Bunk or Roller

[bassNspear]

Im just wondering what everyone likes to use for there trailer. Wondering if you perfer bunks or rollers and why.

Thanks all and enjoy the cold weather

[delmuts]

i think alot of it depends on the type of landings you deal with most of the time, and the type of boat you have.

if you deal with shallow landings alot, then a roller will be an advantage. one of the bigger things i feel is, if you have a glass or alum. boat! i read some where,( here maybe? ) that it is recomended to have bunks under a glass boat. rollers can cause stress pts.(especially of you haul it alot), where a bunk supports much more of the hull.

i have run rangers for a number of years, and love the bunk trailers,although i do have to back a long ways into the water to float them once in a while.i have also watched guys at shallow ramps just crank the boats on with roller trailers, with little problems. del

[marine_man]

Del is right on in my opinion...

If one was 100% certain they'd never have any shallow water landings a bunk trailer would be the way to go. It is self centering and supports the hull the best in my opinion.

However, given the normal water conditions or boat ramp access, for a lot of the small lakes in the upper midwest (MN & ND) I would very likely go with a roller trailer - almost entirely for launching and loading purposes at low water landings.

That's not to say that you can't load or unload a boat on a bunk trailer if you have a low water landing, but I think it's a whole lot easier to load and unload on a roller trailer.

My 2 cents...

marine_man

[PerchJerker]

I agree with delmuts and marine_man. A bunk trailer is better support for your hull and is as easy to use as a roller trailer at "good" accesses, but can be a pain in the rear at shallow accesses.

I'd say any glass boat should be on a bunk trailer, and any aluminum boat over 19 feet should be on a buck trailer. Shorter aluminum boats can go on bunk trailers too, especially if you trailer a lot over bouncy roads and/or with a heavy load in the boat. It just saves stress and pressure points on the hull.

[primetime49]

I like the roller trailer for my 21 foot trophy hardtop.With this Shorelandr trailer we can drop 4100 pound boat off on ground or winch it up from the ground.

On my 20 foot Lund Alaskin I use a Shorelandr single axle roller and the usage is the same.We would not be able to get in some of the landings we use if we had bunk trailers.

On bass or walleye boats manufacturers made of glass suggest bunk trailers,and I would also to keep pressure off boats hulls.

If you are only going to fish lakes with landings deep enough to launch and reload by drive on and off capability bunks are ok.But if its shallow get a roller.

[NELS-BELLS]

I don't mean to stir the pot here, but those of you that have bunk trailers...Have you ever noticed small pieces of vegetation embedded in the carpet of your bunk trailers? I'm just wondering if they are more prone to transport milfoil than a roller trailer because you cant really clean what is trapped between the hull and the bunk unil the boat is removed and then its too late. The DNR says that all it takes is a tiny fragment of milfoil to reproduce. Is that true?

Its just a thought.

Nels

[Coach1310]

I have a roller and prefer it. It is nice to be able to just crank it up easily and not to have to really worry about the landing condition. I'm not a power loader, but would less people do it if they had a roller instead of a bunk?

[marine_man]

 Originally Posted By: NELS-BELLS

Have you ever noticed small pieces of vegetation embedded in the carpet of your bunk trailers?

I've wondered the same thing as well - could you get busted by the DNR for ANS on your pads? I suppose they would have to be able to see it though...

 Originally Posted By: Coach1310

I'm not a power loader, but would less people do it if they had a roller instead of a bunk?

I don't think that makes too much difference... I've seen about as many people power load on a bunk as on a roller trailer.

marine_man

[cjac]

I have a roller and like it for the ramp issues mentioned, but the bunks offer so much more support. If you think about it, it's like 32 pop cans on their side, and a boat laying on top of them. Square inches of support is so small compared to two or four 6inch wide bunks running however many feet long. No comparison, and no question for me if I go to glass.

I have an idea, I'd love to see a trailer along the lines of the shoes the kids have with those little heel wheels in them. Invent a trailer with rollers that retract down below bunks and you'd have the best of both worlds!!!

