I would recommend installing a drotto or boat 2 trailer launch. Those would be perfect, because I installed one on my trailer. For the slick bunks, I would need a set of those.
I got a set of the Ultimate " Supreme " Bunk boards for my Shorelander trailer. Points of Note; They are HEAVY , so you will feel extra weight when towing boat. SLICK..you bet , follow safety recommendations. Although metal reinforced on bottom they will bend . You can carpet them and have non- rot boards but you lose the slick you payed for. As suggested a Drotto plate is REQUIRED as the boat will backslide off trailer when loading and NO you never want to leave driver seat to go to bow to hook up winch with boat UNDER POWER. Final note: Only order boards if your trailer has 3 crossbeam supports. This will allow about 45 inches between support brackets to prevent bending of boards.
I looked at getting these years ago, but was worried my Son or a buddy would disconnect the winch without me knowing it and end up with the boat on the concrete. I too thought about adding carpet maybe at the front of the bunks to help keep it on until the winch is connected.
I wondering if maybe gluing a foot long piece of carpet on the bunks would help it from sliding off so easy when loading. Curious to see the next update and fix for this. I just ordered a set for my tracker.
@batfreak6897 Thanks for checking the video out. Not backing it in as far helped and a bigger help was the bunk carpet I installed on top of the bunks on the last 1/3rd. I used 3M double sided tape.
Thanks for checking the video out. It does help a bit if the trailer is not backed as far into the water. The bunks themselves were $88 + the hardware sold separately comes out to about $100. The shipping costs as much as the bunks. Hope this helps.
Why didn't you back the trailer further into the water and just hook up the winch line with the boat still buoyant? That's how I load my pontoon boat, anyway. Cool bunks!!
They are not a huge problem really. If you are experienced with loading the boat in, all you have to do is bring it in and leave the boat on throttle while centered on the front roller. The caveat being that the boat must be centered on the roller and if it's off center you will have to try again. While you are hooking up the amount of slack which will be required to bring the boat taught is super minimal at that point and you won't have to go through the effort of having to bring it in manually as you did on the video. As far as unloading goes, while in the boat I just let it roll off until there is slack on the hook, at which point thereafter I bring the boat back in by hand via the webbing attached to the hook. This will create enough slack on the webbing to be able to remove the hook from the integrated eyelet on the boat and allow you to be able to do what you need to do at that point to be able to go park the boat and the vehicle with the trailer. The bunks create an interesting new way of having to load and unload as you can tell, but there are ways around the slickness factor that they create. Hopefully this helps, even if just a little. They take some getting used to indeed, but time and having to deal with them over the course of many times fixes the new "problem" they create.
Thanks for the info! I greatly appreciate it. You are absolutely right, it is a new way to load and unload but the fact that there are no more concerns over rotting wood bunks makes it all worth it.
hey i was out there today also caught a few little smallmouth -- thats one thing i was wondering about -- keeping the boat from sliding off while loading. i think when i get the boards i might upgrade the winch also since thats the only thing keeping it from sliding off! may be worth looking into that latch kit cant remember the name of it. or maybe further out of the water? if you figure out what works let us know!
@@RFishingtx I did look at the grotto it looks pretty cool I think I will at least upgrade the winch or strap when I change out my boards - while I was at the lake yesterday I looked and Ive got a lot of that funky brown stuff growing on the boards so may be sooner than next year
Not sure if you ordered txe grotto yet or not. I'm looking at the ramp and clamp and they have three different models. The model T is for boats with aluminum eyes. If your tracker has a aluminum eye, you might want to look into the model T ramp and clamp. It comes with an adapter that clamps over your aluminum eye and has a stainless eye welded to the end of the clamp. They say that ramming an aluminum eye into a stainless steel clamping mechanism will cause damage to the aluminum eye over time.
I would recommend installing a drotto or boat 2 trailer launch. Those would be perfect, because I installed one on my trailer. For the slick bunks, I would need a set of those.
Thanks! 👍🏼
^this
I got a set of the Ultimate " Supreme " Bunk boards for my Shorelander trailer. Points of Note; They are HEAVY , so you will feel extra weight when towing boat. SLICK..you bet , follow safety recommendations. Although metal reinforced on bottom they will bend . You can carpet them and have non- rot boards but you lose the slick you payed for. As suggested a Drotto plate is REQUIRED as the boat will backslide off trailer when loading and NO you never want to leave driver seat to go to bow to hook up winch with boat UNDER POWER. Final note: Only order boards if your trailer has 3 crossbeam supports. This will allow about 45 inches between support brackets to prevent bending of boards.
Thanks for the info 👍🏼
I looked at getting these years ago, but was worried my Son or a buddy would disconnect the winch without me knowing it and end up with the boat on the concrete. I too thought about adding carpet maybe at the front of the bunks to help keep it on until the winch is connected.
