Rollers or Bunk?

[Fishtails]

I'd appreciate some opinions on what trailer setup you guys would prefer given the choice? On a heavy 24 ft fiberglass boat, would you prefer a bunk trailer or a roller trailer?

[GAMBLER]

I have a roller and wish I had a bunk. I an older boat sits on a trailer over time, It will make roller marks in the fiberglass. The roller trailer is easy to get the boat on but for me it is only once or twice a season.

[Gray Fox]

We have a roller trailer for our Penn Yan and love it. Its ecspecially nice if there is low water, we also have the bottom of our boat painted so you can't see the roller marks. If you dont have the bottom painted, upgrade to the yellow rollers. There more money but wont leave marks, they also allow the boat to come on and off the trailer much easier.

[Jack]

I've had both over the years and like the roller over bunks. If you want to clean or paint the bottom you can move the boat on the roller trailer with little effort to get under the rollers . Easy on and easy off . If you have a well built boat and a good quality trailer with plenty of rollers you shouldn't have any hull issues. If you don't have deep water a bunk can be a pain to get the boat on and off . You pretty much have to drive the boat on and off and you'll never move the boat much with the winch if you didn't drive all the way up to the winch stand. Many times I felt like I was going to pull the eye out of the hull before I could get the boat to move the last 2" to snug it up to the bow roller.

JT

[Shakemsam]

Before I grew up, I worked for Loadrite Trailers and this topic came up quite often. It really depends on what you want from your trailer. If the boat spends most of its life on the trailer, bunk is the better choice. More support per square inch. Boat hulls can develop soft spots if sitting on a roller trailer for long periods of time. Rollers also crack and dry-rot and are more expensive to replace than wood and carpet. Urathane rollers are a better choice than rubber and will not dry-rot , but they will crack and they are expensive. Bunks are also the better choice for aluminum hulls. Bunk trailers are cheaper to purchase. Rollers are nice for the ease of loading and unloading. Mostly unloading because I see almost everyone bury their trailer so deep anyway, the rollers don't get a chance to do their thing. If you fish a lot of different areas, use different launches, rollers are an advantage. Just an FYI, for those of you with bunks, you can make them slicker by rubbing the carpet down with parafin wax. There are also after market sprays which work but also wash off after a few uses.

[ray koziatek]

ROD,ROD,ROD,,,, Do not buy rollers i can only visulize your first launch with rollers....plug in,tiedowns off, unhook safty chain unhook winch hook ok back her in WAIT....CRASH i forgot the launch rope. WOW those rollers work good

[spoonfed-1]

I have owned both and perfere the rollers hands down.

Glen

[stinger]

Rollers or bunks,....sorta like ford or chevy.

I've cranked boats on both types of trailers and I prefer rollers. I trailer my boat and at about 30 trips (average 180 miles round trip) a season cranking a boat on a trailer with bunks can make you breath hard. I guess a electric winch could be on your list but launching with rollers does have it's advantage. Just be sure not to unhook your bow hook & safety chain until the boat is down the ramp and ready to launch. Remember the boat will roll off the trailer on most ramp grades. If your not going to trailer the boat much then it probably doesn't matter much what type you get.

As the above posts may suggest the quality of the boat and trailer have to be considered. My boat is a 19' glass hardtop. Weighs in at about 3500 lbs with all equipment and 25 gal of gas (@6lbs gal). Each battery is about 62-65lbs. Gross weigh is 4440 lbs on a certified scale(880 lb for the trailer). I have a Shore Lander tandem axle trailer and it has 16 cushion rollers plus 6 keel rollers. Bought the package new in 2002. Other than when I'm in the water fishing the boat is on the trailer and no problem with the hull yet.

Hope some of this info helps. Regardless of which style trailer you buy you should get your boat weighed. Equipment adds up fast and you would be surprised at just how much stuffffff you have added to the overall weight of your boat.

[GAMBLER]

We have a roller trailer for our Penn Yan and love it. Its ecspecially nice if there is low water, we also have the bottom of our boat painted so you can't see the roller marks. If you dont have the bottom painted, upgrade to the yellow rollers. There more money but wont leave marks, they also allow the boat to come on and off the trailer much easier.

The roller marks I'm talking about are not in the paint, I'm talking about impressions in the fiberglass. It does not matter how many rollers you have, there still is a lot of weight on each roller. Over time, this can cause the impressions to form.

[skipper19]

for launch and load,... by myself...i prefer the bunks, the boat will stay on the trailer while loading if the trailer is at the right depth, something to experiment with. If you drive on and the engine can push you to the bow post, the friction of the hull and bunks will keep the boat in position while you move to the bow and hook the eye. If you can reach it over the bow, you never have to walk the plank or do the balancing act on the trailer tongue. Now I can get out off the boat after raising the motor and pull the boat out without worrying about the boat slipping off on the ramp. Same true with launching, it will not slip off on the ramp even if you unhook the eye, but I always leave the winch cable hooked and the safety chain off, just in case I need to bring the boat back up on the trailer if the engine won't fire for some reason. Granted there is some amount of pressure placed on the cable and eye while pulling it the last couple of inches to the bow post, but while it is wet it slides up ok. My boat is approx. 4500 lbs loaded with gas and the equipment it uses on board.

Mark

[Fishtails]

Thanks guys...I can't tell ya how helpful all this is. I have a 2003 Performance aluminum trailer right now with bunks. It's a great trailer, but it came without brakes . I'm putting the brakes on this spring, but before I invest that money into this trailer, I wanted to make sure it's the best trailer for the job.

My boat is fairly heavy for a 24. With the twin I/O's, bridge and all the extras it's probably somewhere between 6500-7000 lbs. If I'm not all the way submerged, it's imposable to pull all the way on the trailer, so at times my back wheels on my van are in the water. It has never been a problem yet...just more of a pain than anything. Usually I leave the bunks partly out of the water and drive on as far as I can and crank it up till it stops. Then I back in as far as needed to get her all the way on. I only load and unload 4-5 times a year....if that. I'd guess it sits on the trailer 8 months a year.

[Gray Fox]

My bad gambler, thought you were referring the the rubber marks sometimes left when loading. Luckily for us, these impressions have not been noticed on the hull. After a winter survey our hull is in great shape. We also leave the winch cable and safety chain attached while backing down the ramp as stated above.

[fulton6]

I have a bunk trailer and have found it sometimes impossible to crank the boat those last few inches. I installed guide-ons and back the trailer in the water a little further, hook-up/crank, then pull out of the water slowly and the guide-ons center the boat perfectly on the bunks. Never really liked the power loading method. In the cold weather I use hip boots instead of having to walk the plank.

[scobar]

I'd appreciate some opinions on what trailer setup you guys would prefer given the choice? On a heavy 24 ft fiberglass boat, would you prefer a bunk trailer or a roller trailer?

I have had both like some others and would hands down go for bunks for you application. The main purpose of a trailer is for the boat, not the human problem of loading and unloading.

[Hookedup]

Rod, My boat is about the same weight as yours boat and trailer 7000lbs. I have a bunk trailer but when I ordered it I got the poly (plastic covers) that go over the top of the bunks. The boat slides great on them, I bet you could add them to your trailer for not to much. Sean

[Fishtails]

Sean,

I'd like to take a look at those when we are out west in a few weeks. I've never seen those but it sounds like an option.