Bunk versus Roller

[Chris]

I noticed the majority of Checkmate owners seem to have bunk trailers. I actually have a roller trailer for mine...it wasn't really up to me, it came with the boat. I don't find it fits the hull of my Mate very well.

So how do you bunk owners like your trailers?

[Drew Virnelson]

if your on a lake,no problem.
if your tidal,get an electric winch bigger than you need(mines 2400# for an exciter)

[175checkmate]

Bunks support the boat alot better. They evenly distibute the weight over a greater area. The roolers create pressure points.

http://forums.screamandfly.com/pp311/data/500/2982rooster_3.jpg

1975 Checkmate Tri-mate 2, 2.4 200+

[Chris]

The C-Hawk trailers look really nice. I haven't found a dealer up here in Toronto though...

[JW]

On the good side, the C-Hawk trailers are made to properly support the hulls of the differing Checkmate hulls. My 1995 C-Hawk trailer lists it's model number as "Pulsare". The bunks are properly angled and the frames are beefy.
On the bad side, like so many brands of trailers out there, they are poorly prepped for paint. Every C-Hawk trailer I look at that's 5 or more years old is rusting badly. It's obvious they do not use any kind of primer. I like the C-Hawk build, but would want one in Galvanized or Stainless Steel to last longer. They look great at first, go to crap after just a few years.

1995 2100BR/1995 225 Promax/23" Tempest

[Bill]

Something to remember with a bunk trailer that many dealrs do not seem to understand is that the bunks must stick out at least an inch or so past the transom to prevennt a hook from occuring. It is amazing to me that I can go into a showroom and find the majority of boats sitting too far back on the bunks. Also I would not blame rusty trailers on C-Hawks paint process. In my business, I repaint trailers and I have seen my best work rust after one year and I have seen some of my trailers look like new after 10 years, all being done by the same steps. Trailers go through more abuse than most people can imagine and do not get anywhere near the care that the boat does. A boat should be waxed one a month and the trailer along with it. The trailer should also be washed thoroughly at least once a week. It may sound like alot, but once you get the procedure down, it goes quick. If you want to make waxing you trailer even quicker, go buy some spray on wax, just spray it on and wipe it off but do this once a week. I own a detailing and restoration business, so I feel I am qualified to give a little advice on this. If you do not want to hastle with a trailer and do not want rust, have it powdercoated.
Bill

[Chris]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bill:
Something to remember with a bunk trailer that many dealrs do not seem to understand is that the bunks must stick out at least an inch or so past the transom to prevennt a hook from occuring. It is amazing to me that I can go into a showroom and find the majority of boats sitting too far back on the bunks. Also I would not blame rusty trailers on C-Hawks paint process. In my business, I repaint trailers and I have seen my best work rust after one year and I have seen some of my trailers look like new after 10 years, all being done by the same steps. Trailers go through more abuse than most people can imagine and do not get anywhere near the care that the boat does. A boat should be waxed one a month and the trailer along with it. The trailer should also be washed thoroughly at least once a week. It may sound like alot, but once you get the procedure down, it goes quick. If you want to make waxing you trailer even quicker, go buy some spray on wax, just spray it on and wipe it off but do this once a week. I own a detailing and restoration business, so I feel I am qualified to give a little advice on this. If you do not want to hastle with a trailer and do not want rust, have it powdercoated.
Bill<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Bill, how hard would it be for these manufacturers to rustproof these things?

For example, I bought a brand new Shorelander trailer for my Grew Runabout. When it was delivered, you could look inside the tubular steel frame of the trailer and it was basically bare metal and already rusting. I took some spray Rustproofing and sprayed it down inside the tubes trying to get to as much of the steel as possible. It has seemed to help, but why wouldn't the manufacturer perform this process already?

[Bill]

Chris
You bring up a very good point, it is all about the all mighty dollar. Also, depending on the size of the trailer, it would be very difficult to properly coat the whole inside of a 20, 30, or 40 foot long tube, and how do you stand behind your product when you can't be sure you protected the whole piece. Let's use your shorelandr' as one example and Eagle trailers as another. The shorelandr' has open tubes as you mentioned and the Eagle is all boxed tubing with welded seems. A sure sign of a good quality trailer is all welded assembly to match a specific boat. When you have a generic adjustable trailer, you are asking for rust because of parts and pieces moving. All it takes is a cross member to move a thousanth of an inch to losen the paint and what do you get, rust. If you had your car rust proofed, read the warranty card that came with it and more than likely it will be only good if you bring it back to the place that did it once a year for "touch-up" How many trailers do you see rusting from the inside out like cars do? I have never seen any. Once again, the best way to prevent rust on your trailer is to take care of it. Do you walk on your car? Do you dunk your car into lakes, rivers, ect.? Do you stick you car in a field or storage lot all winter? Let's face it, for those of us who live in the north, we are forced to put the boats away for the winter and if you have to store your boat outdoors like most people do, look at what the trailer is exposed to. No, it is not going down a salt covered road, but have you ever seen salt dust in the air when the roads dry after a snow and all that salt is left over? That airbourne salt settles on your trailer and guess what, rust. Go to any coastline where there is an ocean (southern part of U.S.) and look at all of the corosion around. That is from salt in the air, same idea. It is nature of the beast, once again the best way to prevent rust is to wash and wax your trailer regularly.
Bill

[Chris]

Excellent comments!

