I'm getting near completion of a boat restoration project and will soon need
a trailer. How can I go about determining if a particular trailer will fit
my boat (17 ft. v-hull)? Are there some basic guidelines posted someplace or
is it a trial and error thing?

Thanks....James

Dear Jim, contact a boat dealer, and ask if you can get a load rite
trailer.
the dealer will ask what kind of boat by name, and like you said a deep vee.
besides this you will have to have the length and width.... I have had
load rite trailers for two boats.
they do their job. The dealer, should have a load rite book to show you a
picture of what your buying. You should also have a picture of your boat,
to give to the dealer, in case he has to send your picture to the factory,
to set your trailer up. your boat trailer, will have rollers, because the
boat being a deep vee. it will also be a single axle, because your boat is
small.

"James W. Sloan" wrote in message
link.net...
I'm getting near completion of a boat restoration project and will soon
need
a trailer. How can I go about determining if a particular trailer will fit
my boat (17 ft. v-hull)? Are there some basic guidelines posted someplace
or
is it a trial and error thing?

Thanks....James

James W. Sloan wrote:
I'm getting near completion of a boat restoration project and will soon need
a trailer. How can I go about determining if a particular trailer will fit
my boat (17 ft. v-hull)? Are there some basic guidelines posted someplace or
is it a trial and error thing?

Thanks....James




--
I don't know if there is such a thing as a *standard* protocol for
this, but this is what I've done.

First, make sure all of your centerline (keel) rollers are the same
height (level?) and working.

With a tape measure I have checked the placement of side rollers
(bunks?) using the winch stand as my reference point. This assumes you
will winch the boat up to the winch stand/post, and that it has a roller
or "v" shaped piece of padded material to snug the stem up too.

Visualize taking a plum bob and dropping a reference point on both the
boat and trailer on the centerline/tongue, and measure the location of
the side rollers at the back end of the trailer. Say that they are 14
feet from the starting point under the winch. With the boat level,
measure the difference between the keel level and the height of the
contact point on the rising bottom.

If the side rollers/bunks are 3 feet off to the left and right of the
center of the trailer, you need to measure the amount of rise created by
the "V", at that point, 14 feet back from your reference point (the
winch or stem).

If you measure it at, say, 18 inches, at a point 3 feet out from center,
I would set the rollers/bunks for the initial loading at about 14
inches. Why? Because you want the bulk of the weight resting on the keel
rollers, not on the side rollers, so initially I have set the trailer up
a little "loose". It really the same thing as setting poppits to steady
the boat in the yard, but not carry the weight.

Once you have set the rollers/bunks approximately, and loaded the boat
the first time, you can level the boat, adjusting the various rollers
one pair at a time.

This seems a lot harder to explain than it is to actually do.

You might want to check and be sure all the nuts and bolts involved are
capable of being adjusted, or turned, prior to getting the boat on top
of them, particularly if the trailer has been backed into salt water on
a regular basis.

There may well be a much easier way to do this, that will have me
smacking my head when I read it

Good luck,

Jonathan



I am building a Dudley Dix, Argie 10, for my daughter. Check it out:
http://home.comcast.net/~jonsailr

adjusting the supports should be pretty straight forward if you have a
table of offsets for the hull?

"James W. Sloan" ) writes:
I'm getting near completion of a boat restoration project and will soon need
a trailer. How can I go about determining if a particular trailer will fit
my boat (17 ft. v-hull)? Are there some basic guidelines posted someplace or
is it a trial and error thing?

Thanks....James




--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned

If I go out this week, I'll take a pic or two of my Shoreland'r' and roller
setup (with boat on and off ... 18' I/O) and send them along. Launch and
retrieve is easy and the boat is very well supported.


"James W. Sloan" wrote in message
link.net...
I'm getting near completion of a boat restoration project and will soon
need
a trailer. How can I go about determining if a particular trailer will fit
my boat (17 ft. v-hull)? Are there some basic guidelines posted someplace
or
is it a trial and error thing?

Thanks....James

Ok ... if you go here ... http://members.rogers.com/bowgus/ ... you'll see
the rear rollers, the center rollers and the big pic. What I had to do was
move the tower back a bit so the jeep back door could open. Luckily, I did
not have to move the axle back as well. The tower is set up with maybe 80
lbs or so tongue weight ... what I did was move it back a bit, go for a
drive, check the stability, move it back a bit more and so on. I also
widened the distance between the rear rollers as much as I could still
keeping the rollers under the stringers the motor's mounted on. I figure
since widening the distance between the rollers lowers the boat on the
trailer, stability is improved. And the Michelin tires are inflated to 45
lbs ... presumably improving the stability and reducing rolling resistance.
Instability starts at about 115 kph ... I trailer comfortably at 100 kph
which is just fine by me ... considering no trailer brakes and a load of
about 3000 lbs total. So there you go ... this setup works just fine for me.
I can power the boat onto the trailer or winch it on.



"James W. Sloan" wrote in message
link.net...
I'm getting near completion of a boat restoration project and will soon
need
a trailer. How can I go about determining if a particular trailer will fit
my boat (17 ft. v-hull)? Are there some basic guidelines posted someplace
or
is it a trial and error thing?

