We recognized that our solution had to involve the existing factory RT roller. There is no way to access the fasteners without cutting an access hole in the anchor locker. We were tempted to do that (inaccessible areas on boats...seriously!?) until we came across the Mantus Bow Rollers.
The beauty of the Mantus bow rollers is that they have a flange with a slot (see diagram below) to accommodate their Anchor Mate system, below the base of the unit. We merely used this flange as a bracket to thru-bolt to the RT roller. We did drill two holes in the RT roller that lined up with the flange slot for proper positioning on top of the RT roller. We drilled the holes with the RT roller in place (advantages of being a trailer boater!) using a centering drill bit to establish the hole and then a step drill bit to get the size we needed (1/2")
Once we determined the positioning of the Mantus on top of the RT, we took measurements for the teak plank. On our boat it was a 1-1/2" height. We chose 4" wide by 17" long to provide the best surface for mounting the Mantus Bow Roller and for the anchor chain to run. Mounting the plank was a simple process since full access is available in the anchor locker.
We removed the RT Bow Roller's bail and roller. We drilled out the holes for the bail (forward holes) and thru bolted using the "axle tube" of the original roller. In addition, we put a bolt through the holes for the roller (aft holes) for additional rigidity.
The Mantus bow roller comes with the mounting holes pre-drilled; problem is that the forward two holes are unusable (too far forward) so we drilled two new holes about 2-1/4" further aft to align for thru-bolting to the anchor locker below.
Once fully mounted, we believe this provides a surprisingly strong fitment: we retained all the strength of the original system while adding the independent robust mounting of the Mantus system. The new roller is almost 4" forward of where the old roller was giving a lot more room for bigger anchors. Additionally, we were able to use the Mantus Anchor Mate to secure the Mantus M1 13# anchor firmly when housed.
