Who has prop guard rollers or casters?

For those who have modified their prop guards with either rollers or casters, can you please post any pictures of the modifications. Have you ever wanted / needed swivel casters over fixed position rollers? How much if any reinforcement was required to the prop guard rails?

I didn't need to modify the prop guard rails I did box the rear of the wheel mount in for added strength. bought the wheels at Grainger

Here is another picture. the wheels are at the same angle as the prop guard. They have been on for two years and they still look new and the have stopped my driveway from getting all scraped up.


(Message edited by tcaton on July 09, 2003)

(Message edited by tcaton on July 09, 2003)

Tom,
That looks great. What material are the wheels made of? It looks like some hard propolyene or other plastic. Thanks for the info.

Joe, they are a poly wheel I believe they are rated for 1200 lbs eachthey have held up well and cost about 20.00 each. sure save my driveway from being chewed up.

i did research on this also and was going to put them in. i then found out that the majority of boat trailers are supposed to be at the top of the ball height of 16-18 inches. I dropped my hitch to a 17.5 inch height and problem was solved.

I will try to post some pictures for you tomorrow. I just had some done last week and they are sick!

Here's a pic of mine.



I ordered the brackets directly from Dorsey trailers for $55 (a little steep but I didn't feel like having to figure out all the angles) and got the wheels directly from Grainger. I purchased a pair of these http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/productdetail.jsp?xi=xi&ItemId=1611666606 for $11 a piece. I got a friend of mine to weld them on. After the welding, the paint required some touch up and I had to replace the pin-striping. However, it turned out great.

They work ok but every now and then they leave a black mark on my drive if I come at an angle. I believe Dorsey began using these http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/productdetail.jsp?xi=xi&ItemId=1611763909
. I don't believe they leave marks........But hey, I don't like the color. But the marks go away when it rains.....so it's not that big a deal.

The wheels hang about 3/4" below my prop guard. They work great. My driveway has a slight incline and I couldn't get in it without those wheels. They roll for about 16 inches.

(Message edited by jroyal on July 10, 2003)

Ty-one-on That all fine till you have a driveway that has a incline, it's going to scrape even if you lower the height your ball is at. I won't ever own a trailer with out them they are cheap to get as a option or put on yourself and it's better than scraping up your prop guard.

(Message edited by tcaton on July 10, 2003)

I see your point. our cabin drive way caused me to scrape quite a bit on the bottom. with the lower hitch and a diagonal approach, no problem.

check your hitch height anyway. it may help and it cannot hurt.

If the weight of the trailer and boat is supported by the casters and the hitch, the max tongue weight is blown out of the water (albeit for a very short time). Anyone have trouble with this?

Ty, thanks for the suggestion about dropping the hitch height; I also have an inclined driveway and I don't think just dropping the hitch will give enough clearance. I don't need the rollers to carry the load for very long, the prop guard only scrapes about a foot of the driveway.

If you have a tandem axle trailer you do not want to lower the hitch height. If the trailer is not level that will put more weight on the front axle and cause tire problems down the road. Not a good thing.