Alternative to rollers

diver 1 · 20 October 2021, 14:39

I have a 2600kg indespension roller trailer with 48 rollers on it but I find no matter how well set up it is there is a lot of resistance in getting the boat on and off. I was looking at replacing the rollers but at around £5 each its an expensive prospect. I'm currently working in Norway and see a lot of the trailers here are very different approach to rollers than UK trailers. They have tyre rollers which are much bigger diameter

Has anyone converted their trailer to be like this in the UK? It looks to be a good option provided the tyres are quite firm and dont mark the hull too badly with tyre marks.

Erin · 20 October 2021, 15:16

I've seen them on a VanClaes trailer price list as an option in the UK though haven't ever seen them in use. I can't imagine they will make a huge difference to rolling resistance and I bet they're expensive.

Limecc · 20 October 2021, 15:46

Either raise the bow rollers or lower the stern or both. On my much smaller outfit the rear carriages were set too close together. I moved them from the inner chines to the outer chines thus making it more stable for towing and also lower so needing less depth to launch.

Gravity should get it off the trailer and you can power it back on or else get a winch that that takes less effort.

Solid tyres are ideal for stepped hulls.

Pikey Dave · 20 October 2021, 16:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by diver 1

I have a 2600kg indespension roller trailer with 48 rollers on it but I find no matter how well set up it is there is a lot of resistance in getting the boat on and off. I was looking at replacing the rollers but at around £5 each its an expensive prospect. I'm currently working in Norway and see a lot of the trailers here are very different approach to rollers than UK trailers. They have tyre rollers which are much bigger diameter

Has anyone converted their trailer to be like this in the UK? It looks to be a good option provided the tyres are quite firm and dont mark the hull too badly with tyre marks.

I have a VanClaes with the solid wheels/tyres. Works perfectly for me. There were/are problems with the inflatable tyres going flat or the valves rotting due to salt water. The inflatable tyres are kinder to the hull in that they offer a fair amount of cushioning & give. I prefer the solid type meself.

Limecc · 20 October 2021, 16:24

A trick to save the expense of new rollers is to use some pvc pipe from B&Q that has a 20mm bore. Press the cut sleeves into the worn rollers. No machining was needed, just a hacksaw and hammer. At the same time I changed the spindles to stainless.

jeffstevens763@g · 20 October 2021, 19:21

I think you’ll find tyres expensive and mark and if fitted with Chinese inner tubes go down frequently I have a puncture proof wheel on my jockey wheel that also goes flat if left in one place £10 ish for them too. Has the wheels worn on the shaft ? Which will make them pinch, old grease will go solid and cause friction too. Boring out and sleeving would work leaving the sleeves to rotate too.

diver 1 · 21 October 2021, 14:27

Cheers all. I had removed all my rollers, cleaned, greased, and replaced all washers and split pins with A4 stainless earlier in the year so the rollers themselves are fine and all spin freely even under load. I think the fault is that the Indespension rollers are a tyre of moulded rubber, so the rollers do not remain round, but slightly flatten or compress under load, great for taking the stress off the hull but perhaps deform too much compared to other manufacturers rollers which have a hard plastic body and slightly rubberised outer thus giving less for deflection. It helps much less that my local slipway is virtually flat rather than conventional slipways which are sloping. The set up is an absolute breeze to use on a normal slipway, think Penzance or Portland for example, the boat rolls off effortlessly and can be driven on easily due to the depth of water. At my local slipway I have to resort to slackening the winch strap and using the brakes on the car to rock the boat back a few feet on the rollers to overcome initial friction, then unhitch, then push the whole thing out 100m or so to slightly deeper water then winch and push the boat the rest of the way off the trailer. On my SBS trailer which much fewer, harder, plastic rollers the boat seemed to come off the trailer with far less effort.

jeffstevens763@g · 21 October 2021, 14:48

Would a long jock wheel help by keeping your emergency chain on the trailer to car and lift the boat with the jockey wheel giving a slope

HDAV · 22 October 2021, 00:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by diver 1

At my local slipway I have to resort to slackening the winch strap and using the brakes on the car to rock the boat back a few feet on the rollers to overcome initial friction, then unhitch, then push the whole thing out 100m or so to slightly deeper water then winch and push the boat the rest of the way off the trailer. On my SBS trailer which much fewer, harder, plastic rollers the boat seemed to come off the trailer with far less effort.

