Gang- I am getting ready to make a set of trailer guide-ons. Which kind should I make and why?

[perchjerker]

[perchjerker]

I just wanted to add I have a S-lander roller trailer. I dont really have much trouble now, just want to make it a bit easier when I am by myself in the river current.

And please save the roller trailer slams!:P

[hawg]

perchjerker- i put the sort shorelander ones on my shorelander last year. they dont cost that much if you just go buy them. pay attention to the way shorelander mounts them. i think thats a better system than the cheaper ones. i took a piece of vinyl floor moulding and wrapped it arond the support as they do tend to rub on your boat. the stick-em on the moulding allmost held but a couple tie wraps held better.

[Das Boot II]

My brother has a 17' Foward Cubby boat that he uses in the Puget Sound and is a obsolute believer in the 5' carpeted guide on bunks. He does a lot of loading with a side current and swears by them.
The boat landings there are crazy and all have attendants to monitor traffic! You can launch from 0500 till noon and recover noon to 4p.....switch every 4 till midnight. He feels "lucky" if he gets to the landing is "only 15th in line! Makes me feel thankful to live in MN every time I go to the uncrowded, unmonitored boat landing.:7

[WestCoaster]

My 1850 I/O came with a Zieman bunk style trailer and is made with width-adjustable 2ft tall carpeted posts. Once I nose the bow in between the posts, I'm good to go. I just power onto the bunks and she's all done. My older Crestliner has an EZLoader roller trailer with tall single roller posts and is similarly easy to load. With a roller trailer, I think you have more side to side latitude since the rollers tend to center you up. I launch and retrieve in the Sacramento and American Rivers which normally have a pretty high flow rate with snowmelt coming down from the Sierra's. Flows of 1500 to 2200 ft3/min aren't uncommon. I have little problems with the two systems mentioned above. I approach quartering from downstream and just nose into the posts and straighten up. Even my elderly dad can do it! Good luck!

[Ristorapper]

PJ: I used to own a pair of the deluxe guide-ons sold by Cabelas. The noise these things made while trailering drove me batty. The large roller sits on the post loose so that when you load/unload your boat this roller will roll as your boat touches it. Then while you trailer home or to the lake you have to listen to this roller and washers bounce around for every bump you hit. For this reason I vote for some type of bunk style guide on. Bw

[WestCoaster]

Two things......re-reading my post,....I found an error. 1500 to 2200 ft3/sec is the typical flow and Ristorappers response is right. You do hear the roller, axle, and thrust washers rattling around. My EZLoader isn't too bad since it has silicone washers to help prevent this, but it's still there. The carpeted posts on my Zieman are alot nicer.