boat not loading straight

[longy509]

Hi i have a just got a new second hand boat on a redco rt500-mo trailer everytime i load it the front seems to pull over to the port side i am hoping someone can help me with which slides i should be adjusting i will ry to attach an image of trailer.

cheers

[Catchin Jack]

Slides straight?

[Fab1]

Hi mate,

The most common cause of this is people submerging their trailers to deep causing the boat to float above the trailer all over the place,often without actually touching the trailer where it's needed.Risking damage to hull from things such as roller cradles/mud guards etc.

This becomes worse when it's windy or there is simply a strong side current running or wash from other boats.

I would do these things in this order:

1:Back trailer in until top of rear roller is just under the surface of the water.

2:Grab your boat and put its keel on this roller and winch her on,she should straighten up as you winch as you have a self aligning trailer.

3:If above fails rollers/skids may need adjusting.

Here's how to adjust:

1: drop your skids down away from hull.

2: drop your rear roller down as far as possible.

3:set your front roller about 25-50mm higher than your rear roller.

4: Run a string line between the two.

5:Raise the rollers in-between the two rollers on each end until they are just touching the string.

6:Ensure boat is sitting level on it's keel rollers and raise the skids until they are just touching the hull ensuring they are placed as far apart as possible and are in-between the planning strakes.

Note:Lubricate all rollers/pins with a good quality water proof grease as you go and inspect all roller pins and cradles are not bent and tighten all bolts/nuts well.

Use a floor jack with a block of wood and mark heights of rollers and skids before you start so that you have a reference to work from.

Hope this helps you out mate,if you do all these things right your boat will glide on and off like mine.

Here's my trailer as a reference.

Cheers.Fabian.

[longy509]

cheers fab great info there does your railer tilt at the back

Edited August 11, 2013 by longy509

[Fab1]

Non tilt mate.

[Fab1]

Another cause I forgot to mention is if looking from the rear of the trailer and the starboard side rear skid is higher than the port side as your boat comes up the trailer it will be pushed to port due to the higher starboard skid shifting the weight of the hull to port due to gravity.

[longy509]

Thanks for the help fab it ended up being a couple of rollers lop sided i lined them all up and udjusted the skids till they just touch the boat.

i have one more question the 4 short skids that go across the trailer on an angle i have adjusted them up to touch boat aswell but after looking at your pictures i should of left them loose what is the reason they stay loose and is there a specific measurement i should drop them down off the boat.

Cheers

[Fab1]

Tilt them down on an angle so that the leading edge is even with and as close as possible to the roller to prevent your. Keel from being wedged between the guide and roller as your boat slides of the guide and onto the roller.

You may need to adjust the heights of the cradle/s when doing this to get it right.

Once you've done this don't worry if once the boat is on the trailer they are not touching the hull as they are only an aid to get the keel centered on the keel rollers on retrieval of your boat.

Cheers.

[Nolongeramember]

Hi mate,

The most common cause of this is people submerging their trailers to deep causing the boat to float above the trailer all over the place,often without actually touching the trailer where it's needed.Risking damage to hull from things such as roller cradles/mud guards etc.

This becomes worse when it's windy or there is simply a strong side current running or wash from other boats.

I would do these things in this order:

1:Back trailer in until top of rear roller is just under the surface of the water.

2:Grab your boat and put its keel on this roller and winch her on,she should straighten up as you winch as you have a self aligning trailer.

3:If above fails rollers/skids may need adjusting.

Here's how to adjust:

1: drop your skids down away from hull.

2: drop your rear roller down as far as possible.

3:set your front roller about 25-50mm higher than your rear roller.

4: Run a string line between the two.

5:Raise the rollers in-between the two rollers on each end until they are just touching the string.

6:Ensure boat is sitting level on it's keel rollers and raise the skids until they are just touching the hull ensuring they are placed as far apart as possible and are in-between the planning strakes.

Note:Lubricate all rollers/pins with a good quality water proof grease as you go and inspect all roller pins and cradles are not bent and tighten all bolts/nuts well.

Use a floor jack with a block of wood and mark heights of rollers and skids before you start so that you have a reference to work from.

Hope this helps you out mate,if you do all these things right your boat will glide on and off like mine.

Here's my trailer as a reference.

Hey Fab, Im in the middle of adjusting my rollers aswell. Similar to your trailer. With your instructions you say that you run a string from the front roller to the rear roller and then adjust the rollers inbetween to the height of the string. Looking at my boat and your pictures the front roller looks significantly higher than the others which are around about level with eachother. Like if you ran a string from front to rear, the rollers inbetween the front and rear would not touch it the string. Especially the second roller.

[longy509]

ignore the first roller the keel does not touch it and start from the second to rear i think then adjust he front one once boat is on trailer (i think)

[Nolongeramember]

Yeah thats what I done and it looks good.