different depths to find what works best for your set up.

Agree with the last three replies, you might be getting the trailer too far in the water – I also get the back rollers about halfway wet vs completely submerged for most tin boats on roller trailers when I power load and have found that to be the sweet spot. Hope this helps, good luck.

Agree with others, backing in too far.
I shoot for the back roller at the surface, depending on the slope of ramp, and the second to last rollers half submerged.

Part of the trick is to take it easy on those back rollers. For me the longest part is getting the boat lined up and the slow drive to the trailer so it doesn’t pound on the back cross member when loading. A tail wind makes it trickier.
So it’s slowly coasting in until stopped on the first set of rollers, then drop it in gear and straighten, then power up just enough to move it up to the post.

Rivers are a whole different adventure.

Just put the rear rollers in the water and drive it on let the rollers center the boat. I see to many times people putting the whole trailer under water.

Back rollers ½ ways under to the tops of the back rollers just above the water line for me. Perfect load every time including the river.

Agree with everyone but you can also add a set of guides to get the boat lined up. Most people get the trailer too far in and that’s the problem but if you are in wind or current a set of guides can really help. I mount mine so I have about 2 inches of clearance on each side.

Don’t plow into the guides because they will bend but it’s a pretty cheap way to have an extra set of hands so to speak. You can see the guides installed on the back in this pic. One other suggestion is to get guides that go as high as you can. I had a short set that only went about half way up the hull and they sucked in current. The boat would get hung up on them and they didn’t help all that much.

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Drotto will help I will be ordering one shortly lol. I love my roller trailer so far.

I agree with the previous replies. Just ease the boat up to the rear set of rollers. The hull should be contacting the rollers and go no further forward at this point. At this time the keel should be centered or nearly so between the rear set of rollers. Steer the engine as needed, to bring the stern around so it too, is aligned to the trailer, return the engine to straight ahead and increase the throttle. The hull should ride up and out of the water as it moves forward onto the trailer.
If the rollers are not lifting the boat, they can’t guide the boat. You may need to trim the engine up just a bit (not a lot) to avoid a prop strike on the ramp.

The whole process takes longer to type, than do. It should almost be one continuous smooth action once you get the hang of it.

I did not realize they were still making trailers with rollers. I thought it was all bunks now. Roller trailers are significantly harder to power load a boat than bunks are.

gim wrote:

I did not realize they were still making trailers with rollers. I thought it was all bunks now. Roller trailers are significantly harder to power load a boat than bunks are.

Harder in what way? It takes very little power to drive a boat up the rollers. Unless the ramp has a legal restriction, I power load all my boats. The rig that give me the most trouble is the one on a bunk trailer. Sometimes I can’t get it powered all the way to the winch post. If I back in deep enough to power to the winch, I’m in so deep I can’t get out of the boat and into my truck with out stepping into the water.