Scuffs on bow where trailer roller hits: more than normal ?

pdxsearay

pdxsearay

Member
Jun 4, 2020
89
Boat Info
2005 Sea Ray 185 Sport
Engines
4.3 merc
Noticed this on my new to me 2005 185. Is this normal ? Do I need a new roller on the trailer? It looks pretty worn and I’m wondering if it could be causing this? Could I be cranking it in too hard or something ?

On one hand the boat is 15 y/o. On the other it only had 95 hours when I bought it a month ago.

upload_2020-6-17_20-55-50.jpeg



(Sorry for the wrong direction facing pic, for some reason our forum keeps rotating the picture after I put it in)
 

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Looks like the center part of the roller has been dragging, it looks rough. You may need to replace or maybe pull apart, clean and lube so it will turn freely, probably replace.
 
I think you have too much marking up. I don’t get that much on my 280DA when I put it on the trailer, and there is a lot more bow weight than you deal with.

Either you are hitting the bow roller way too fast, or your roller is old and hardened. I have seen many types of non-marring types. I put an entire new one on my 220CC and now I get no scuffs at all.

Your instincts are correct - too much scuffing.
 
Thanks. I or my wife always rope pull the boat onto the Trailer , we never power on, so it must be the roller. I ordered a new one.
Which by the way, I guess I put on while my boat is in the water.

So will some wax fix that scuffing or do I need to buff it out?
 
Try compounding it, polish then wax. If compounding doesn't work, then wet sand the deep scratches with 600 - 1000, then compound, polish and wax.
 
Some of the scraping on the stem came from the roller. It needs to be replaced.

But a lot of the big "dents" look more like dock rash. Were they there when you bought the boat? Looks like someone hit a dock several times.

Regardless, with the scrapes that high above the roller, you are putting the trailer in too deep. The boat is till floating when you winch up the last few feet.
 
GypsmJim said:
Some of the scraping on the stem came from the roller. It needs to be replaced.

But a lot of the big "dents" look more like dock rash. Were they there when you bought the boat? Looks like someone hit a dock several times.

Regardless, with the scrapes that high above the roller, you are putting the trailer in too deep. The boat is till floating when you winch up the last few feet.
Click to expand...

I don’t recall seeing them when we bought the boat but it’s possible the dealer put something cosmetic on there to hide it. I have not hit the dock with it. I did test the roller and it’s not rolling great. I will replace it. also I had not thought of the trailering thing. Being a new boat owner I’m relatively cautious so that’s entirely possible. I’m probably going further into the water for trailering than I am for launching which now that I think about it is probably wrong.
 
DWABoat said:
I think you have too much marking up. I don’t get that much on my 280DA when I put it on the trailer, and there is a lot more bow weight than you deal with.

Either you are hitting the bow roller way too fast, or your roller is old and hardened. I have seen many types of non-marring types. I put an entire new one on my 220CC and now I get no scuffs at all.

Your instincts are correct - too much scuffing.
Click to expand...


I replaced the roller over the weekend at the end of our fathers day cruise, and even the new one , the middle part between the mounting brackets was not "spinning" and i had to jam it in there to get it into place to get the bolt to go through. I knokw that i have not over-tightened it because the outside pieces move. Does this mean my mounting brackets are too close together and I need to find a way to pry them apart a little bit?
 
pdxsearay said:
I replaced the roller over the weekend at the end of our fathers day cruise, and even the new one , the middle part between the mounting brackets was not "spinning" and i had to jam it in there to get it into place to get the bolt to go through. I knokw that i have not over-tightened it because the outside pieces move. Does this mean my mounting brackets are too close together and I need to find a way to pry them apart a little bit?
Click to expand...
You can spread them apart a bit so it spins. You may want a couple large stainless washers on each side of the roller too.
 
In the first place, it's not really a bow "roller", its a Bow Stop. Many of my trailers just had a V-Block made of rubber. My current boats have one similar to the OP's.

When I winch the boat up and the stem hits the "stop" the boat is now in its traveling position. The boat doesn't move up or down after contacting the rubber. If there is motion along the stop, then somting wong.

Once again, launching technique is suspect.
 
Right, obviously the boat doesn’t move once it’s winched up - I was referring to when the boat is off the trailer. The stop should be a little freer it seems.

Since I know you were all losing sleep over this I figured I would share that we found a picture from the day we brought the boat home that shows these marks before we had taken it out. I guess it’s good to know it wasn’t me , if concerning that it was the PO. Either way that bow stop needed replacing & I’ll be fixing those scuff marks.
 
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