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I have rollers on my trailer for my '82/ 15' sport. When I had work done on my engine my mechanic told me i should get rid of the rollers and buy bunks. He said when my whaler sits on the rollers when stored it puts alot of stress on the fiberglass. he said it can weaken the glass. Has anyone heard of this or agree?
A little history:
The boat was my uncles / orig. owner-orig. trailer. The boat was stored in his garage and has been on the rollers since '82. I have not noticed anything in the condition of the hull around the rollers. I love loading my boat on the rollers, they work great. Do I have to give them up? I don't want to kill my hul.
You will probably get a lot of opinions on this one. When I was a Whaler dealer we put out a lot of boats on roller trailers, I have seen Whalers that have been on a roller trailer for years and suffered no damage. Myself I prefer a bunk trailer with no keel rollers.
I don't think the 15 is heavy enough to put indentations in the hull from the Wobble Rollers.
However, if you ever need to replace that contraption, I would recommend Keel Rollers along with a couple of carpeted bunks. The majority of the weight would still be on the keel rollers so it would slide easily. The carpeted bunks give you stability and take a little of the weight also should one or more of the keel rollers come loose or disintegrate from old age etc.....
I am a firm believer in the above.
1. Keel Rollers on all trailers and Double Keel Rollers for the larger Whalers.
2. AND..... Carpeted Bunks to go with the Keel Rollers... 2 for small boats 15' and under and 4 bunks for anything larger.
Just my opinion.
I have the above on both my Outrage 18' and my Outrage 22' Cuddy...
4 bunks on both trailers. Single keel rollers on the 18' with the single axle trailer and double keel rollers on the 22' with the dual axle trailer...
For a $100 or $200 more for the extra rollers and bunks, my boats are worth it as I trailer them many miles....
I have the 2 bunk w/ keel rollers (Like Joe said) on my trailer, when I bought the boat, it had no trailer (typical mw purchase), I had a cox trailer set up from a trailer place that "Used to" deal BW's but not anymore, they set up the trailer for what they thought a 15' sport should fit on (adjustment wise) so it was a bit heavy on the keel rollers, I never adjusted it properly because I only tow 2x a year a few miles, just to get her to/from the dock for the season. one year I did'nt put the boat in the water (Mustang project), and the keel rollers put a dip in the bottom of the hull (sat wrong on the trailer). I moved the boat on the rollers, prepped the bottom and launched, I had some concerns, and asked a few other "Whaler guys" about the problem, they said "don't worry, it will pop back out by the end of the summer", I pulled out the boat, and the dip was gone, no damage, no leaks, try that with another brand of boat besides BW, and you won't get the same results.
hope this helped.....mw
I bought my 17' Outrage new in 1991 sans trailer. I had it on davits on my own dock behind my house for 10 summers. My dealer was a relatively short boat ride away which is where I stored it each winter.
Around 2001 I bought a bunk trailer from a third party dealer. The head mechanic from the original BW dealer saw my rig one recent summer and shrugged his shoulders & chuckled "why didn't you buy a roller trailer for your Whaler?" This mechanic is very highly regarded in the local area and works for a high volume dealership. From that point forward I always assumed I bought the "wrong" trailer for my BW until I read your post.
I did a quick check and realized this dealer only sells roller trailers. Perhaps the mechanic that made that comment to you only sells bunks or at least has a few bunks to sell you?
I would like to point out to everyone what is listed in the older BW Owners Manuals.
The manual says to use a trailer with Keel Rollers to support most all of the weight and padded bunks to stabilize the load. Roller type trailers should NOT be used.
In later years, I believe the manual says just padded bunks are OK.
I think this is because they can reduce the price of the trailer and lower the cost of the entire boat/trailer package... I still would prefer to have some keel rollers for support.
The manual for my 06 150 Montauk states that the trailer it comes on is designed to support the weight of the boat, it is a bunk trailer with no keel rollers.
It goes on to say that if you are using a different trailer than the one from the factory that center rollers and keel guards will help support the boat.
Next it states that roller trailers should not be used as they can cause hull damage.
The last statement is Bunks provide a more even weight distribution.
At the bottom of the page is a notice Your warranty may be voided if you use a trailer with rollers. Use a trailer with bunks only.
