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Dumb question about a small trailer repair..
Hi. I just got a little Jon Boat that's really great. But the trailer
looks like it came out of a junkyard. So I'm replacing a lot of parts
on it.
It has the two, carpeted wooden slats on it. However, the brackets that
hold them onto the trailer are rusted off completely. I initially
thought of just replacing these brackets. But then I ran across these
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product/10001/-1/10001/103370/10001/641/11210/17
"glide slicks". They seem cheap, and would be much easier to replace
than to try and get the remainder of these rusted brackets off. Is the
only purpose of those wooden slats the same as these slicks? Or are
they better at holding the boat onto the trailer? Like I said, it's a
really small, light boat. All aluminum. So it doesn't need much,
trailer wise. But there's not much holding it onto the trailer. It just
sits on a couple of rollers.
Which brings me to my second question: Do I even need rollers for this
small boat? I need to replace the ones that are on there. But then I
see a lot of small trailers don't even have them. So should I just do
away with them?
Thanks,
Sam
docgorpon@aol.com |
docgorpon
Feb 1
2006
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| I really don't know if there's a formula. The dealer chose the trailer for
my boat, and set up the roller position. With the boat in place, the bunks
are even with the transom. At the front, they end about a foot forward of
where the hull begins to curve upward. If I were you, I'd add the new
brackets, install wood pieces that are obviously longer than you need, load
the boat, and eyeball the situation. You want the bunks to extend further
back than any metal trailer structure that the boat might hit during loading
& unloading. But, they shouldn't be so far back that they stick out after
the boat's loaded. You'll be trailering with the motor in the down position,
so be aware of that. Once you've got the size figured out, cut the wood down
to size, wrap in carpet, and reinstall. |
Doug
Feb 2
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| Ok. Well, I think I'm going to replace the bunks since getting the
rusted brackets out of them is going to be a nightmare. What size bunks
should I get, considering it's a 12ft. Jon Boat? |
docgorpon
Feb 1
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| Rollers are not such a good idea for aluminum boats. The weight of the
boat's resting on smaller points (the rollers) than if you simply had the
wooden bunks, so it's possible for the rollers to create indentations. Not
huge ones, probably, but still.... Even if you add those plastic glides, you still need to mount them to wood,
and the wood needs brackets. So, unless I'm not understanding your
situation, the glides are unrelated to your need to replace the brackets. As
for the glides themselves, a friend of mine tried them with his jon boat and
found that the boat shifted around on the trailer way too much during
travel, and that even with all the proper tie-downs. I'd stick with carpet. |
Doug
Feb 1
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| Excellent. Thanks! |
docgorpon
Feb 1
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| what he said. |
Shortwave
Feb 1
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| I think I learned the roller thing from you, professor. :-) Either that or
my marina guy. |
Doug
Feb 1
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| By the way, the site says that with those glides, you don't have to get your
trailer in the water. Yeah. Sure. It's at least a one foot drop from the
bunks to the water. Maybe....just maybe it would be OK to drop your boat
that way, but getting it back up again would be ridiculous. Here's something to spend money on, though - waterproof LED trailer lights.
Uses LEDs instead of incandescent bulbs, which are a royal pain in the ass. Here's a link to some:
http://shop.easternmarine.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=catalog.catalog&categoryID=282 |
Doug
Feb 1
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