Bunks

[Windlass]

Has anyone replaced the 5 foot carpeted bunks with roller bunks on a sunfish trailer? I’m considering changing mine. I found them on etrailer.com I have read the black rollers can mark your boat. Maybe I can find clear rollers.

 

[Alan S. Glos]

Windlass,

I am not a fan of load bearing rollers for a boat like the Sunfish as fitted, carpeted bunks (preferably transverse) provide much better support on the road and in storage and reduce potential hull damage. A photo of my current bunk rig on a Trailex trailer frame is attached. And, yes, most black rollers will mar a Sunfish hull but non-mar rollers are available for a little more $$.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY

 

[Wavedancer]

Agreed!
One wants to spread the load.

 

[signal charlie]

I've never seen it. The pontoon hull is barely 1/4 inch thick in most places. Rollers along the thick keel would be okay, but even that area can be crushed if the boat is strapped too tight.

 

[shorefun]

I am with the no rollers crowd on this one. What you dont think about is the force you will get when the little trailer tires hit minor bumps and drive the trailer up into the hull. The glass is not ment for such small point force and it will not go well.

I usually transport mine upside down on foam. But I am lazy and use a flat harbor freight trailer. I also have taken to using a boom cover for the all the long stuff to keep them all well protected enroute.

 

[Saltydog87]

My trailer has a black rubber roller on it, and you can see the nice black streak it put on my hull. I had just painstakingly put a new coat of gelcoat on it that season as well.

 

[gzblack2]

I posted on the forum about a boat I bought on a trailer with rollers. The 15 minute drive home caused more damage to the hull then the previous 45 years of use.

I also swamped out the rollers for bunks from the day sailer trailer as they were causing a soft spot on the hull.