CONTINUOUSWAVE

I am buying a new bunk trailer for my 1988 Outrage 18. I will be installing keel rollers on both front and aft cross members. I am looking for advice on weight distribution between the bunks and rollers. Malcolm

I did review the REFERENCE section on TRAILER (fantastic resource) . I am more curious what members deciding to do for themselves. I have heard many opposing viewpoints. Thank you Malcolm

If the new trailer allows the keel roller at the rear crossmember to be in contact with the boat keel when the boat is loaded on the trailer, then that keel roller should be carrying some portion of the load of the boat weight. Exactly what proportion I don't know.

Also, I would, if the trailer permits, use a set of two rollers on the cross members. Installing two keel rollers, one on each side of the crossmember, will actually make the mounting simpler: just straight standard machine screw fasteners ("bolt") can be used, with the brackets for the each keel roller providing the surface the screw head and nut will bear on. This is simpler to rig than using U-bolts, and gives better support.

The problem I have found in two instances of classic Boston Whaler boat hulls on trailers: the rear cross member is too low to allow the keel roller to be mounted high enough that it will be tall enough to reach the keel.

What usually happens is the trailer fenders will limit how low the boat can sit on the trailer; on boats with a beam that is too wide to fit between the fenders can then only be rigged on the trailer as low as the fenders permit. The chine line ends up being about an inch above the fenders. This puts the keel rather high above the crossmembers, particularly if the crossmembers are not just straight sections. Many trailers have rear cross members that are bent or arched downward to provide more clearance with the boat keel. That means the keel rollers have to be mounted very high on the trailer cross member to be able to bear on the keel.

I haven't looked at OUTRAGE 18 hulls on trailers, but I think the beam will likely be too wide to fit between the fenders.

In order to raise the keel rollers, the best approach is to drill holes through the crossmember for the bottom mounting bolt. The holes should be drilled exactly in the vertical center of the crossmember to minimize the effect of the hole weakening the strength of the crossmember.

Here is a trailer fitted with keel rollers for an 18-foot hull, although the boat model is called an OUTRAGE 19 II.



As can be seen (above) the trailer uses straight crossmembers. The keel rollers are installed in pairs, except the very elevated roller near the bow stem. Somewhat hard to see in the muddy spring river water, there are a pair of rollers on the rear crossmember that are submerged. By the way, I remember this afternoon of boating. It was early in the season, thus the river was flowing with more current than usual and was muddy as can be seen. Loading the boat took several attempts because the boat tended to swing out of alignment due to the current. Also, attaching the winch strap to the bow eye took a very careful trip out onto the trailer frame.

Regarding keel rollers: my last two classic Boston Whaler boats used trailers with bunks and keel rollers, but the bunks carried most of the weight of the boat at the transom because the keel rollers were too low to reach high enough, a result of the crossmember being curved downward.

I have done a lot of highway towing with those two boats. I have a truck with 155,000-miles. I bought the truck used with 40,000-miles. I estimate that about 90-percent of the miles I have put on the truck was in towing the boats. That suggests I have over 100,000-miles of highway towing. Also, my boats really live on the trailer, as I never keep them in the water for more than a few days to perhaps a week at a time. I haven't seen any evidence of a problem with the hull that could be attributed to the trailer set up.

Thank you Jim, good advise. Like you and others, I have been mounting keel roller panel brackets in pairs, two per cross member. Standard stainless hardware is so much easier to source than stainless u-bolts.

In regards to the boat sitting higher due to chine width restrictions, we have a solution up here in the Northwest. King Trailers makes a salt water intended trailer in a WIDE variant. It's a #2400 bunk with 78 inches clear between the fenders at their base. Model KBW2400. This increases with fender height so more clearance at the chines. It's as if the guy who owns King has an Outrage 18 himself! The boat will nest between the fenders nice and low, enabling the aft keel roller to support the transom. It's the only wide trailer I could find, and it's made 20 miles from my house, good fortune!

I see from the picture an elevated bow roller. My current trailer has a clam shell looking support, like an open book, to support the bow at a very sharp deadrise. I have never seen one before but was an option in 1988 with the trailer manufacturer, Shoreland'r. It works extremely well to capture this sharp bow and give complete support vertically.