Thanks....James

Added a new pic up front that helps show boat size by including the jeep ...
http://members.rogers.com/bowgus/


"Bowgus" wrote in message
et.cable.rogers.com...
Ok ... if you go here ... http://members.rogers.com/bowgus/ ... you'll see
the rear rollers, the center rollers and the big pic. What I had to do was
move the tower back a bit so the jeep back door could open. Luckily, I did
not have to move the axle back as well. The tower is set up with maybe 80
lbs or so tongue weight ... what I did was move it back a bit, go for a
drive, check the stability, move it back a bit more and so on. I also
widened the distance between the rear rollers as much as I could still
keeping the rollers under the stringers the motor's mounted on. I figure
since widening the distance between the rollers lowers the boat on the
trailer, stability is improved. And the Michelin tires are inflated to 45
lbs ... presumably improving the stability and reducing rolling
resistance.
Instability starts at about 115 kph ... I trailer comfortably at 100 kph
which is just fine by me ... considering no trailer brakes and a load of
about 3000 lbs total. So there you go ... this setup works just fine for
me.
I can power the boat onto the trailer or winch it on.



"James W. Sloan" wrote in message
link.net...
I'm getting near completion of a boat restoration project and will soon
need
a trailer. How can I go about determining if a particular trailer will
fit
my boat (17 ft. v-hull)? Are there some basic guidelines posted
someplace
or
is it a trial and error thing?

Thanks....James

Thanks for the pics. I've only had bunks in the past, never a roller. I'm
open to anything though and your pics give me some ideas on fitting while
I'm weeding through the available used units.

"Bowgus" wrote in message
.rogers.com...
Added a new pic up front that helps show boat size by including the jeep
....
http://members.rogers.com/bowgus/


"Bowgus" wrote in message
et.cable.rogers.com...
Ok ... if you go here ... http://members.rogers.com/bowgus/ ... you'll
see
the rear rollers, the center rollers and the big pic. What I had to do
was
move the tower back a bit so the jeep back door could open. Luckily, I
did
not have to move the axle back as well. The tower is set up with maybe
80
lbs or so tongue weight ... what I did was move it back a bit, go for a
drive, check the stability, move it back a bit more and so on. I also
widened the distance between the rear rollers as much as I could still
keeping the rollers under the stringers the motor's mounted on. I figure
since widening the distance between the rollers lowers the boat on the
trailer, stability is improved. And the Michelin tires are inflated to
45
lbs ... presumably improving the stability and reducing rolling
resistance.
Instability starts at about 115 kph ... I trailer comfortably at 100 kph
which is just fine by me ... considering no trailer brakes and a load of
about 3000 lbs total. So there you go ... this setup works just fine for
me.
I can power the boat onto the trailer or winch it on.



"James W. Sloan" wrote in message
link.net...
I'm getting near completion of a boat restoration project and will
soon
need
a trailer. How can I go about determining if a particular trailer will
fit
my boat (17 ft. v-hull)? Are there some basic guidelines posted
someplace
or
is it a trial and error thing?

Thanks....James

You're welcome for the pics. I understand that bunks are ok (and less
expensive by far than rollers), but those rollers (not to mention the jeep
4L) sure make it easy for single person launch and retrieval at some of the
places I take that (size) boat. For example, I don't have to back way into
the mud to float the boat off bunks ... which would be bad. Good luck with
the trailer.


"James W. Sloan" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Thanks for the pics. I've only had bunks in the past, never a roller. I'm
open to anything though and your pics give me some ideas on fitting while
I'm weeding through the available used units.

"Bowgus" wrote in message
.rogers.com...
Added a new pic up front that helps show boat size by including the jeep
...
http://members.rogers.com/bowgus/


"Bowgus" wrote in message
et.cable.rogers.com...
Ok ... if you go here ... http://members.rogers.com/bowgus/ ... you'll
see
the rear rollers, the center rollers and the big pic. What I had to do
was
move the tower back a bit so the jeep back door could open. Luckily, I
did
not have to move the axle back as well. The tower is set up with maybe
80
lbs or so tongue weight ... what I did was move it back a bit, go for
a
drive, check the stability, move it back a bit more and so on. I also
widened the distance between the rear rollers as much as I could still
keeping the rollers under the stringers the motor's mounted on. I
figure
since widening the distance between the rollers lowers the boat on
the
trailer, stability is improved. And the Michelin tires are inflated to
45
lbs ... presumably improving the stability and reducing rolling
resistance.
Instability starts at about 115 kph ... I trailer comfortably at 100
kph
which is just fine by me ... considering no trailer brakes and a load
of
about 3000 lbs total. So there you go ... this setup works just fine
for
me.
I can power the boat onto the trailer or winch it on.



"James W. Sloan" wrote in message
link.net...
I'm getting near completion of a boat restoration project and will
soon
need
a trailer. How can I go about determining if a particular trailer
will
fit
my boat (17 ft. v-hull)? Are there some basic guidelines posted
someplace
or
is it a trial and error thing?

Thanks....James