Ski 200 and Boatmate Trailers

[dan1166]

I have a Ski Nautique 200 with a Boatmate trailer. My spray chines are all torn apart from loading and unloading. Is there a better option out there for a trailer? We don't have the luxury of a boat lift; subsequently we trailer the boat to and from the lake at least 1-2 times a week. Your opinions would be greatly appreciated.

[jjackkrash]

The solution is adding a roller to the trailer that lifts the boat slightly before the chines hit the bunks. Its a pretty easy fix and the only one I have seen that works on any trailer. Ask your dealer. My dealer is installing them now and I think new trailers are coming that way from the factory from what I understand.

[DavidN]

https://www.ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/21306/boat-mate-trailer-problems-ski-nautique-200-ob

 

https://www.ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/10455/trouble-getting-sn-200-on-trailer/p1

 

https://www.ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/23113/boatmate-trailers

[dbutcher]

I know it's probably not practical to buy a different trailer, but Ramlin makes (or did) a trailer designed for the 200. It works for me on any angle ramp - put the trailer in deep and drive the boat on until it gently hits the bow stops. No problems in over six years launching and loading 4 times a week in the summer.

[dan1166]

I know about the center roller. It does not work, and here is why. The trailer lies on the bottom of the ramp and the boat is floating level. Depending on the steepness of the ramp, determines how far apart the center roller is from the keel of the boat. Remember, the boat is level and the trailer is on the same angle as the ramp.

[jjackkrash]

The aftermarket roller install fixed the problem completely on my '16 200 and it chaffed bad before the roller. Although the trailer was not a Boatmate. And the roller works on my '21 Ski. No chaffing after 200 boat hours this year and we trailer every time we ski.

 

 

[ForrestGump]

@dan1166 Have you actually tried the roller? Because when we started adding the roller in 2013, our issues went away. The other option we used back then was a set of center bunks added from that crossmember where the roller is added by some forward to about the end of the outer bunks.

[dan1166]

Yes I have tried the roller. You can adjust the roller to keep the chines off of the carpeted bunks while towing; but when launching and loading, the roller is not in contact with the boat. Again, it depends on the steepness of the ramp. Our ramp is 20 degrees; most ramps are at 12 degrees. Remember, the trailer does not float; It is on the bottom of the lake/ramp, and the boat is floating level, how could the roller be effective? They are to far apart. There is no contact between the roller and the boat.

[jjackkrash]

The way both my trailers were set up with the roller, the roller lifts the bow as the bow contacts the roller when loading several feet before the boat was all the way on the trailer; this also lifted the chines just a bit before the chines came in contact with the bunks (again, while loading several feet before the boat was completely loaded). It worked perfectly. Hopefully you find a solution that works for you.

[skierjp]

@dan1166 try not putting the trailer in as deep as you might think it needs to be. I also put WD40 or some sort of tire shine on the bunks from the axel forward to the tongue. Be careful and do not unhook the winch until the boat is in the water. On one of my trailers I bought the 4x4 pvc fence post covers and split them long ways and put them over the bunks. You can remove the carpet leave it on. I have a pic attached. You could also buy Bunk Boards which is a composite wood designed exclusively for trailer bunks and with no carpet. They have a web site.

 

[skierjp]

BTW, the black plastic bunk caps in the pic are not near as good as the pvc.

Long story about this trailer. It came with the black bunk caps. I was not impressed. I only had this trailer while they were building my new boat.

[JohnO]

My understanding is there have been 3 Boatmate trailer iterations over the years since the 200 came out. The newest iteration being in 2020. My 2020 trailer bunks are completely different than my 2019. I load/unload on a fairly steep ramp which seems to cause this problem. The new bunk design on my 2020 seems to be significantly better.

 

[Garn]

@jjackkrash Would it be possible for you to take a close-up picture of your roller on your trailer? I'm not really picturing it. And I would like to see what the roller looks like and mounts to.

[skierjp]

I'm pretty sure it will almost be the same as the one in my pic. The nice thing about this one is its adjustable

[Garn]

@skierjp How is it adjustable?

[PatM]

Don't buy the plastic bunks. I had them on my trailer and the damage was worse. Just spray the liquid rollers on the carpet from the axel forward. But 100% on the roller.

 

[jjackkrash]

@Garn Sorry on the pics. I sold the '16 and don't have a good picture of the aftermarket roller; my '21 is in storage at the moment and I won't be in a position to take pics for a few weeks most likely.

 

If you zoom in on the pic I posted the roller is right in front of the tracking fins as it sits on the trailer.

