Trailer Keel Rollers

[fafnir]

After pulling the boat out on Sunday I realised that one of the rollers has actually split and its continued use is probably not a good idea.  I thought no problem I will just pick up another roller and the axle that it spins on.  It turns out that the axle appears to be a half inch in diameter and the rollers that appear to be available here use a 5/8 inch axel.  Has anyone else replaced the keel rollers and run into this issue?  My hand drill won't take a 5/8 inch drill bit :-)

[Craig Weis]

Buy a 5/8 dia drill for your 3/8 chuck that has a turned down shank, or fill the void in the new roller with a tube spacer and use the old 1/2" axel and new tinnerman nuts that slip over the axle. Kind of a one time push on, won't fall off nut. Ace.

Any good bearing house, or maybe an Ace hardware. Or keeping looking for a propper roller. After all the boat going to be off the trailer and in the water. You can dink around with that later. LOL. skip.

[fafnir]

Thanks for the info skip,  I do need to get the trailer in good shape as I plan to just trailer sail the compac.  We still have our other boat which may or may not go in the water and be kept at a slip depending on how much we enjoy the compac. The trailer was really the weak point when I bought the boat, but it seems trailer parts are a lot cheaper then sailboat parts.  It turns out we have a massive drill press in the machine shop at work that they will let me use after hours so drilling out the parts for the larger axles is probably the way I will go. --Chad

[TroyVB]

Hi Chad,

I believe that quite a few folks have replaced the rollers with a standard 2x10 or 2x12 plank.  I seem to remember a discussion on this or the other Com Pac forum.  Seems that the boat actually came off the trailer easier according to the reports.  I still have the rollers on the trailer but I keep Sanctuary on a lift during the summer and have a doubled 2x10 under her keel.  Boat goes on and off easy.

[multimedia_smith]

Hi Chad,
The PO on my boat told me he had just replaced the rollers with the amber colored ones because they were much better.  I think they are harder and less likely to degrade... they also don't mark the hull.

You might consider getting the entire roller/bracket assembly.  That way you know it's all fresh and fits well.  These take the weight of the boat for weeks or months on end... so it seems it would pay to get the best available.

You can get a glimpse of one in the top right hand corner of the attached pic.

http://com-pacowners.com/gallery2/displayimage.php?album=49&pos=36

Last time I went to Champion Trailers (for hubs and springs) they had these hanging on the wall and they didn't seem too outrageously expensive.  I also went over my trailer and replaced all the rusted bolts (ONE AT A TIME) of course.

Happy Sailing
Dale

[seaglen]

Am replacing my keel rollers right now, but my '79 magic tilt has 5/8" roller shafts so no problem. In the Fisheries Supply catalog I see a 5/8" x 11-1/4" roller shaft with two Pal nuts for $4.35. Hope this helps.

[fafnir]

Thanks guys for the additional info.  The brackets with rollers attached look like a great idea,  that looks much more solid then the current method.  I did however bring the items into work and drilled the mounts out to 5/8 of an inch to accept the wider axles.  I mounted one on the trailer last night and it looks like they will probably work fine.  Although I do think I will be welding up some brackets similiar to what multimedia_smith has on his trailer.  I want to get the new rollers on the trailer tonight so I can go sailing on Friday and Saturday :-)   --Chad