Roller on trailer pops up when recovering

blimp · 20 March 2007, 08:05

Wonder if this happens to anyone else, and what solution you've found.

Only picked up the boat on Saturday, so just 2 recoveries done so far .... but ... on both occasions I had the same problem. She's got 8 sets of rollers on each side and one of these (starboard side, rear) has popped up the wrong way both times. The first time (in Lymington on Saturday) I just relaunched, pulled trailer out, re-set the roller and recovered fine. Second time (yesterday, Crosshaven, Cork Harbour, Ireland) was a bit trickier as there was a very strong cross-wind meaning I had to 'crab' on to the trailer. With the roller coming up again, I gave up and she's on a marina below there until wind dies off a little.

Anyone know how to stop a roller from 'popping-up' during recovery?

robin · 20 March 2007, 09:39

I used to stop my roller beam from flipping during recovery by securing it with cheap elastic bungee cords, the ones with the hooks at the end.

The bungees stay on the trailer all the time and allow enough movement for the beam/rollers to work but insufficient movement for them to flip over and cock everything up.

blimp · 20 March 2007, 09:52

sounds like a good plan - my rollers are in four blocks of four sets (2 blocks of four on each side) so I presume I would run the bungees along each block, rather than one for each roller?

Nasher · 20 March 2007, 11:16

Blimp

Similar to Robin, my trailer has various bits of shock cord holding things in roughly the right place.

The beauty of Shock cord or bungees is as Robin says, they allow movement.

I've also tied two lengths of cord across the trailer that hold the centres of the brake cables up higher than thier ends, this means any water that gets in will run out rather than find the lowest point in the 'droop'.

Nasher

blimp · 20 March 2007, 14:22

Thanks guys - bungee it is then.

On a different note, can anyone advise how long I'll get away with keeping her on a marina without antifouling. I don't want to go down the antifoul route, but would be handy if I could keep her on a marina for the next 3 weeks while I get her permanent 'home' sorted. If I pulled her out every 10 days and powerwashed the hull would it be ok, do I need to do it more often, or is it advised against?

codprawn · 20 March 2007, 14:35

A lot depends on the time of year - stuff grows much faster in the summer. You should be ok for 2 weeks or so at a time.

jyasaki · 20 March 2007, 15:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nasher

I've also tied two lengths of cord across the trailer that hold the centres of the brake cables up higher than thier ends, this means any water that gets in will run out rather than find the lowest point in the 'droop'.

Now, *That's* a clever bit of preemptive maintenance...

jky

Nasher · 20 March 2007, 16:22

Thanks jky.

It is rather self-satisfying to come up with things like that, especially when you are too tight to buy new cables every year.

Nasher.

Daibheid · 20 March 2007, 17:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by blimp

Thanks guys - bungee it is then.

On a different note, can anyone advise how long I'll get away with keeping her on a marina without antifouling. I don't want to go down the antifoul route, but would be handy if I could keep her on a marina for the next 3 weeks while I get her permanent 'home' sorted. If I pulled her out every 10 days and powerwashed the hull would it be ok, do I need to do it more often, or is it advised against?

First, congratulations on getting it home safely and best wishes for a great season with the new boat.

Regarding the antifoulding, as stated earlier, you'll have no bother over the next few weeks but if you use the boat regularly and fast (onerous chore) you should have very little need for antifouling. A pal with a 5.5 Delta keeps it moored in Kerry for the whole Summer and has never antifouled it. I'd say suck it and see - as you say you can always powerhose it.

I'd also venture that if you're mooring it around Crosshaven there's so many thousand square metres of antifouled hulls about the greenery bugs must be all killed off by now.

Mollers · 20 March 2007, 17:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by blimp

Thanks guys - bungee it is then.

On a different note, can anyone advise how long I'll get away with keeping her on a marina without antifouling. I don't want to go down the antifoul route, but would be handy if I could keep her on a marina for the next 3 weeks while I get her permanent 'home' sorted. If I pulled her out every 10 days and powerwashed the hull would it be ok, do I need to do it more often, or is it advised against?

Leaving it in un-antifouled for upto four weeks is fine. After that the tougher stuff starts to get a hold. A tip for antifouled boats with non-antifouled outdrives is to put a thick black bin bag over the leg. It starves the weed and other criters of light. Not a bad idea to take it off before getting underway though.

Biggles · 20 March 2007, 22:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nasher

Blimp

I've also tied two lengths of cord across the trailer that hold the centres of the brake cables up higher than thier ends, this means any water that gets in will run out rather than find the lowest point in the 'droop'.

Nasher

I'll be doing that tomorrow. Excellent tip.