How to get my boat on the bunk trailer?
- Thread starter Fishing?
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bigbruce
Crew Member
Where can you get this stuff? Amazon says it’s not available.
Red Monster
Well-Known Member
Search Products | West Marine
Search West Marine's massive catalog of products ranging from boat parts & supplies, fishing gear & equipment, apparel, paddling and much more!
www.westmarine.com
I see there's another product around called Slydz-on that sounds similar.
Caliber Slydz-On Spray On Bunk Lubricant, 16oz
FEATURES Easy loading of your boat or watercraft. Reduces cranking torque required by as much as 275%. Safer unloading and loading by dramatically reducing stress on the trailer crank mechanisms, ropes and hull bow hooks. Allows you to unload and load yo
I'd love to find another can of LR because mine's almost empty.
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tightlines
Well-Known Member
I always thought it was to allow the boat to be more efficiently supported by the trailer axles and not the bunks. When loading, the bunks seem to center the boat and as you move farther onto the trailer the boat effectively sits down (pivots) into the trailer, taking pressure off the bunks and reallocating majority of supporting role to the axles. Not an engineer though!!
noluck
Well-Known Member
it i just a self adjusting trailer.I always thought it was to allow the boat to be more efficiently supported by the trailer axles and not the bunks. When loading, the bunks seem to center the boat and as you move farther onto the trailer the boat effectively sits down (pivots) into the trailer, taking pressure off the bunks and reallocating majority of supporting role to the axles. Not an engineer though!!
grey-cie
Member
Good luck spraying that at a boat ramp these days you’ll have the environment police knocking at your door lol
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
I rarely see people driving boats up on trailer. If you launch solo on a cuddy not sure how you are doing that. Mine isnt a walk around.
I just switched to bunks last year. How I do it is I back trailer down until there is about 8 inches of the bunk out of water. If you do that boat always center perfectly.
I sometimes do have an issue getting boat on in that last few cranks to the roller, but it's only at ****** launches that aren't steep. Brechin in Nanaimo is a perfect example.
Probably going to look at an electric winch.
I just switched to bunks last year. How I do it is I back trailer down until there is about 8 inches of the bunk out of water. If you do that boat always center perfectly.
I sometimes do have an issue getting boat on in that last few cranks to the roller, but it's only at ****** launches that aren't steep. Brechin in Nanaimo is a perfect example.
Probably going to look at an electric winch.
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Loghauler
Well-Known Member
Play with it there is a sweet spot just like goldy locks you need to find it
how far back u need to be so the winch only pulls the last bit to final stop
I back in till I have one inch of my fender out and that’s my spot
You will need to practice to find yours and pull out slowly if you have low range use it so your boat doesn’t get yanked off its spot when driving out
how far back u need to be so the winch only pulls the last bit to final stop
I back in till I have one inch of my fender out and that’s my spot
You will need to practice to find yours and pull out slowly if you have low range use it so your boat doesn’t get yanked off its spot when driving out
scott craven
Well-Known Member
Bunks suck, rollers rule ! 
Loghauler
Well-Known Member
Seen more than one boat roll of at a launchBunks suck, rollers rule !
Never off bunks
pescador
Well-Known Member
Half and half. Front half rollers, back half bunks. That's the ideal setup especially for larger boats with some weight on steep launches. I've got bunks and its a ***** at Gold River getting the boat up that last 2 inches to set the bow into the winch upright rubber stop,Bunks suck, rollers rule !
Squire
Well-Known Member
Bunks suck, rollers rule !
I’ve found that it depends on the size of the boat. I had a 17’ runabout with a roller bunk trailer that was fanastic at self-centering the boat on the trailer. It required very little of the trailer in the water and the winch pretty much dragged it up. I would take the tie-downs off at the edge of the water.
Now that I have a much heavier boat I prefer the bunks because I’m not going to yard it up over rollers and I’d have to mostly float it on anyway. I feel safe taking the tie-downs off at the top of the ramp. In both cases I don’t unhook the safety chain or winch strap until the stern hits the water.
Rollers support ‘points‘ on the hull instead of spreading it out like bunks do and this matters for a heavy boat that spends a lot of time on the trailer.
Clint r
Well-Known Member
This. My last boat trailer was a bunk/roller combo and the one I have now eventually will be. It proved it’s worth to me at the native launch in port renfrew. We pull up and everyone’s waiting for the tide to come in. I back in to a chorus of “ too shallow” “not enough water” blah blah blah. Unhook my straps and chain and back in and shoot the boat off the trailer. Wife pulls it in to shore while I park and we head out. We fished north to carmanah a full 2 hours before the next guy at the launch shows up.
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Clint r
Well-Known Member
Maybe not the same as at the coast because the launches are more rocky than sand/gravel but we have a definite problem in the okanagan with people powering onto their trailer. You can go to any launch here and see the trench blown In the bottom from weekend warriors powering onto their trailer. You can also go to any marine repair shop and see at least a couple boats waiting for impeller/water pump replacement or even needing a new heat exchanger or maybe even sand plugging the openings in the engine block because they suck all that crap into their cooling system.
seahorse
Crew Member
I never power onto my bunk trailer, never had to, I put my hip waders on, sink the trailer so that the front 1 foot of the bunks are just out of the water, pull the boat up to within 2 ft of the winch then hand winch the rest of the way, very easy and have had no issues centering the boat. I do turn my main engine a little to port before raising it to compensate for the kicker weight on the starboard side. Launching is easy but as mentioned I wait until the boat and trailer are in the water to release the safety chain and winch strap just in case, there are too many spectators at the ramp.
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