have just started using my Kenner at the Gulf Coast. Mostly I have
benn using it to bass fish in the area lakes.


It seems that most of the Gulf Coast ramps have a very shallow ramp
especially as compared to fresh water lakes.


Consequently this Kenner is harder to load at the coast. One thing I
noticed is that on my "matched" trailer the front bow/keel Never touchs

that front roller. Consquently, as I climb up the trailer it doesn't
want to stay centered and when I finally winch it up a lot of weight
comes to rest on that winch roller. The front roller misses the keel
by about 3 inches so it provides no help with support or guideance.


I assume that all 18VX's have this problem although I did notice that
newer models do rest on that lower roller. My boat and trailer were
made in '99. BTW, it appears that my 18VX version is no longer made
but the design is somewhere between a 180VX and a 18VX. It is rated
at 90hp but it has the same physical dimensions as the 18VX that is
rated at 140hp.


Does anyone know if Kenner did a factory recalls upgrades to match the
trailer to the boat.


I think I can figure out some way to add a roller or bunk or something
but if Kenner has already done it then I'll contact them. Thought I'd
just see what others may have already discovered.


tks
Don

wrote:
have just started using my Kenner at the Gulf Coast. Mostly I have
benn using it to bass fish in the area lakes.


It seems that most of the Gulf Coast ramps have a very shallow ramp
especially as compared to fresh water lakes.


Consequently this Kenner is harder to load at the coast. One thing I
noticed is that on my "matched" trailer the front bow/keel Never
touchs

that front roller. Consquently, as I climb up the trailer it
doesn't
want to stay centered and when I finally winch it up a lot of weight
comes to rest on that winch roller. The front roller misses the keel
by about 3 inches so it provides no help with support or guideance.


I assume that all 18VX's have this problem although I did notice that
newer models do rest on that lower roller. My boat and trailer were
made in '99. BTW, it appears that my 18VX version is no longer made
but the design is somewhere between a 180VX and a 18VX. It is rated
at 90hp but it has the same physical dimensions as the 18VX that is
rated at 140hp.


Does anyone know if Kenner did a factory recalls upgrades to match
the
trailer to the boat.


I think I can figure out some way to add a roller or bunk or
something
but if Kenner has already done it then I'll contact them. Thought
I'd
just see what others may have already discovered.

Is the post for the winch/front roller adjustable? Most are. If you are
pleased with the balance when the boat is that 3" from the roller, just
move the roller to match.

The winch is adjustable but it is maxed out forward and the keel
roller is not adjustable. The winch is as far forward as possible and
then the boat has to be pulled all the way forward so that the transom
tie downs don't hit the hull on the back. I think that this boat is
on the edge of being too big for the trailer.

In any case the problem is that the front bottom roller for the keel
just never touches the keel of the boat. The roller at the bottom is
too low. The solution would be to put one of those adjustable brackets
there and put a roller up higher so the keel actually rests on the
roller and not on the winch roller so much.

I need to go down to the local kenner dealer and see how this is
managed now. I saw one launching at the coast and something was
different somewhere because the keel was resting on that bottom roller.
I was just thinking some other Kenner owners might have delt with
this problem before and would have some suggestions.

However, I also noticed a lot of other center consolve V bottom front
boats where the keel never touches that center keel roller in the
front. I suppose if the ramp were very steep then it would ride up on
that roller for a while.

This isn't a big deal it just makes it difficult to line up the boat
onto the trailer when the ramp is shallow and the boat has to be
finally "winched up". If you try to drive it up it simply slides back
down before you can get the winch strap attached, and of course if its
a shallow ramp everything is in the water so you can't do a dry get on
the trailer operation.

tks
Don

wrote:
The winch is adjustable but it is maxed out forward and the keel
roller is not adjustable. The winch is as far forward as possible
and
then the boat has to be pulled all the way forward so that the
transom
tie downs don't hit the hull on the back. I think that this boat is
on the edge of being too big for the trailer.

tks
Don

Don, I'll bet that the others you look at the transom tie downs DO
tighten against the hull in the back. Although I don't own a Kenner, my
transom tie downs do tighten against the transom, my neighbor's does
also.

Hmmm....
so you are saying that the transom of your boat extends back past the
bunks on the end you your trailer? On mine the transom is even with
the bunks on the end of the trailer. In that case when you strap the
back down it forces the strap to touch the back of your transom.
That's not good in my case since the straps I have have a metal buckle
in the middle that would rub against the transom. Of course there's
ways' around that.

So that would mean that I am running my boat over past the center point
of the trailer much farther forward relatively speaking than what you
are doing.

This really won't make a difference on mine since the keel never
touches the roller ont the front, ever. I'm just going to have replace
that front keel roller with one that is adjustable.

I think I will go down to the boat dealer today and see how the current
Kenners are sitting on the trailer. It could be that mine is going
further forward than normal.