[skierjp]

@Garn zoom in, the adjustment is the vertical slot for height. Don’t spend the ridiculous price for the liquid roller. WD 40 or tire shine works better. Agree, the black bunk caps are not good.

[skierjp]

FYI this not just a Nautique / Boatmate issue. I’ve seen MC’s at tournaments with the carpet destroyed.

[dan1166]

That picture is from a Ski Pro trailer. It has a completely different bunk arrangement. That has 4 bunks. The regular ski 200 trailer has 6 bunks. I had the 4 bunk trailer with a roller. Yes the roller was good for trailering and an almost level launch ramp. The roller does not work on steeper ramps. That is when all the damage is done. So I sold my Ski Pro 200 trailer and bought another boatmate with the 6 bunk arrangement. The only difference now is that the spray chine is being destroyed in a different area.

[BlueSki]

I have a Phoenix trailer that replaced the Boatmate that hauled my boat as a promo. The Phoenix has been great. The original Boatmate, not so much. If you want a different trailer, it is worth researching Phoenix. DM me if you need more details.

[skierjp]

Yes, my last 2 trailers have been Phoenix and they are great, no carpet bunk damage or hull damage. All my boats have black hulls. One think I do is float the boat on and off and as mentioned before spray the carpet with tire shine. One thing I have noticed that others do is put the trailer in WAY to deep when unloading, never go so deep that the trailer guides go below the rub rail! This pushes the bow down and creates problems. I NEVER POWER LOAD my boat. If you notice in the picture the winch is mounted high which when winching the boat the last couple feet on to the trailer it actually pulls the bow up creating less pressure on the bow bunks.

 

 

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[Garn]

@jjackkrash @skierjp So the idea is to have the boat resting more on the roller and less on the front bunks?

[dan1166]

I also tried floating the boat on and off the trailer. The first time I used the trailer, the bow of the boat came down and smashed into the winch, and broke the winch cover and chipped the gel coat. Then we tried floating the boat on the trailer. the nose of the boat comes in below the winch. I have the crash pad set up. Floating on and off saves the spray chines, but does not work with the crash pads. For years I used Ramlin Trailers. Never had any type of trouble. So simple on and off. Hook up the turnbuckle and pull out. I wish they would start up again.

[skierjp]

The winch is in front of the bow stop????

Usually if the guide poles are above the rub rail you should be safe.

Sometimes the crash pads are upside down. There should be more pad below the braces then above.

If the bow is going under the crash pads you are way to deep.

[BlueSki]

@dan1166 just get the boat deep enough in the water that you can start the boat. Unhook it and gently back in deeper.

 

For pulling out, start with the trailer deep, you probably don’t need your truck tires in the lake, that can end badly. Bring the boat into to the trailer but not all the way in, just enough to hook up and have a few feet of strap with the boat making slight contact with the bunks. Make sure the strap is secure, now pull the trailer out to a more standard loading depth.

 

The boat nose will rise and should be high enough that the chines are off the bunks. Now you can crank the boat to the crash pads and get some help from the boat without pressuring the chines.

[dan1166]

Yes, my winch is mounted on the boat side of the crash Pad. When floating the boat on the trailer, the nose of the boat is below the crash pad. I will be posting a video if I can figure out how to do it.

[dan1166]

This is what happenes when we float it on and off. If we don’t sink the trailer in that far then we tear up the spray chines

[dan1166]

I can't seem to load the video. That tells it all

[skierjp]

WAY to deep

[dan1166]

I know it is to deep; but we have no choice. It is either loading this way or tearing up the spray chines

[BlueSki]

Don’t tighten the strap so much and leave the bow a couple of feet away from the crash pads. Slowly pull the truck and trailer up to the point where the bow has risen and the chines are above the bunks. Now crank the bow to the crash pads and the chines will have nothing to touch because the boat and trailer will be parallel.

[dan1166]

Did you ever try to crank the boat into the crash Pad? Almost impossible. We had to do it last week because the boat would not start.(That's another issue). I pulled so hard on the winch handle, That I thought it was going to break. We had to keep backing into the water and crank a little bit more and we finally got the boat all the way on the trailer. Did this procedure about 3 times before we were successful. The Boatmate trailer is built of good quality, but the load and unloading is of poor design. Especially with the winch mounted on the boat side of the crash pad. When I spoke to Boatmate about my situation, they told me that their design was approved by Correct Craft. If that is the case, Correct Craft have some dandy engineers.

[skierjp]

@dan1166 spray some tire shine or WD40 on the carpet bunks from the axel forward. Then you can crank it on the trailer with 1 hand.

[jjackkrash]

A roller welded or bolted to the cross member that is right before where the tracking fins stops also works great.