Calkins trailer advice

[MRWood]

I have a Calkins trailer that is needing some work on the roller assemblies and rollers. The trailer is used to haul my 19' Seasport Skipper. It is one of these types of trailers that the inside frames pivot up and down as you load the boat. I have looked at replacing the roller assemblies and center rollers and assemblies. I figure to replace them all in will cost well over a grand. My question, on these type of trailers that pivot can you put bunks on them (perhaps in the rear half) or do I need to stick with the rollers. Any other advice on what would be best for this trailer would be appreciated.

 

[Trophy]

MRWood,
I have a similar designed older tandem trailer. Spent many hours replacing rusted on
Keel rollers and broken wobble rollers. After partially replacing them with similar cheap "black" rollers, the replaced rollers were wearing/breaking before I finished the original refit. Round two, replaced the rollers again with higher quality / more expensive yellow nylon rollers. A year and a half later and the yellow rollers are showing no signs of distortion like the replaced black ones did in months. No more untieing boat at top of ramp...rolls off easily! Good time to consider half bunk half roller redesign? Good luck!

 

[scott craven]

From the looks of your roller brackets your boat must sit quite high on the trailer.(maybe the pic)
if you remove the rear roller assemblies for bunks it will require a complete re alignment of all your brackets to meet the bunk height.

 

[AlK]

I have a Calkins trailer with bunks. Mine only has two pivoting bars not like yours which has four. To convert yours to bunks would probably entail more dollars than purchasing good quality rollers.

 

[MRWood]

MRWood,
I have a similar designed older tandem trailer. Spent many hours replacing rusted on
Keel rollers and broken wobble rollers. After partially replacing them with similar cheap "black" rollers, the replaced rollers were wearing/breaking before I finished the original refit. Round two, replaced the rollers again with higher quality / more expensive yellow nylon rollers. A year and a half later and the yellow rollers are showing no signs of distortion like the replaced black ones did in months. No more untieing boat at top of ramp...rolls off easily! Good time to consider half bunk half roller redesign? Good luck!

Thanks Trophy, noted on the yellow rollers, ive seen those and they look very durable. My rollers are actually not the problem, they're all pretty good. It's the assembly and the pins that go through the rollers. They've rusted and swelled, so some of the rollers are not wanting to roll to well. So I have to do something.

 

[MRWood]

From the looks of your roller brackets your boat must sit quite high on the trailer.(maybe the pic)
if you remove the rear roller assemblies for bunks it will require a complete re alignment of all your brackets to meet the bunk height.

Scott, the boat sits highish but not as high as you'de think from the pics. The pivoting brackets pivot down when the boat rolls on. Just not sure how the pivoting brackets would work with bunks.

 

[MRWood]

I have a Calkins trailer with bunks. Mine only has two pivoting bars not like yours which has four. To convert yours to bunks would probably entail more dollars than purchasing good quality rollers.

Thanks AIK. What would I need to do with the pivots in order for bunks to work.

 

[AlK]

I will try and take some pic's of my trailer tomorrow and post them.

 

[MRWood]

Here are a couple of pics of how the boat sits on the trailer.

 

[AlK]

My trailer has two pivoting cross members.
Attached are 3 pictures of each cross member one for the Front and one for the Back.

A few observations.
1} it looks like you would have to use spacers between your cross members and the frame on your boat.
2) the keel rollers are mounted differently on your cross members from mine.
3 you will also need to modify the mounting brackets for the bunks.

 

[MRWood]

My trailer has two pivoting cross members.
Attached are 3 pictures of each cross member one for the Front and one for the Back.

A few observations.
1} it looks like you would have to use spacers between your cross members and the frame on your boat.
2) the keel rollers are mounted differently on your cross members from mine.
3 you will also need to modify the mounting brackets for the bunks.

It looks like you have a good set up there. I think if I start trying to reconfigure this trailer it is going to complicate my life more than I need. I think for now I'm going to start replacing the seized/tight keel and side rollers and go from there. I see the guys with bunks and they seemed like a simpler way to go but not really suited for my trailer.

 

[AlK]

As far as bunks go, the only other thing, I would suggest. Is talk to a trailer shop and see what they would recommend. My guess is the replacement of the rollers, is probably going to be the cheapest.

 

[gungadin]

Looking at your pictures, it appears to me that once the boat is loaded most of the boats weight is on the keel rollers. The bunk rollers appear to carry very little weight and are mostly to aid in aligning the boat during recovery. If this is what you have found, you may have also found that the keel rollers are partially collapsed and/or seized and not turning. You do have plenty of keel rollers to support the boat (8). I would consider replacing them with Stoltz keel rollers http://www.stoltzind.com/keelroller.html
They have a piece of aluminium through the centre for additional strength. Use stainless pins (grease them before using) and retainers and it will be the last time you have to do it.

You may not find them in Canada. Steveston Marine says they have them but it's just a cheap copy.

 

[MRWood]

Thanks Gungadin i will check into it. You're right about the keel rollers some are partially collapsed.

 

[windsurfer]

Your bunks would have to be as high as your rollers so that the hull would clear the trailer fenders. Personally, I would look for a new used trailer with rear bunks, and then sell the old one as is.

 

[SteelyDan]

I will be converting my new to me calkins roller trailer to rear bunks myself. Going to use 4x6 and probably have to re work the brackets. Make new ones or modify the existing. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[MRWood]

Well decided to keep it simple and replace the keel rollers and assemblies as well as the bunk roller assemblies. The bunk rollers are all good so saved a few bucks there.
Sculpin the metal working guru is making up my assemblies and will get them galvanized as well. Here are pics of a keel roller and assembly and bunk roller and assembly. As you can see, the salt water has worked it's magic over the years. the old rollers and assemblies.

 

[MRWood]

Here are the new keel rollers I got from Parker Marine. Needed 2*12" and 6*8". The 12" are the 1st two rollers that the boat hits when coming onto the trailer.

 

[MRWood]

I thought I should finish this thread off now that the dark rainy season is on us.
Here are some pics of the assemblies that Mr Sculpin made up for me.

Keel roller assemblies.


New bunk roller assembly. Looks just a little better than before lol.

 

[MRWood]

With the new bunk rollers it was suggested that i peen the ends to keep the rollers on. I tried that but it wasn't working well, so I decided to drill out the ends and use the e-clips to keep the rollers on. A little more work but way better.