210 Trailer Setup: Long Rigid Bunk or Two Points

[richardbfin]

I have to rework the trailer on the new-to-me boat. I can run rigid bunks the length of the keel, at least as long as the distance between the two points on the TWO POINTS diagram. These are the drawings showing how to set up the trailer for the 210... but wouldn't long rigid bunks the full length of the keel be better support than the two point system on the drawing, given that my trailer will accommodate this?

 

[Codfish]

Richard, I am again lamenting the fact that my boat is not at home. I wish I could send you photos to illustrate how my trailer is set up. I know your trailer has a forward keel pad. I think this pad is giving the impression that it is the forward point of support for the keel. That is not the way the factory bunks are designed. The 4 long bunks are actually the longitudinal supports for the boat. Your boat should not rest hard to this small cross member pad, but it should rest hard to the long bunks. I believe your long bunks simply need to be raised slightly at the front support point, to raise the keel off of the center pad. That pad is simply a bumper to keep the keel from being damaged when the bow is powered onto the trailer on a steep ramp.

I know my boat sits hard to the long bunks and it causes the bunks to flex and thus conform to the slight curvature of the hull. The important keel supports are the two short pads at the transom. The factory reported that these were very important due to the weight of the outboard, that if not used, particularly for long term storage on a rack or lift, the hull could "deflect" enough to harm the hull, causing degraded or poor performance.

I will be glad to provide you with photos later this spring. I bet you could find several photos on this site to confirm this.

Codfish

 

[Dave LeGear]

See if these trailer pictures here help for this is one of the best ever built for those hulls:

https://www.performanceoutdoors.net/media/trailer_rear_view-3-jpg.3967/

 

[Harper]

Richard, I am again lamenting the fact that my boat is not at home. I wish I could send you photos to illustrate how my trailer is set up. I know your trailer has a forward keel pad. I think this pad is giving the impression that it is the forward point of support for the keel. That is not the way the factory bunks are designed. The 4 long bunks are actually the longitudinal supports for the boat. Your boat should not rest hard to this small cross member pad, but it should rest hard to the long bunks. I believe your long bunks simply need to be raised slightly at the front support point, to raise the keel off of the center pad. That pad is simply a bumper to keep the keel from being damaged when the bow is powered onto the trailer on a steep ramp.

I know my boat sits hard to the long bunks and it causes the bunks to flex and thus conform to the slight curvature of the hull. The important keel supports are the two short pads at the transom. The factory reported that these were very important due to the weight of the outboard, that if not used, particularly for long term storage on a rack or lift, the hull could "deflect" enough to harm the hull, causing degraded or poor performance.

I will be glad to provide you with photos later this spring. I bet you could find several photos on this site to confirm this.

Codfish

Codfish, I'm not posting here to refute your statements about the front pad not being a forward point of support for the 210, since I really don't know a lot about the 210. But because there are new owners who are prone to apply the same procedures to all the similar hulls (we've all been there, and I'm referring mostly to the 190 and larger hulls) I would like to point out that at least for the 195/191 series hulls, that front pad definitely provides a point of essential support. The bow of the boat will start to sag without that pad. And I recall that the factory changed the trailer design to add that pad for that very reason. Our boats (at least the 191s/195s) were showing a sag in the front without it. In any case, that was illustrated to me in the most profound way when I rebuilt my trailer. The boat was on these supports while I did the work on the trailer. I put that front support where the pad is on the trailer. It sat that way for the 18 days it took me to rebuild the trailer.


When the trailer was finished and I started winching it back under the boat, I put a floor jack about a foot behind that front support. I gasped so hard that I nearly swallowed my tongue when I lifted the boat off the front support. I needed to lift it and move the stands to clear the rearmost trailer crossbeam. I lifted it about 4", then it suddenly buckled right there. And I mean buckled big time!! I thought I'd ruined the boat for sure. But when I lowered it back down onto the support, it sprang right back into shape.

I was very surprised to find that the stainless steel keel stiffener apparently does not run up all the way to the beginning of the bow curve. But I'm also thankful that our boats are as tough as Triumph has always said they were.

 

[Codfish]

Mike, no problem with your comments. Glad you expounded on the differences between the different hull sizes. There are differences for sure. I am only talking about my 210 hull. The bow of my boat does not sit on the forward crossmember. Trailer came the way it remains, new delivery and I have been the only owner, 2004 hull. The only time my keel touches the forward pad is when I winch it onto the trailer at a typical local ramp. Once I pull it out and the rear of the hull settles onto the trailer, the bow raises slightly when the transom sinks. My boat rests on the length of the 4 long bunks and the 2 shorties at the transom, as it was designed at the time of delivery.

Sorry if there was any misinformation put out or any misinterpretation of what I was trying to explain. Wish the boat was close so I could provide photos.

Codfish

 

[Harper]

No misinformation at all Codfish. Just making sure that we don't confuse or mislead new Triumph owners. I've already had to ensure that one member understood that the 190 hull is not the same as the 195/191 hull.

 

[Codfish]

If you look closely at the factory trailer sitting under Osprey Vics 210 in 2005, a post he made showing his new collapsable radar arch, you will be able to see exactly what I am talking about. You can see daylight, all be it very little, but none the less, day light, between the keel and the pad on the forward cross member. That is exactly the way mine appears.

 

[richardbfin]

All, I'm very much understanding the details of this conversation, and that photo of the trailer with the blue bunks translates the factory drawing into reality. My situation is that the starboard side at the keel is formed well, but the port side has some problems as shown in the photo. Would it be best to put that keel on a rigid long bunk to rest out, or should I hang it per the factory drawings as visualized on that trailer with the blue bunks?

ALSO: What type of wood should I use for making new bunks?
ALSO: If I use the factory drawings, those rear short bunks for transom support are up on just one bracket/post, one point of contact with the trailer? That works?

Thanks!