Conference vicki::boats

    Look at EZ-Loader trailers. I replace the trailer on my old boat with
    an EZ-Loader and it was great. The newer boat came with a Shoreline and
    I liked the EZ-Loader better. They live up to their name.

    
    
    Look also at the LONG trailers- they are a knock off of the EZ Loaders.
    
    The best deal I have found is at the Johnson dealer in Warren Rhode
    Island- Walmsley Marine. he is a LONg Distributor and literallyhas
    hundreds of Trailers in Stock.
    
    I bought a 6000# 4 wheel, all Galvanized,  full roller, self adjsting
    trailer with brakes,and bearing buddies,winch  two yrs ago for $2100-
    that was an excellent price and he asked what kind of Baot it was and
    had all the adjustments set up for the Boat. I got it home, rolled the
    Boat on, and I was done.
    
     Walmsley is great on the sales side- on the service side- well, 
    he likes to get you over a barrel- But most stuff that goes bad on a
    trailer is winches, lights,wheel bearings, Rollers- all stuff you can
    get quickly and cheaply from most boating discount catalogs.
    
    

    My Boat is relatively short (15'6") for it's depth (36") and it's width 
    (82").  (Sounds kinda bathtub-like eh!) :-)
    
    So....
    I ended up buying an E-Z Loader.  The reason is that the Shorelander
    doesn't make a trailer that is 69" between fenders, which will accomodate 
    a boat under 16' long.  E-Z Loader have a 1650lb and 2000lb model which
    will accomodate boats between 14-18'.  I also liked the lower center of
    gravity the E-Z Loader's have as opposed to the Shorelander.
    
    Regards,
    
    Duncan

    This comes real late but.... I feel a need to voice my opinion for
    others interested.
    
    We got a Shoreline trailer w/ our new boat last year (235 BAJA) - it
    has the dual axel (w/ brakes) etc.  We've had some big time problems w/
    the trailer losing rollers on the highway, the lock coming out on the
    crank & shifting the boat off the trailer - fortunately not completely
    off the trailer.  We filed a claim w/ Shoreline & they're willing to
    pay us to repair the gouges taken out of our hull, but they filed
    "Chapter 11" and they can't write checks.
    
    Bottom line, I would buy an EZ Loader in a second - they're great 
    trailers!  We used one of these for 4 years previous to one that we
    have!
    
    Sonia

    
    After I lost the first roller oin my new LONG trailer (no damage-it was
    empty at the time), I took all those shafts with the stupid push on
    retainer thst hold the rollers on and removed the cap, I drilled the
    shafts and put on a S.S. washer and cotter pin. No more problems.
    
    
     I also ALWAYS tie down the winch handle- a baot trailer takes a lot of
    bouncing anround and that long handle jiggling around  can sometimnes
    jog the detent so that the winch reverses. An alternative is to attache
    the winch handle with a big wing nut and then remove it while
    travelling,

    ref note .5 - is your trailer a Shoreline?
    
    Well, we lost another set of rollers over this past weekend.  We also
    found out that our trailer has a 24 month warranty.  We are now in the
    process of demanding a new trailer, as we do a lot of trailering these
    days.  I'm not sure we'll ever get a check from the Company for damages
    but the bottom of our boat is taking a real beating from the metal
    braets left w/ no rollers on them.  If we know that the boat will be
    safe from future damages we'll get it repaired ourselves and pray for a
    check in the future!
    
    Thanks for the alternative - but at this point I'm hoping that that
    won't be necessary!
    
    Thanks again,
    Sonia

    Hi Folks,

    Concerning roller trailers: 

    I just purchased a new boat with a roller type trailer.  It was a
    difficult decision for me as to weather to get a roller or bunk type
    trailer.  The reason I went with the roller was that I felt it would be
    easier for me to handle by myself, since my wife drives neither the
    truck or the boat.  Another plus for the roller type is ease of loading
    @ shallow ramps.  I have owned 2 roller trailers before, 1 Cox, 1
    EZ-loader and had no problems with the rollers.

    There were two pluses for the bunk type trailer. First they support the
    boat better.  Sometimes the roller type trailer tend to distort the
    hull after years of storage.  The second is that they look better,
    since the custom welded type come painted (not practical for salt water
    use).

    One thing I have noticed is that the further south I go (I live in
    Virginia), the fewer roller trailers I see.  Last week, while
    vacationing in South Carolina, I saw an EZ-loader with bunks.  The
    salesmen at the marina told me that they did not sell roller trailers,
    because they don't hold up to the salt water.  "Rollers freeze up and/or
    fall off."

    Just my thoughts....
    Matt

    RE: .7
    
    I've owned a couple of each.  I'm convinced that bunks are the 
    only way to go, for most of the reasons you mentioned.  I've even 
    converted a roller trailer to bunks.  IMO, the only reason to go
    with rollers is because you can slide the boat off with little
    or no water.  This can also be a drawback, I saw one slide right 
    off the trailer and onto the parking lot two weeks ago.  I've 
    never had a problem launching my 17' cuddy in fairly shallow water
    off the bunk trailer.  If there's not enough water to float the 
    boat, I'd rather launch somewhere else anyway. 

    For launching and retrieving by yourself, the bunk type also seems 
    to line the boat up better than the roller trailer.  With the roller 
    trailer I was always moving things around to get the boat straight.   

    Based on your own arguments, I'm surprised you went with rollers...
    
    Rick

    
    
    re:.6 
    
     AS I said in my note- the trailer is a LONG (knock off of an
    EZ-Loader).
    
     Most all the trailer rollers and shafts are standard. there are two
    ways I have seen these rollers retained ion the shaft- with a washer
    and a cotter pin (this works) and with a press- on retainer.
    
     The reatiner is usually not made of S/Steel- it rusts , falls off and
    there goes your rollers. Even if you get the shafts replaced with new,
    and the rollers are held on with those ***** clips, it is an accident
    waiting to happen.
    
     Only the keel rollers on My trailer were held on this way-so I had
    four shafts to drill in my drill press- the whole job took about an
    hour an about $3 worth of washers/cotter pins.
    
    Dick

    I lost my crank handle on my Peterson (model #2500) winch. No one in
    the local area (Washington, DC) seems to have a replacement. It was
    bought new in '77. This is a crank for a 1" square drive on the winch
    and a 1/2" hole.
    
    Does anyone know of a source (I would need phone number) for someone
    carrying Peterson Winch parts?
    
    It's a shame because everyone tells me "they don't mak'm like Peterson
    anymore".

	Anyone own one of those new fangled "Torsion bar" bunk trailers?
It uses a torsion bar setup in place of leaf springs.... Any comments?

thanks,

Rick

    
        My new TI trailer came with a torsion axle. I think they ride
    better and bounce less. Simple observation in my rear-view mirrors,
    however the radial tires may have a lot to do with it too.
    
        My pop-up camper that I bought 3 years ago has the torsion axle
    also. The manufacturer of these axles (Dexter) claims that there is no
    need for any trailer shock absorbers on a torsion axle. So far I
    believe them.
    
    -john

    I have a galvy EZ Loader (it's carrying a 17' Sunbird) that uses
    torsion bars, and it rides wonderfully - extremely smooth and stable
    even at not-very-wise speeds, not a hint of shimmy.
    
    It's remarkably  quiet as well (no leafs a-rattlin' down the road) and
    takes crummy roads in stride (for that matter it took on a railroad
    tie planter box in stride - strode right over it and I never had a clue
    what had happened ;^)
    
    Great stuff - they should all be built like this.
    
    /dave