If you have the option to go lower I would, as when you drive on to a high trailer the bow will rise and sink the stern. If the trailer has been designed for the hull and is set up right your should be able to drive on with only a little bit of up trim and the bow should only rise a little id any at all.
Agree with PB. I have a MT190 sportsman purchased just over a year ago. First thing I noticed was how low the boat sat compared to the previous trailer, a Brooker. To me this has an advantage where the boat comes onto the trailer a lot flatter and not wanting to point to the sky. I sink mine till the step section at the front of the guard is just in the water. I then slowly lay the boat into the trailer, get it straight and give it a slight boost to get it on till I hit the end. The old beast used to do exactly what you are saying yours was doing Dignity and I have the chunks out of the skeg to prove it. Great trailer in my opinion.
The end result be the same with a 70mm higher trailer that was backed in further, that would additionally give you an extra 70mm under the skeg?
Depends on the length of the trailer, If it has a long drawbar than yeah maybe but most of the off the shelf trailers don’t have this and you end up having to get your car wet and even worse having to get your feet wet to do the winch up and hook the safety chin on. A boat sitting lower on the trailer will also tow better.
PB, that was my original thinking but when I consider how close the skeg is to the ground then I had to have a rethink, I still think in part you are correct, but where the hell do you get to roard test boat trailers.Originally Posted by PB
Fed, yes and no, but then again how can I say that when asking for advice. In some threads I have read that barely sink the trailer and everything should be hunky dory, others say the opposite. I guess I have finally decided on a trlr 5 and will now have to work with what I have, in waiting for delivery I need to order some Tectal, organize the star head for the spray pattern and hope for some good weather
Agree, definitely not built as they used to be.
If only, I suspect it is all relative, I figure at my age I have 5 to 1 0 years to enjoy my boat, so figure the trailer needs to service me that long. I have started to use the local charter operators to find the one I like because eventually that is the way I will need to ģo.
Trust me mate, I design and build High End boat trailers and we get them as low as we can on every job. never had a customer come back and say he hit the skeg at the ramp or on the road.
What type of axles & suspension do you use PB? L/springs, T/bar or the bag type? Straight axles or the bent/US style that allows the hull to sit lower? 13 or 14" wheels?
Cheers
Brendon
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Ph where can I get a price for a braked drive on trailer for a 4.5 mt side console ..thanks Matt
A bad days fishing has got to be better than any day at work......
Hi Dignity,
Just reading your post & thought I'd throw my 2 cents in ( Might be a little late but might help ).
To me it seems you are 1/. Not dunking the trailer in enough.
2/. Because you are worried about the skeg hitting, the motor is over trimmed ( to high ) causing the bow to point to the sky and then actually pushing the stern down when powering on causing the skeg to hit the ramp.
I have an 8mtr plate boat with twins on a drive on / off trailer I built myself.
When on a level ground ( Road ) the skegs fully trimmed down are about 10mm off the ground, half trimmed about 75mm.
At half trim it is virtually impossible to hit the bottom unless the ramp levels out at the end.
I have launched many times at Bribie, Mooloolaba, Noosa, Hervey Bay, Bundaberg & 1770 ramps without a problem.
I have no problems launching & retrieving myself as sometimes I just can't trust the misses driving / reversing
Hope this helps.
Great thread. I have a Tinka early model trailer for my Yalta Odessa to which I have added some mods. I have deliberately set mine up to be as low at the keel as possible, on triple sets of rocker rollers. The greatest addition I have made is drive on v guide at the very back and very front of my trailer, which causes the boat to load perfectly straight every time.
I will get some pics of these tomorrow as I designed them myself.
The variability of the ramps I use doesn't miss my attention either. Some ramps run long and shallow, while others drop off way faster, and this makes a big difference to where you position your vehicle to get optimum trailer depth.
"let not he boast who puts his armor on, as he who takes it off"
Thanks guys, in Parkes at the moment so the trailer is now a dim memory at the moment but I promise to give it my full attention on my return.
GDay gofishin,
I mainly fit Roller rockers with our 65mm gull-wing axles as 95% for the trailers we do are 3 tonne to 4.5 tonne ATM. I dont like the Torsion bar suspension on anything over 2.7 tonne as they cant handle long term abuse. most of the time we use 15" wheels this Landcruiser hubs. Ive been working on a air bag suspension that will eliminate the axles altogether but this is still about 12 month away from being ready. if you have a look at the pics below you will notice how the hull sits nice and neatly down in the chassis.
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