I did put some bunk carpet strips along the last few feet and it helped some but still slides right off but at a slower rate.
Have you had any problems wit the paint coming offon the bunks.
@@brianw3822 None at all.
Maybe add some carpet on those bunks that may have enough friction to hold it
I put strips of bunk carpet on just the top of the bunks using 3M double sided tape and that seems to have helped.
I wondering if maybe gluing a foot long piece of carpet on the bunks would help it from sliding off so easy when loading. Curious to see the next update and fix for this. I just ordered a set for my tracker.
Thats not a bad idea.
Is there a part 3? did you find the sweet spot? Leave in gear? shorten the slides? thx
@batfreak6897 Thanks for checking the video out. Not backing it in as far helped and a bigger help was the bunk carpet I installed on top of the bunks on the last 1/3rd. I used 3M double sided tape.
You need a Drotto boat latch for the bow catch.
That’s what I’m hearing and will likely have to do that.
thats the one i was trying to remember- was wondering if it would slide back when loading!
Put carpet back on them problem solved 👌
I put bunk carpet strips on there and it has helped.
my tracker bunks are trashed after 2 yrs... Same alien growth.. Where did you buy those bunk boards??
Here’s a link to their site. Thanks for watching the video.
www.ultimatebunkboards.com
How much do they cost and where did you purchase them from please? Thanks😅!!!
@lenclark6099 Here is the link
www.ultimatebunkboards.com/store/original-bunk-boards/2-x-4-original-gray-detail
$189 plus shipping
Did you try not backing into the water quite as far? Also, how much are they. Looks like something I need. Good video
Thanks for checking the video out. It does help a bit if the trailer is not backed as far into the water. The bunks themselves were $88 + the hardware sold separately comes out to about $100. The shipping costs as much as the bunks. Hope this helps.
Why didn't you back the trailer further into the water and just hook up the winch line with the boat still buoyant? That's how I load my pontoon boat, anyway. Cool bunks!!
Thanks! A few strips of bunk carpet have fixed the problem.
or maybe add 2-3 foot of carpet in the front of the bunk boards so that the boat has something to rest on and hopefully hold it ?
@plattner01 That’s exactly what I ended up doing and it has worked out well. 👍🏼
They are not a huge problem really. If you are experienced with loading the boat in, all you have to do is bring it in and leave the boat on throttle while centered on the front roller. The caveat being that the boat must be centered on the roller and if it's off center you will have to try again. While you are hooking up the amount of slack which will be required to bring the boat taught is super minimal at that point and you won't have to go through the effort of having to bring it in manually as you did on the video.
As far as unloading goes, while in the boat I just let it roll off until there is slack on the hook, at which point thereafter I bring the boat back in by hand via the webbing attached to the hook. This will create enough slack on the webbing to be able to remove the hook from the integrated eyelet on the boat and allow you to be able to do what you need to do at that point to be able to go park the boat and the vehicle with the trailer.
The bunks create an interesting new way of having to load and unload as you can tell, but there are ways around the slickness factor that they create. Hopefully this helps, even if just a little. They take some getting used to indeed, but time and having to deal with them over the course of many times fixes the new "problem" they create.
Thanks for the info! I greatly appreciate it. You are absolutely right, it is a new way to load and unload but the fact that there are no more concerns over rotting wood bunks makes it all worth it.
hey i was out there today also caught a few little smallmouth -- thats one thing i was wondering about -- keeping the boat from sliding off while loading. i think when i get the boards i might upgrade the winch also since thats the only thing keeping it from sliding off! may be worth looking into that latch kit cant remember the name of it. or maybe further out of the water? if you figure out what works let us know!
I’ll probably have to get that Drotto Winch if I can’t figure out another way.
@@RFishingtx I did look at the grotto it looks pretty cool I think I will at least upgrade the winch or strap when I change out my boards - while I was at the lake yesterday I looked and Ive got a lot of that funky brown stuff growing on the boards so may be sooner than next year
Not sure if you ordered txe grotto yet or not. I'm looking at the ramp and clamp and they have three different models. The model T is for boats with aluminum eyes. If your tracker has a aluminum eye, you might want to look into the model T ramp and clamp. It comes with an adapter that clamps over your aluminum eye and has a stainless eye welded to the end of the clamp. They say that ramming an aluminum eye into a stainless steel clamping mechanism will cause damage to the aluminum eye over time.
Add Drotto system and you'll not have to keep motor running.
Definately will invest in one.
You need a Drotto
So far haven’t had any issues but you’re right. At some point I’ll need to get one because they are pretty awesome.
try not putting the trailer so far into the water.
👍🏼
BACK DOWN LESS USING FENDERS AS GUIDES...PULL TRAILER UP SLIGHTY
Thanks
JUST don`t back in so deep.
Thanks @7727Ropy
I learned that not backing in so deep did in fact help. Thanks for the comment 👍🏼