I have looked at a lot of them on line & don't know what to buy. Angled or straight, rollers or PVC poles, lights or no lights. I'm on an Eagle Spirit trailer. Probably should be asking what should I not buy, what have you had trouble with. I have read the hardware with the cheap kits are not up to par.
When you mount whatever poles get, don't forget to leave a couple of inches between the boat and the pole to allow some maneuvering room.
Does your trailer manufacturer offer guide poles? That is usually my first go to as they will fit better.
just don't back your trailer all the way into the water. That way you can line it up and hit it with some speed. Speed will die off as you slide up on the bunks. Once you find the correct depth of the trailer to be at and the proper speed to hit it with - you will be golden. Course the learning process will be interesting. Hey, its Friday afternoon. Is a little humor allowed? Just kidding guide poles can be good.
I’m actually converting my roller trailer to bunk style with guide posts. No lights. Straight up. PVC. There are nice foam covers that go over the PVC. Made of foam w canvas. Protects from scuffing your gelcoat. Have to Google it.
My last Eagle Trailer for a 25.5' Chaparral had the angled uprights, no lights. I liked them. The Eagle Trailer for current 22.5' SR has some factory mounted guides that different. Certainly not cheap. See signature pic
My friend, who I help launch his boat frequently, has guide poles that are angled outwards. I don't like that at all. It adds overall width to the trailer and that width is high and often out of sight of the mirrors so you have to be careful not to catch a tree limb, sign post, or ???
My last boat I used the straight poles with pvc pipes. My issues was if the wind took it into the poles, they would bend at the base because of such a long moment arm. I always walked it onto the trailer anyway and used the poles to give me a visual of how centered I was.
The public ramp I put in at has a swirl in the current right at the ramp & along with heavy waves from other boats it's hard to hit it right. The current runs from left to right until you get to about 20 to 30 ft out then it runs from left to right & with the other large boats going by the waves will push you in an odd direction no matter what speed you are going.(with in reason) They have talked about making the area at the ramp a no wake zone but it just talk.
