Converting Floppy Roller Trailer to Bunk and Keel Roller

[outrageous210]

I have purchased a 2002 210 OUTRAGE. The boat weighs about 3,300-lbs.

This 210 OUTRAGE is now sitting on a floppy-roller trailer. I received quotes for a new trailer with the costs ranging from $5,000 to $7,000. Because of that expense, I plan to renovate the existing trailer, and convert the trailer to have bunks instead of floppy rollers.

There is an incredible amount of information on trailers in this forum, but I want to receive advice on the current trailer and on my plan to convert it to a bunk trailer.

Q1: can I buy two timbers of 2 x 8 dimension and bolt them to the brackets the floppy rollers are now attached to?

I plan to mount these two bunk vertically [perhaps means with the 8-inch dimension in the vertical orientation]. I plan to use a 5/8-inch bolt to hold the bunks in place.

The current trailer has only two crossmembers.

Q2: does having only two crossmembers on the trailer mean multiple swivel brackets cannot be used?

I can add a Keel Roller to the rear cross member.

The [unidentified] boat is also quite high, sitting about 9-inches from axle and crossmember. By using a 2 x 8 the boat would drop it down about 1-1/2-inches, resulting in the boat keel then being 7-1/2-inches above crossmember.

Q3: will a keel roller work if the boat keel is 7-1/2-inches above a crossmember?

Q4: or, is a keel that is 7-1/2-inches above a crossmember too high for a keel roller to work?

Refer Figure 1 where a drawing contains yellow and blue markings.

Fig. 1. Drawing of the hull of the unidentified boat showing longitudinal and transverse views

hull01a.png (53.2 KiB) Viewed 498 times

Q5: should the bunks be placed in the yellow section of the hull or in the blue section of the hull?

Fig. 2. The floppy rollers and their mounting brackets.

floppyRollers_.jpg (55.07 KiB) Viewed 497 times

Fig. 3. Trailer in side view.

trailerSideView_.jpg (54.68 KiB) Viewed 496 times

[Phil T]

I would remove everything that is bolted to the two cross members.

Install 4 2x6 boards (two boards on each side) on pivoted bunk brackets.

https://www.sturdybuiltonline.com/2-Boat-Trailer-Double-U-Bolt-Bunk-Bracket-Swivel-Top-10-Tall-Galvanized-Kit-for-2x3-Cross-Members_p_1824.html

I would also install two 12" non-marring keel rollers on each cross member, one forward and one aft for a total of 4.
https://www.sturdybuiltonline.com/12-inch-Blue-Poly-Vinyl-Boat-Trailer-Keel-Roller-and-Bracket-Kit-for-2x3-Cross-Members_p_1833.html

See Fig 4. in the Reference article on trailering. Link below:
https://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/trailering/trailer.html

[jimh]

The trailer needs at least one more crossmember, and it should be near the bow of the boat.

Fig. 4. Crossmember and keel roller at bow. This helps stabilize the boat on the trailer and lift the hull into the winch roller slot. A tensioned strap from the bow eye to the trailer frame holds the bow in position so there will be no tendency for the bow to bounce on the highway when towing.

bowCrossmemberAndRoller.jpeg (99.67 KiB) Viewed 490 times

The trailer desperately needs fenders.

There is plenty of clearance of the boat chines at the tires, and after you add fenders, the chine line of the boat should be positioned so it is about 1-inch to not more than 2-inches above the top of the fender.

Fig. 5. Close-up of boat chine line relative to top of trailer fenders; clearance is about 1.25-inches.

chineLineAtFenders.jpeg (38.96 KiB) Viewed 491 times

Lowering the boat height on the trailer will give many advantages:

• the amount of immersion of the trailer needed to get the boat to become buoyant and float off the bunks will be greatly reduced;
• boarding the boat from the ground when on the trailer will become much easier;
• the general stability of the trailer when on the highway and at speed will improve as the center of gravity will be lowered with the lowering of the boat; and,
• the vertical clearance of the boat will be reduced, which can be very useful when towing when you drive under overhanging trees, low overhead canopies at fuel stations or motel entrances, of your storage area entrance.

[jimh]

Refer Figure 1 where a drawing contains yellow and blue markings.

Q5: should the bunks be placed in the yellow section of the hull or in the blue section of the hull?

You really need bunks in both locations.

[jimh]

Regarding renovating a trailer, the costs can add up rapidly, particularly because you will be buying all the new components individually at retail prices.

There can also be a lot of ugly work involved in trailer renovation.

You should add up the cost of all the new parts and compare it to the cost of an entirely new trailer.

For example, you might need to replace:

• tires
• bearings
• brakes
• hitch coupler
• winch
• hold down straps
• running lights
• fenders

The cost of all that gear could easily be $2,000. If you sell the trailer you have now for perhaps $750, then an all-new $5,000 trailer is beginning to look like a good investment, if for no other reason than it will be all new and probably not need any repairs for many years. Even if you replace all sorts of stuff, the main structural steel components of the trailer may have rusted and be on the verge of failing.

I have described in detail the refurbishment of my own boat trailer, which lately has needed more and more work to keep it going. Right now the brake system is completely out of service, I need to replace three brake assemblies, I should install all new lines, and I need to replace at least two wheels. All that will probably cost about $700 in parts. I am getting too old (73-years-old) to do that sort of work myself, so I expect about $500 in hired labor at a local garage that actually works on boat trailers. So that is at least another $1,200 into my 1992-model-year and 32-year-old trailer. Looking back, I would have been further ahead if about ten years ago I bought a new trailer. And the most recent breakdown I experienced on the highway cost me over $400just to get the trailer jury-rigged in a hurry to be able to tow the boat back home and put into a storage building for the winter. And this is from almost nothing but use in clean, clear, cold freshwater for the last ten years. If I was launching and loading from saltwater, there would have more problems and they would have occurred sooner.

Also, a 3,300-lbs boat on a single axle trailer is getting near the point of going to a tandem axle trailer.