Roller vs. Bunk

[gregg52]

ya i kinda think rollers are gettin a bad wrap

my previous boat was glass and fairly heavy 1250 just the boat

i had it close to 20yrs as I said it didnt always go as staight as one would like but other than that I had no problems not even a bearing in that time and i use to check the bottom of the boat

it had like black rubber marks on it but it wasnt wore that i could tell and the thing was i never tied that boat down other than the

strap pulling it on once in awhile on a long trip i would use the back straps but very seldom

[FM_Mike]

My old boat had rollers and never a problem. Dealer talked me into a (really my decision a guess) bunk trailer. I like the ease of the roller and could load straight 98% of the time, found the sweet spot as to how deep the trailer needed to be backed in and after that is was a breeze. Got a Bunk on the new Raptor so I guess back to the learning curve. Cannot comment on the bunk yet as it has not hit the water, but hope it is a easy as the roller was.

Mike

[gregg52]

hard to get on crooked on bunks at least that the way mine is

ya once you get a spot on trailer as where to stop it is a breeze

but i think somethimes the landing arnt level and with rollers seem to throw you off a bit but not with bunks

at least thats my experience any way

[BobT]

I still believe that anyone having trouble getting a boat on straight with rollers, their trailer isn't set up properly. I've had two different boats and two different EZ Loader roller trailers and I can have my boat at 60 degrees relative to the trailer and it will still winch on straight and centered. The rollers follow the contour of the boat bottom and guide it right or left to center. It's pathetically simple and it doesn't matter if the trailer isn't level either.

[gregg52]

if you are cranking it on

i never pulled my strap out over a 2 ft

[raymondk]

One thing that bunk trailers are good for is transporting milfoil if you load a boat that has milfoil at the landing it is almost impossable to clean it off when it is trapped between the boat and bunks . I had a talk with a dnr guy he said there was no way even to check these trailers without jacking the boat off the bunks . Bunk trailers are easier to load and are better for your boat if the landings are deep enough. but with the extra time and hassle with the dnr getting alot stricter . One thing that i see how come the best bass lakes have milfoil I think one of the main reasons are bunk trailers which most big bass boats use.Walk around on a landing once and look at a few loaded trailers there is noway that they can clean all the weeds off before they leave..It might look like they got all of them but there is noway to check unless jacking the boat up and looking

[BobT]

if you are cranking it on

i never pulled my strap out over a 2 ft

Yeah, I catch your drift there. No pun intended.

[LMITOUT]

I've had both...I dunno....roller is a little easier to unload but if there is enough water to unload a roller there is enough to unload a bunk. The nice thing about a bunk, besides the support it gives your boat, is the ease of loading.......it practically sucks your boat into place every time and very rarely do you have to deal with an offset boat on the trailer. I had the option of the shallow water package from Ranger but didn't take it and can't say I regret it. I've unloaded on some shallow accesses with my bunk trailer and can't see how that option would have mattered that much.

If I were to get an aluminum boat I would have no issues with a bunk trailer.

[Slob_Samurai]

How many times have you been waiting at the launch watching joe schmo pushing their boat off and on trying to get their boat centered on the rollers?

That answers the question for me...

[delcecchi]

How many times have you been waiting at the launch watching joe schmo pushing their boat off and on trying to get their boat centered on the rollers?

That answers the question for me...

You will still be waiting no matter what kind of trailer you have.

Many people don't realize how little of the trailer should be in the water when loading a roller trailer. I had to call shorlandr to find out.

[reinhard1]

i have had both. i was told before i bought by boat and trailer not to get a bunk because the are difficult to launch in shallow water. the boat i wanted a crestliner 1850 had a trailer designed for that boat. a bunk trailer. well i have had no issues of launching my boat at any lake i have fished previously and am happy i got the bunk. like limit has said earlier, that trailer does suck that boat right into the bunk and i'm out of the water in no time. good luck.

[Chad Peterson]

I have had both and I really like the roller. Makes it easy to load and unload.

Sniffer

[Esox_Magnum]

..Heres how I unload, alone I unhook and get ready in the rigging area, loop a rope over the crank handle and hook to the bow eye,back in and slide the boat off,pull forward a hair to grab the rope off the crank and tie to dock, takes about 30 seconds from hitting the water to pulling empty trailer out.

With my partner we unhook and get ready in the rigging area,I get in the boat and he backs me in and floats me off, when done right takes 10 seconds from trailer hitting the water to pulling out.

Loadings about as simple, hit the sweet spot on the trailer and drive the boat up and on, hook the winch and I'm out, takes me 30-45 seconds alone once trailers in the water, about 10 seconds with a partner along.. With my old roller 90% of the time it was a simple load under good conditions, but add a cross wind or waves and sometimes took a few tries to get on and centered correctly and was never as fast as my current bunk...I'm not your average weekender I do this 200 times a season at least...

[boatfixer]

I've loaded and unloaded more boats than I care to even count, even in the reseviors out west that can get shallow and I prefer bunks most of the time . If its so shallow the bunks arnt wet thats different.

[BPBOB]

I've had a roller, and now a bunk trailer. I read somewhere to get the bunk completely wet,then pull up a bit to get the boat on the bunks. I have had little trouble loading on the bunk. My roller trailer worked well too, but an in-law with a similar boat had a heck of a time getting his boat loaded correctly/straight on his roller trailer. We have never figured out why.

One nice thing about the roller trailer-like has been mentioned- you can have an easier time pushing the boat off with a roller trailer if you don't want/can't back in at the landing.

[ozzie]

your in-laws rollers aren't posistioned correctly I would assume....I have a bunk and used many different trailers and I do think it depends on the boat but I like the bunk trailers that I have used for loading better than the rollers but the rollers get the boat off better than the bunks. If I had to chose I would probably go with a bunk.

[SkunkedAgain]

Roller trailers are not going to put holes in the OP's boat. Sure a frankenstein setup can cause damage with any rig, but you're not going to roll out of a dealership with rollers mis-matched that they'll harm your boat.

The gist of it all is:

Rollers: easy off always, easier on in low water or shallow access situations

Bunks: straighter loading always, just as easy to load in normal water levels as a roller

Most of the stories about loading issues with boat bunks and rollers can be attributed to either: 1) misalignment of the bunks or rollers; or 2) inexperience of the boater/loader.

There's no right answer in this debate, just personal preferences and preferred usage.

[gregg52]

There's no right answer in this debate, just personal preferences and preferred usage.

i'd say that pretty much it in a nut shell

for most all debates on here

[BobT]

Quote:

There's no right answer in this debate, just personal preferences and preferred usage.

Which is what the OP was asking us to share.

[UNIT]

Thanks for all your replies and help in making this decision. After reading all the replies I was able to make my decision but understand the passion people have for what they like as with anything.

I ended up getting a new boat with a roller trailer as I want the flexibility I feel it will offer me.

Thanks again

UNIT

[Get'n Jiggy]

Sounds like a Roller/Bunk is the answer, they used to make them years

ago but quit, don't know why, my buddy had one and it worked great.

[drippinwet]

Used the bunk for the first time today. It was simple and took one try to load. Very easy and less stress on the fiberglass boat.