Trailer question

[fish_crazy]

Hi guys,
I have just purchased a boat and the trailer has two plastic skids which the boat sits on. I have noticed that when taking the boat on off the trailer there is a bit of friction there and is a bit of rubbing on the hull. I have also noticed there is a bit of the paint being left on the skids. Any recommendations in what I can use so it glides off without taking off the paint? Thanks in advance.

Johnny

[charleville]

I am by no means an expert but here are a couple of comments:-

1. #You can get a silicone spray to spray the skids to make them a little more slippery but that is really addressing the symptom not he cause.

2. #There is a good article in one of the fishing mags this month ( either QFM or Bush and Beach, I think) that gives good advice on how to set up the trailer properly. #ie for an aluminium boat, the weight carrying should be done by the keel rollers not the skids. #The skids are just to steady the boat in place. #Best to read the magazine to get the drift.

[Ron173]

Agree with Charlieville above,

Your trailer is not set up correctly.

The rollers should carry the boat off the trailer effortlessly, the skids are merely a guide / support to back up the rollers.

If you are not confident to set up yourself, a GOOD dealer, hard to find nowadays I know, but a good one shouldnt charge much to do this.

If it was a new rig, ask your dealer to do it as he should have done in first place.

Ron

[Blackened]

G'day
Agree with all the above. On an alloy boat the skids are there to just stop the rocking on the trailer. I have marine grade carpet on my skids. This works brilliantly and still looks the goods.
Dave

[griz066]

Q, is it an alloy or glass boat?

If glass these are generally set up with rollers not skids, also the full weight of the boat should be supported on the keel rollers. The side rollers or skids are for balance only.

I just set my glass boat up on a new trailer, I put her in the shed, picked her up with 2 block & tackles bow & stern and removed the old trailer.
I positioned the new trailer under the boat, let boat down till full weight was on trailer but boat was still sitting level then pushed all side rollers up to touch boat.
This was how the guys at the Marine Shop @ Stones Corner suggested it be done and I have to say it was realy easy and they were a great help and gave me a great deal.

[MulletMan]

Suggest you also look at the quality of the skid slides as "oils ain't oils"

The cheap and nasties usually supplied by the manufacturer are like chalk and cheese when you see the more expensive slides in action.

Used to be a bunch called Industrial Plastics over near Lyndum somewhere who had the real stuff.

On a VMR rescue boat I used to trudge about in, we very quickly wrecked all the slides and marked the hull until we chucked 'em all out and got a real "greasy product". Believe it or not but the nylon/PVC stuff can actually MELT when it is not running freely!!

We could launch an eight metre rescue boat with a (good) push by one male but as the other guys have correctly said here, there seems something a bit sus with your setup.

As already said, Silicone Spray EVERY time after you launch the boat is a smart idea.

[Edmo]

Souds like you`ve got to much weight on the skids and not enough on the rollers, the skids are to reduce rocking as mentioned by griss, but also as pp mentioned plastics aint plastics, try reducing the load on skids by adjustment, either drop the skids or raise the rollers whatever suits best you won`t need much to notice a change as long as the keel runs on the rollers smoothly the skids should glide.
silicine spray can help in the interum.

[billfisher]

Blackened,

Carpet is no-no on skids if you have an alloy boat. It can cause you boat to corrode as the carpet will retain moisture for a long time as well as trap sand and grit (which also promote corrosion).

[Darryl]

Back to basics so i must ask are they teflon? If so it's definately the way your rollers etc are setup.

[fish_crazy]

Thanks for the replies. The boat is fibreglass and thew skids feel like they are very hard red plastic. I was told the colours of the plastic will determine the hardness of the plastic. Is this true?

[bidkev]

Thanks for the replies. The boat is fibreglass and thew skids feel like they are very hard red plastic. I was told the colours of the plastic will determine the hardness of the plastic. Is this true?

You really should be running rollers not skids on fibreglass.

kev

[charleville]

You really should be running rollers not skids on fibreglass.

That is my understanding also. My response further up the page assumed that your boat was aluminium simply because you had mentioned skids. Sorry for the misinterpretation.

[dnej]

Definitely got to go rollers,no skids,and the keel will still take the weight,if it has rollers for the keel.Some trailers dont have keel rollers.How is yours set up,with or without?
David

[fishingjew]

dont know about the rollers im not a big fan of them any more i had a 20 ft easyrider i had wobbles on it two years down the track found that they were actually wearing into the hull pulled em off real quick made some timber skids up. put 10 mm white teflon strips that i got from a mob in burleigh that dealt in perspex same stuff that the cutting boards are made of. counter sunk stainless steel screws into that on top of timber skids and boy what a difference