Boatmate trailer 2016 200

[Nautiquehunter]

Just bough a 2016 200 with a Boatmate trailer. I am having trouble loading . The bow is lower than the bow stop when I move the trailer forward so the bow is above the bow stop it drags on the bunks so hard I can't winch it up? Looks like the bunks are too low . I am thinking about doubling up on the 2x6 bunks to raise them 1.5 ''? Anybody else ever had this problem ? I contacted Boatmate no help there.

[SilentSeven]

Hard to visualize.

Pictures would be helpful.

[bturner]

You're going to need to provide a lot more information and hopefully pictures so we can address your issue. Questions to start with would be is this a tandem or single axle trailer? How deep are you setting the trailer to load? What is your loading procedure?

Without much information it would sound to me like you have 2 problems here.....

Trailer depth - Most boats I've owned on tandem trailers I would back the trailer in until the fenders were just under water. This worked on several of my MC 20' boats. On single axle trailers I look at my bunks and get about half to 3/4s of the way up the forward bunks to load. This puts the axle way deeper than I ever did for the tandem trailers which is a bit unnerving at first.

Trailer design fault - We had the same issue it would appear you're having with a Boatmate trailer and a Malibu Response which would be another inboard similar to yours. On that boat we struggled for years loading it. Didn't matter how deep or shallow you set the trailer the bow was always difficult. Too deep, the bow would be under the roller, too shallow, you couldn't get the boat on the trailer. We fixed this when I rebuilt the trailer for my BIL by adding a set of 1.5"spacers under the from of the forward bunks and half inch spacers under the rear of the forward bunks. With his boat the front bunks never touched the front bunks with the boat on the trailer. Since then, loading is never an issue. One thing I will also comment on when it comes to spacers is that what sounds like a small amount like that one inch made a huge difference. a lot more than you will think. We also started with on the front spacers but added the rears to get full engagement of the bunks after testing.

As to Boatmate..... They never returned out calls and rejected his warranty claims when the boat was new about how the trailer fit the boat and the loading issues. Love my Phoenix trailer.

One last parting observation..... One thing I carry with me and use during low water loading is automotive spray wax. If I think I'm going to remotely have issues I'll spray my bunks down with spray wax, the loading is night and day. You don't need anything crazy, the cheapest stuff will work and I've even used 303 Protectant in a pinch.....

[Nautiquehunter]

I think you are dead on with the trailer design fault comment. I also have a 2008 210 with a tandem Boat mate trailer. No problems loading at any depth. Here are some pics they show the front of the main bunks not touching the hull when loaded. they miss by 3.5 ''

[srock]

You will not get any help from Boatmate.

First, your trailer needs to be level to the ground based on the tow vehicle ball height. Sounds like you have a steep ramp, as there is a balance of depth-bunk, and bow height. Sometimes, making it a 2-3 step process of adjusting depth until you can get the boat over the bow stop, then back down to float and winch. Or as I do, pull out then hard on the brakes to slide the boat forward to the stop. I would adjust the bow stop before adding height to the bunks or add a "V" bunk up front to push the bow up.

The first step is to upload some photos for more accurate advice.

[SilentSeven]

Nautiquehunter - not seeing your pics, try again?

bturner +100 for the bunk lube making a huge difference. I used to a product called 'liquid rollers' which was scary slippery but it's been discontinued and now I just keep a can of regular silicon slip spray handy. I'll shoot the bunks every now and then when the boat is off. I also make sure to wet the forward bunks completely before loading.

[Interjon]

I float mine on. That's the only way to do it with the poor design.

[Nautiquehunter]

[Nautiquehunter]

There is a 3.5 '' gap between the front of the main bunk and the hull. Pic 2 and 3

[bturner]

Not seeing the pictures.

If this is when the boat is on the trailer that really doesn't mean much. What more important is when the bunks force the bow up which is why we only needed and 1.5 inch shim. It was enough to change the pitch of the bow early in the loading process.

[bturner]

I went looking for the pictures I took of the trailer and the blocks we cut and could only come up with this one. I had my BIL who owns a machine shop machine blocks from 1" going to 2" thicknesses, then tried them while at the ramp one weekday when we knew the ramp would be vacant. Not a lot of fun but it did work. The picture below is of what I'm thinking was the 2" block in the front before adding what if my memory serves me correctly was a 1" rear block. As you can see in the picture adding the block does 2 things, it obviously lifts the bunk but it also closes up the "V" which will push the bow up much earlier in the loading process even if the front of the bunk isn't touching when the boat is loaded. The goal is to have contact for support but not going too far where the front bunk is taking too much of the load.

I would have much rather cut the old supports off, fabricated new ones and welded them on but believe me when I say, no one wants the kind of welding I do on their trailer. In the end these guys have been installed for 4 seasons now without any issues.

Wish I would have taken more/better pictures of the blocks as he did a great job with them. The blocks were lagged to the bunks in counter sunk holes. The blocks were drilled and tapped then bolted to the trailer brackets. Everything is stainless. Way overkill for shimming blocks but when the owner of the trailer owns a machine shop and you can get some of his time, this is what you end up with.

This picture is late in the refurb process of the trailer. This is an 05 Boatmate trailer with his 05 Malibu Response on it. 70% of the trailer was really pitted and the bunks were falling off the brackets. I had about 3 days of grinding, priming and prep work before even getting to paint but that's a whole different story.