Its not like someone put this boat on some other kind of trailer.
Kenner claims they make all their own trailers so this one should fit
properly. It may be that Kenner thinks that the front roller is only
used on a steep ramp just to keep the keel from hitting the trailer
front cross member and on short ramps it never comes close which makes
it a bit trickier to keep the boat straight on in the front. The only
other thing is that I'd rather not have that weight sitting against
that front roller. I need to replace it with one of those urethane
wider butterfly looking winch roller anyway.

tks


Don, I'll bet that the others you look at the transom tie downs DO
tighten against the hull in the back. Although I don't own a Kenner,
my
transom tie downs do tighten against the transom, my neighbor's does
also.

On 17 May 2005 05:36:04 -0700, wrote:

Hmmm....
so you are saying that the transom of your boat extends back past the
bunks on the end you your trailer? On mine the transom is even with
the bunks on the end of the trailer. In that case when you strap the
back down it forces the strap to touch the back of your transom.
That's not good in my case since the straps I have have a metal buckle
in the middle that would rub against the transom. Of course there's
ways' around that.

So that would mean that I am running my boat over past the center point
of the trailer much farther forward relatively speaking than what you
are doing.

This really won't make a difference on mine since the keel never
touches the roller ont the front, ever. I'm just going to have replace
that front keel roller with one that is adjustable.

I think I will go down to the boat dealer today and see how the current
Kenners are sitting on the trailer. It could be that mine is going
further forward than normal.

Its not like someone put this boat on some other kind of trailer.
Kenner claims they make all their own trailers so this one should fit
properly. It may be that Kenner thinks that the front roller is only
used on a steep ramp just to keep the keel from hitting the trailer
front cross member and on short ramps it never comes close which makes
it a bit trickier to keep the boat straight on in the front. The only
other thing is that I'd rather not have that weight sitting against
that front roller. I need to replace it with one of those urethane
wider butterfly looking winch roller anyway.

tks

Here's a site that shows how a boat should fit the trailer. Note that the
transom is just behind (an inch or two) the last roller. This makes sense as the
transom carries a lot of weight. When I purchased my boat, the dealer had set it
up so the transom extended about 18" behind the last roller. The tongue weight
was only about 80 lbs! The instruction manual for the trailer showed the correct
setup, but I guess dealers know better. Luckily, the guy I bought the boat from
had used the trailer only to get from the dealer to the marina.
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

John H wrote:


Here's a site that shows how a boat should fit the trailer. Note that the
transom is just behind (an inch or two) the last roller. This makes sense as the
transom carries a lot of weight. When I purchased my boat, the dealer had set it
up so the transom extended about 18" behind the last roller. The tongue weight
was only about 80 lbs! The instruction manual for the trailer showed the correct
setup, but I guess dealers know better. Luckily, the guy I bought the boat from
had used the trailer only to get from the dealer to the marina.


What site??? Do they show trailerable sailboats where a lot of the
weight is in the centerboard?

Hey John, try that again. Somehow the url didn't show up.
I suspect that currently my tongue weight is plenty if not too much but
it would be interesting to see the recommendations.

BTW, the main trailer guide on my trailer is with the bunks. The
rollers don't do much except keep the hull from scraping the trailer
frame.

That's the whole problem, when the boat gets forward there's nothing to
keep it going straight.

tks
don

On 17 May 2005 08:35:57 -0700, wrote:

Hey John, try that again. Somehow the url didn't show up.
I suspect that currently my tongue weight is plenty if not too much but
it would be interesting to see the recommendations.

BTW, the main trailer guide on my trailer is with the bunks. The
rollers don't do much except keep the hull from scraping the trailer
frame.

That's the whole problem, when the boat gets forward there's nothing to
keep it going straight.

tks
don

Sorry, I forgot to put it in!

http://www.uscgboating.org/safety/me...at_trailer.htm

My tongue weight for my trailer should be 6-8% of the load. For me, that came to
about 400 lbs.
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

wrote:
Hmmm....
so you are saying that the transom of your boat extends back past the
bunks on the end you your trailer?

Yes, it does.

On mine the transom is even with
the bunks on the end of the trailer. In that case when you strap the
back down it forces the strap to touch the back of your transom.
That's not good in my case since the straps I have have a metal
buckle
in the middle that would rub against the transom. Of course there's
ways' around that.

My straps are made so that there is a pad behind the buckle to protect
the boat, and it also then wraps around the buckle with velcro to keep
the buckle from opening. They're made by RodSaver.

So that would mean that I am running my boat over past the center
point
of the trailer much farther forward relatively speaking than what you
are doing.

This really won't make a difference on mine since the keel never
touches the roller ont the front, ever. I'm just going to have
replace
that front keel roller with one that is adjustable.

I'm surprised that it's not adjustable.

I think I will go down to the boat dealer today and see how the
current
Kenners are sitting on the trailer. It could be that mine is going
further forward than normal.

Perhaps the dealer is prepping the trailers incorrectly. What you
describe just doesn't seem right to me, if they are a matched set.