Chris

[BoxMN]

 Originally Posted By: cjac

I have an idea, I'd love to see a trailer along the lines of the shoes the kids have with those little heel wheels in them. Invent a trailer with rollers that retract down below bunks and you'd have the best of both worlds!!!

Chris

You know, we sort of have that on our older (82) Shorlandr trailer. Rollers in back, and bunks from the rear roller set up to the front. I always liked it a lot. Support, and nice and easy "roll off". It also has the capability to be a "tilt" trailer, though we have never needed that.

Our newer and bigger trailer is rollers, but with some decent sized "pads" that the boat rests on when it is fully up. We use to power load, but not anymore (for different discussion). I know we use our boat on some landings that a bunk only trailer under a big boat simply would not be able to launch at - but not that often. And our boat is tin. Glass I would get bunks for sure.

[marine_man]

 Originally Posted By: cjac

Invent a trailer with rollers that retract down below bunks and you'd have the best of both worlds!!!

Ranger used to (and maybe still do) make something that was exactly like this - you had carpeted bunks, but below the winch stand was another winch that would crank up some rollers along the keel that would allow one to run the boat on the rollers, then crank the rollers back down and lower the boat onto the pads. It was pretty slick!

marine_man

[cjac]

That is exactly what I was thinking of, I had thought I saw something along those lines once way back. Love my rollers with my rig, but the added support of bunks would really be nice, especially on long hauls, both for ride comfort and hull support.

Chris

[davesfriend]

That would be great. Retractable rollers. I have a 175 sportfish. I would really love the bunks for launching, unhook and float.Rollers for easy landing. My boat is so heavy that if I try to launch it myself I get wet.(probably just need to practice) If they can put wheels on shoes, put them on bunks too.

[Dbl]

 Quote:

Ranger used to (and maybe still do) make something that was exactly like this - you had carpeted bunks, but below the winch stand was another winch that would crank up some rollers along the keel that would allow one to run the boat on the rollers, then crank the rollers back down and lower the boat onto the pads. It was pretty slick!

Eagle trailers used to make some models that had the retractable rollers for Lund. Don't know what happened to them though.

[Ray Esboldt]

If I buy the same boat next time (1850 FishHawk tiller), I will go with a roller trailer. The bunks are great when someone is with you (other than the kids), but rollers sure are easy when alone. Plus, even though I have perfected power launching, shallow accesses are a bit trying. I am considering putting skids on my bunks in order to fight back a bit.

[rodmaker]

Roller trailers are without a doubt the easier of the two trailers to load / unload. Especially in shallow water.

I have a Shoreland'r roller 2400 lb trailer on my Alumacraft Competitor 185. I keep the entire bearings out of the water and have no problem loading or unloading.

Going to miss that if I purchase a glass boat.

[delmuts]

ray. do you mean those tefflon bars.strips that mount on the bunks so the boat will slide easier? a friend of mine had them, and they do work well. he said he had to keep the boat hooked up til it was in the water otherwise it would slide off. just keep an eye on them! he didn't ! they had worn down to the screws and tore up the bottom of his boat. del

[Ray Esboldt]

Del,

That's what I was thinking. Thanks for the tip about wear. I would be the type that would notice something like that too late.

[delmuts]

ya! my buddy had to have the bottom of his ranger redone. $$$$$$$$ ouch!

[blarkey]

I have had both and now have a bunk and love it will never go back to a roller.

[bassNspear]

there is alot of people that will say the same thing. once you go to a bunk, you will never leave it

[Pikeslayer]

delmuts.When you talk about tefflon bars are you talking about that white plastic that works so good on the bottem of my fish house skids?On my boat trailer I have bunks with carpet on them and the boat has to be floated off and on,if the water is not deep enough!Well your not putting the boat in that lake!I have been thinking of makeing the trailer into a tilt,but if some hy-fax (I think thats what its called) would make it slide better I would try that!