bunks on empty H23 trailer

[bleathen]

After many years of not using bottom paint in the area that is blocked by the trailer bunks, last year I dropped the bunks on my H23 trailer and painted the boat in that area. When I jacked the bunks back up, everything seemed fine. But after I launched the boat I noticed that you can shake the bunks back and forth about 1/2" or so. I could not do this before. They pivot on the bolt that is tightend to hold them in place. I ignored it and recovered the boat in the fall with no thought about the rocking bunks. Now I have launched again and of course the bunks still rock when I shake them. They are firm and hold the boat in place, but I wonder if I should do something about it, or if this is just a normal situation after you lower and raise the bunks. What do you all think? Should I wedge something in the pipe opening to eliminate the movement?

 

[Jay]

trailer

This may not help you much, but I would be very leery of "dropping" the bunk boards. We have a 1991 H23 with a Kearney trailer. To paint under the bunks, we use 2 boat jacks to jack one side of the boat up 1/2 inch or so, and unbolt the bunk boards on that side from the vertical supports (see link below). I've always been nervous about adjusting the vertical pipe supports up and down. With that said, our vertical pipe supports do move back and forth at least 1/2 inch. And it does make me nervous. Last fall, we were moving the boat forward in my yard to work on it when we heard a sharp crack. We stopped dead, and spent about 2 hours looking things over to make sure nothing had broken. We started by supporting the boat with jacks, and proceeded to measure the bunk supports on one side vs. the other, and tightened all the supports. After lots of work and worry, we decided that all was ok. And in fact, nothing bad has happened since. Probably one of the leafs in the leaf springs had slipped against another. But I don't think the caution was misplaced. Just look everything over _very carefully_ and use your best engineering judgement. And don't take any risks with getting crushed by your boat. Good luck.