trailer adjustment

part 2 of the new to me trailer, everything seems to be together correctly and now it is time to get the boat on it and get it adjusted. Buzzsaw and I took the boat out but now I need to adjust the trailer to the boat and since I haven’t worked with bunk trailers before I wanted to run a couple options past people here and get some feedback/ideas. The first time we loaded it I cranked the eye up to the rolled and the boat was only sitting on the back couple feet of the bunks and the bunks were right up to the end of the boat. The problem was the front 2/3 of the boat wasn’t touching the bunks. I took it back to the launch and floated it back so that it was resting on the bunks and now I am wondering what the best way to adjust it is….the way I see it I have a couple options. 1) I can lower the rear of the bunks one hole (just remove the lower bolt), this looks like it would work but then my boat would be at a slight up angle….maybe that doesn’t matter. 2) I leave it where it sits and adjust the pedastal/winch to match. or 3) I move the pedastal forward to get the boat all the way onto the trailer so I don’t have the gap at the end of the bunks and lower it winch on the pedastal to match then.

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pitcures…maybe

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I would have the boat either level or nose up so water can drain out the back.

I agree with MX1825 about having the boat be nose-high for rainwater drainage, but I would make it sit more flush on those rear bunks to spread out the stress of supporting all that weight. Also, it’s best if the bunk extends all the way to the rear so there’s no “overhang” of the boat.

I didn’t quite figure out from the pictures how the bunks are arranged, but from the one picture it looks like there may be some curvature of the hull that will prevent you from getting the whole length of the bunks to sit flush against the hull. The photo might be deceptive but if that’s the case you might add and extra few layers of carpet at the free end of the bunk.

If moving one bunk mount or the other by “one set of holes” is too much of a change, you can elongate the appropriate set of holes with a rat-tail file for a more precise adjustment. With a nice sharp file, this should only take about five minutes per hole.

You mentioned changing the location of the front winch mount and roller to accommodate or to cause changes in boat tilt from front to rear, but if there’s a central roller located within the forward half of the boat, and it seems like there could be, you will need to deal with that as well. In any case, adjusting one point of support usually means re-adjusting all of the other ones too.

I wouldn’t mess with taking the boat to the launch to free up the support adjusters, if that was part of your reason for going there. In case you aren’t already doing this, it will be a simple matter to just jack the boat up from one rear corner at a time. Use a piece of 2×4 or 2×6 lumber to spread out the support area where the boat gets lifted. If you don’t have a jack that is suitable for this job, rent one. Your time and aggravation is worth that minor cost.

Every bunk trailer I’ve owned the end of the bunk lined up with the transom. I think the transom needs the support of the bunk under it.

Pat K wrote:

Every bunk trailer I’ve owned the end of the bunk lined up with the transom. I think the transom needs the support of the bunk under it.

I was thinking that also.

I would start by moving the post forward. Then, move the winch down the post, to meet the top of the bow eye.

Doing so will also move the boat forward on the bunks. How much is undetermined from the photo.

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