Seems a lot of faff, and doesn’t sound like a slip at all, beach? Also from above are you hand launching? Just lift the trailer up?

Swap trailers probably easier and cheaper than replacing all the rollers.

Or if using vehicle to launch reverse at speed and hit the brakes to drop the boat off? Just don’t go too fast or you will be swimming after it.

Limecc · 22 October 2021, 01:19

I don't get why ones feel lifting the bow rollers and lowering the stern isn't going to work. All you're doing is compensating for a shallow slip. It launches fine on a normal gradient.

diver 1 · 22 October 2021, 16:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Limecc

I don't get why ones feel lifting the bow rollers and lowering the stern isn't going to work. All you're doing is compensating for a shallow slip. It launches fine on a normal gradient.

I've already got the fwd roller beams 25mm higher than the rear, rear are already lowest achievable position, even slight modified to make them lower, front cannot be higher as I have very limited height clearance on my garage roof (currently 5mm gap!)

Limecc · 22 October 2021, 16:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by diver 1

I've already got the fwd roller beams 25mm higher than the rear, rear are already lowest achievable position, even slight modified to make them lower, front cannot be higher as I have very limited height clearance on my garage roof (currently 5mm gap!)

Ok full picture now.
Still better off than having bunks.

Pikey Dave · 22 October 2021, 16:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Limecc

Ok full picture now.
Still better off than having bunks.

My first RIB was a 6.4m Osprey with an inboard V6 petrol. I could be a pig to get off the trailer in shallow water. I rigged up a snatch block at the back end of the trailer, ran a rope from the bow eye on the boat & around the snatch block. The rope had an eye spliced at the loose end. The rope went from bow eye, around the snatch block & I clipped the winch hook into the spliced eye. By winding the winch, the boat was pulled off the trailer. As soon as the weight of the engine was off the trailer, away she went.

jeffstevens763@g · 22 October 2021, 17:18

Break back or tilting trailer ?

Daibheid · 23 October 2021, 13:04

I’ve a diesel inboard that can be hard to move after the winter sat squishing the rollers. A spray of silicon into the rollers will make a big difference when there’s weight on them. A fallback is run the winch strap under a keel roller and back to the bow ring. There’s often one in the centre of the trailer that doesn’t carry weight other than protecting/ lifting the bow during recovery on steeper slips. Use your bow line belayed around the winch post or jockey wheel to ensure it doesn’t get away from you after the winch gets it moving back. Like Pikey Daves idea but using what you may already have.
BTW 25mm higher at the front is virtually level, you’ll need to go multiples higher before gravity will help overcome stiction but then that assist is not going to help keep the boat on when towing.
You can also jack the nose a lot higher than you think while still hitched with a solid jockey wheel.

diver 1 · 23 October 2021, 16:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

My first RIB was a 6.4m Osprey with an inboard V6 petrol. I could be a pig to get off the trailer in shallow water. I rigged up a snatch block at the back end of the trailer, ran a rope from the bow eye on the boat & around the snatch block. The rope had an eye spliced at the loose end. The rope went from bow eye, around the snatch block & I clipped the winch hook into the spliced eye. By winding the winch, the boat was pulled off the trailer. As soon as the weight of the engine was off the trailer, away she went.

Yeah that's another trick I use when I forget to use the car brakes to get the 1st metre or so of movement. It works well, just again faffing about.

jonp · 26 October 2021, 22:12

Most trailers have skids rather than rollers here these days, they are so easy to drive on and off with at the ramp. This is from my a couple of my non rib boat trailers but people have them like this on trailer boats for vessels of 8m+. Ive also put full skids on my daughters zodiac 500 trailer.

gtflash · 31 October 2021, 20:12

Love the wincing off ideas. My rollers are crap and compress over time. Plus the stepped hull. In reality I’ve always blamed the step but when o pooped today not a single roller was resting in the step so it must be the rollers.

gtflash · 01 November 2021, 00:16

Sorry for my spelling. Autocorrect. Any pictures of the setups winching backward please ?