2006 or newer 185/195 bow roller

[hblock72]

Anyone else having the problem of the bow roller on your trailer rubbing badly on you gelcoat. The '06 and newer redesigned 185's and 195's seem to have a more "rounded" bow instead of coming to a sharp point. While I like the design and the added room up front. It seems the bow roller on the trailer is made for one of the older "pointy" bows and the rounded ones just don't seem to fit that well. Asked my dealer and he didn't seem to have a clue what I was talking about. Maybe I'm just crazy.

 

[black magic]

I've noticed that when I crank down on the winch, the roller flanges(?) really flare or flatten out to contour to the shape of the boat. the gelcoat does seem to take some abuse from this. This is my first boat, so I didn't know if this was normal or not. There are stainless protective pieces out there that use adhesive to stick to the boat around the eye on the bow. I wonder if that would help? (I'm at work so I can't see where the rollers touch versus where the plate thingy would go.

 

[tubtoy]

same here, my gelcoat is not looking so good there either.
i wondered if they made a softer roller that wouldnt scratch it up as much

 

[MarkD]

ditto here! i recently trailered my boat from NJ to Fla and back and found that a bit of the gelcoat had worn down. i believe they make special stainless plates that fit over the bow eye that would protect the gelcoat. Plus, it would probably look decent too... i just dont know who makes it or if it is make/model specific. Hoping others will chime in...

 

[black magic]

I just looked it up and found that KeelGuard makes a stainless guard. I'm sure there are more out there, but that is what I found so far.

 

[hblock72]

Well at least I'm not the only one having this problem.

I've seen the stainless steel protection plates your talking about, but in just looking at the pictures, I was afraid I'd have the same problem with the plate as I'm having with the roller. The plates seem made to fit the sharper shaped keels. I'm not sure the plate would "conform" well to the rounded shape of the new SeaRay keels or I may have already tried one of these guards.

 

[Golfnit]

I have the same situation on my 07-185. A wax job takes the mess off, but I would like to get a different roller or cut this one down or something. I have also thought about the plate to fit around the boat; and I'm sure the dead hammer and I could make it fit the boat well. But never thought about what the roller would to do the plate. Hummm.

 

[black magic]

I got to thinking about the shape, design and cause of the scuffs and I'm thinking that it isn't the inntial contact with the roller that scuffs the gel, but when I tighten down on the winch. The outer parts of the spool seem to flex out as the boat is pressing against it. With that said, it seems to be friction of the roller material that is the problem. I may try to experiement with come compounds on the roller to see if I can help the spool glide across the gel when winching. I even did a quick google to see if anybody made teflon bow spools/rollers, but no luck (my idea... patent pending! :grin. So, maybe a teflon spray or a good coat of wax on the spools themselves may help.