So do I take it, people are telling me Eagle trailers are better than most?

[Bill]

Eagle is a higher than average trailer as is C-hawk. The key is to find one that was/is made for your specific boat and all welded construction. I do not know what brand paint products Eagle uses, but C-hawk uses Dupont and that does not get much better than that. I use Dupont paint when a customer wants to spend the extra money for it, and with paint, you really do get what you pay for.

[JW]

Would go the extra mile keeping my trailer looking good by glavanizing it first...........

1995 2100BR/1995 225 Promax/23" Tempest

[Bill]

JW
Then you need to buy a galvinized trailer, only problem with that is you can't paint it. Another option for you is an aluminum trailer, but you want to talk about high maintenance to keep it looking as good as when you bought it. If you are having a problem wih your trailer, I can garuntee where it started. You said it was ordered for boat shows and went to at least one show in Chicago from Racine in the winter. Most, not all, but most dealers do not and will not get on there hands and knees to clean every square inch of the trailer to get the salt off. Most dealers do not even wax a trailer, period!When I was a service manager at two different dealships, I was flat out told not to have my detailers waist there time on the trailer because most customers do not even look close at them. I will not mention who, but some trailer are even delivered to the dealer already rusting because they get scratched while stacking them, sit for a couple of monthes then a little touch-up paint dabbed over the rust to make it look good when you pick up the boat. Rick may think I am a freak by the way I am having my boat built. I am even setting up the day that the boat is being started so I know when it will be delivered to the dealer within a week or so so it bypasses a lot the winter crap on the roads and does not go somewhere and just sit. I know too much about the industry and trust me, in this situation, you can't blame C-hawk

[JW]

I understand that trailers get no respect by dealers or owners. BUT. Car manufacturers have been building cars for 10+ years now with galvanized steel, then primered, then a coat of paint, then clear coat. My point? You can easily paint galvanized steel. The technology has been around and perfected for a long time. I don't remember the name of the trailer company off hand, but there's at least one that IS painting galvanized trailers with success. I'd gladly pay an extra $500 for the added protection.

1995 2100BR/1995 225 Promax/23" Tempest

[Bill]

Do not get me wrong JW, I am not trying to argue, I own a business and I make most of my money by painting and I have never heard of any auto manufacturer buliding a car with steal that is galvinized nor have I ever heard of it being done successfully. I had a customer who did not like the way his galvanized trailer looked and wanted it painted. I went to my different suppliers to ask about it because I was always told it could not be done. All of them told me that know matter what type of primer I was to use, tha paint would not stick and if you sant the galvanized coating, you ruin the charictaristics that keep the steel from corroding. That comes from the paint manufacturers that is on most of the cars on the road. If you do remember the company that you think does that process let me know so I can call for so I can learn how to do that.

[JW]

Was in Hot Boat or Family and Performance Boating, not sure which or when.
As far as the auto manufacturers go, they are ALL using galvanized steel panels for the fenders/doors/quarter panels now. It's been a selling point on new cars for about the last 10 years. My Silverado has a lot of galvanized panels. That is why new cars do not rust like the '70's and '80's cars. Typically, the hood and roof is NOT galvanized. When a stone chip exposes the metal, the galvanic action keeps the sides from rusting. Hoods and roofs still need the extra care of paint touch up ASAP

1995 2100BR/1995 225 Promax/23" Tempest

[Chris]

Galvanized Metal can be painted, it just requires at little extra prep work.

[Bill]

Someone needs to tell the GMC dealer where I bought my HD2500 (the body shop) and my local PPG and DuPont dealers that. What the GMC dealer told me is that the body panels are dipped, but NOT galvanized like you see on boat trailer

[Bill]

After more research I have found out that I am wrong and correct. I am not a chemist, so I can't give the chemical forulas to back up what I am saying, but metal dipped in a zinc phosphate solution can be painted and there is another solution that is more of a pure zinc, which is on most, not all, trailers the we see on the road. Our trucks are done with the zinc phosphate. I did not not that somthing treated with zinc phosphte was called galvanizing. Sorry!!!

[JW]

The only thing in this thread to be sorry for is Chris' roller trailer. How could any dealer sell a fiberglass boat with that trailer? He so needs the proper bunk trailer under his boat. And like you said, properly adjusted. Mine was rigged OK, even so I pulled it forward a bit when I bought it this spring to get a full 1.5" of bunk showing when the boat is pulled up tight. I think there was only about 1/4" of bunk before.

[Chris]

I sure would like a nice custom C-Hawk. /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Bill]

Chris,
I just got back from visiting Bayview in Geen Bay, you should talk to Rick about having a trailer built for you. Yes, I do like C-hawk, but the work that those guys do is incredible. Also, if anyone is interested in a new or used Checkmate, talk to Rick, VERY, VERY impressive!!!

[Chris]

I just hope Rick is willing to drive it out to Toronto... /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif /infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif