Who has changed their Boatbuddy for Rollers

[jonyb]

Gotta have something to compain about, especially when it's too cold to go outside and enjoy anything

[KG's Supra24]

Ive always been with Todd on this. When you get used to it, it works great and makes you look like a pro.

I started having issues with mine engaging this past year, though. Perhaps i need to replace some parts.

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[jonyb]

The reason I hated mine so much is because of a few reasons. This is hard to explain from a keyboard.

1 - When you pull the boat up to the bowstop, and the boat buddy contacts the boat, the rubber against the gelcoat completely stops the boat. It does'nt roll, it just pushes teh truck up the hill. You have to dunk the trailer too far in, get the boat up to a certain point, then pull the truck up a little. When this happened, bunks were wet. And if you guys say to soap the boat buddy to make it slick, then what's the point?

2 - After the second or third time of use, the pin got bent. After you've wrestled the son-of-a-B up the trailer and finally got it loaded, the driver is ready to pull up. When the truck starts moving, the boat pulls back against the pin, putting it in a bind. The next time you go to launch the boat, you can't get the pin out. I spent 10 minutes trying to pull the pin out. The only way possible was to have the boat completely floating, and me NOT in the boat, but standing next to the trailer - on algae - about to bust my a$$. Then when the pin does get pulled, it's a race to get in the boat before it gets away. It's probably pretty funny to people watching - "look at that idiot!" when it's actually the stupid Boat Buddy that hurts more than helps. So then, you go out, have fun, or have other problems like vaporlocking or panels fall apart from poor quality builds - and you're back trying to load the boat. You spend another 10 minutes trying to fight the issue in #1 listed above, and then the pin won't set because it's bent. The 4,500# boat pulling against it last time won the battle.

After Boatmate fixed all the damage on my trailer mostly created by the Boat Buddy - bowstop was bent all to hell, and had holes in it - they installed a roller. From that point on, here's how it worked out for me - I backed down to the edge of the water, close to the waterline - stopped, disconnected the winch, installed the plug, hopped in the boat. Wife backed the truck down far enough to get water to the intake, boat was started, idled for a couple minutes, then at my direction she backed the truck far enough down to back the trailer off. Loading - trailer was dunked, pulled back up to the perfect angle - after finding the sweet spot - I drove the boat on the trailer, went up and hooked the winch, gave it 2 turns, shut the boat down, then we're driving up the ramp. Loaded in less than 1 minute, with a boat driver, and a truck driver.

If you guys still praise the POS called a Boat Buddy, you obviously haven't had the problems that I had. It only took a few times to realize it wasn't created for these boats.

[TitanTn]

It's obvious that hull shape, trailer configuration, and setup of the buddy can make or break the process. I have a roller and my steps are extremely similar to yours, and I have very similar results. It's easy, and I don't have to get in the water. But yet, it's just that much easier for my friend with the boat buddy. He never has any issues with releasing the boat, and the hull is not marred by the boat buddy. It basically works the same except he doesn't have to get out of his seat, lean over the front to hook the bow eye and tighten the winch. He just drives the boat straight on the trailer until it clicks and then turns the engine off. His wife just pulls him out.

It's good that we're getting all experiences documented here so people can understand that it's not a silver bullet and "your experience may vary." But after what I've seen with KarolinaKid's boat, it certainly is possible for it to work as advertised.

[KG's Supra24]

The 24 trailer that Todd, Jon, and myself have was a pretty bad design. Bowstop is too high for our nose. I understand what Jon experienced with wedging the boat into and not onto it. I guess an important note would be i typically load with some rear weight.

Dusty has the same setup and replaced his boat buddy with a roller.

Todd, did you buy replacement parts from boatmate? I had trouble with mine this past summer.

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[jonyb]

Another big issue is the size and weight of the boat. Mine and KG's are 24's, and they're tanks. I'm sure the guys with 20's aren't having the same problems.
Bowstops on these trailers are a problem though, like KG mentioned. On that note, Boatmate was great to work with on that issue.

[tg0824SSVGG]

I will have to see if I can find where I got the new parts when I get home




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[tg0824SSVGG]

Here is where I got the parts

http://www.kodiaktrailer.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=1


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[ditchsnake]

I had to talk to them on the phone but just ordered the 5000# model for 47 plus shipping. 10 from tx to co. I wanted to order the plastic shroud but it was 37. Kinda a no brainer. I have a spare that your welcome to. Plastic is danaged but the mech. works great. Just have to pay the shipping. Probably about 10. When I took it apart it isn't the pin that was bent it was the mechanism. I was able to straighten it out on the vise. Pulled it with the boat on the trailer.

Ive always been with Todd on this. When you get used to it, it works great and makes you look like a pro.

I started having issues with mine engaging this past year, though. Perhaps i need to replace some parts.

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[ditchsnake]

Oh I forgot, you have to order it as bulk and not a kit for that price. This doesn't come with a new bow eye. Also for the guys like john that have changed to a roller is the hole for the boatbuddy the correct size and location for the roller. I was going to measure to make sure the spread for a roller on my post is correct.