Another trailer bunk question

[ALUMINATOR]

I am finishing my trailer repairs and after reading the other comments about corrosion caused from trapped water what do you think about using some Corrosion X sprayed on the carpet?

[Chaps]

At first I thought you might be kidding

[JETTYWOLF]

Jus' use no carpet, and yer done.

Although he never posts here and is a Pacific 19 owner, here's what C-grand did.
http://www.thehulltruth.com/trucks-trai ... overs.html
"why doesn't C-Grand come on AAB.com?""
I personally don't like the idea........ribbed carpet runner is what I used over top the carpet that was left for a bit of softness.

Here's a new one I found.....won't work on my trailer, though.
http://www.snaptraxx.com/index.php?pr=A ... structions

[cape steve]

use rollers instead of bunks if you can

[JETTYWOLF]

Steve,

aren't we alloyboat owners for less maintenance?

I guess that is a solution, starting from zero

[MacCTD]

I used Starboard on mine, I posted a thread with pictures here, viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2931&p=23796&hilit=trailer#p23796

[wetwhopper]

How about some marine grade plywood with Trex on top countersunk w/ stainless screws?

[JETTYWOLF]

The idea is to eliminate all Chemicals in the wood because they could contain Copper and who knows what else, IE: pressure treated, Marine...whatever. (I'm no wood exput)

Don't know what Trex is other than what I call a Dinosour sized Speckled Trout, (T-REX-TROUTZ)

Do you mean Ty-vek barrier cloth?

Really.....all ya need is a ribbed carpet runner. Especially if your looking for NO slipping while on trailer. That was my goal.
I don't want and didn't need my boat to fly off the trailer, while on the road, or into the water at the boat ramp.

(on my old glass boat, it almost slid off the trailer sideways one time, when I had to swerve, when using those "slick pads" Never again!! )

[wetwhopper]

Trex is a brand name for a man-made deck material that is supposed to stand up to the elements much better than wood decking. It's getting popular here on the west coast. Good point regarding chemicals found in marine grade plywood though.

[ALUMINATOR]

Well I went one step backward this time around. Might sound crazy but aren't a lot of boat builders crazy too?? LOL

I am going to use just the wood (red oak) without carpet. I treated a few bunk sections with Corrosion X-HD and will have a look in a few weeks. My thought was that less salt water would remain on the bunks. Next would be to cut some grooves in the bunks for drainage. My hull is non-painted and the boat is 9,000 pounds so I don't think it moves around to much on the trailer.

[wetwhopper]

Give it a try and let us know how it goes.

[gilmarlin]

I feel your pain Dennis. I took my boat out for the first time about a month ago and it was taking on water before I got it off of the trailer. I pulled back out and found a couple of holes in the transom, got it home and jacked it up off the bunks and found 3 more. I now have to decide how much money and time I want to "sink" into this hull. I take very good care of my boat, but corrosion is the silent killer. Let me know if you have a good aluminum guy that would be interested in a repair job this winter... Scott

[Sabs28]

Hey Aluminator,

I have had this idea for a little while. I am kind of thinking that if your boat weighs 9,000#'s and you are replacing your bunk boards then they must be at least 4X6 or 4X8. I had the idea of putting a some-what round radius on the top half of the board. Take a piece of 4 inch dia. schedule 40 pvc pipe & slice it down the middle. Screw it to the bunk board on the edges away from where the hull will ride. The round radius will help support the pvc from collapsing. I have seen movers roll a 24' X 36' garage into place using it. it is some rugged stuff. I have used it to move a 2500# set of those precast concrete steps. I would roll the steps on the pvc from the ground to the trailer & then into the back of my F-150. A piece rolled under on of my rear tires & I didn't notice it. loaded the 3,000# tractor onto the 1,500 # trailer, Had the steps in the bed of the truck, drove over the pvc. Other than the big "clunk" & "wham" from the pvc shooting out from under the tire, there was only a few scratches in it. Didn't even oblong the pvc, Still round as new. That is what gave me the idea it may work as a bunk cover. Thick, rugged & cheap $$ to buy. I see all these "bunk slides" made out of plastic that only come in 15" lengths, so I figure why wouldn't this work. I think you can buy it in 10' lengths. Like I said, it is only an idea.

[welder]

I am going to replace my bunks with cypress when I do it , I do like the idea of some shallow groves cut in to drain water. Cypress is a good hard wood that can stay in water for yeeeeeeeears. It aint cheap but it last a long time . If you do use carpet , just do the top and some on the sides that way it will dry out .

[Tin Cup]

If you wanted to save some cash you could put a ~1" cypress board on top of a pressure treated bunk board, probably thicker if you added the drainage grooves. Just a thought.

[Shark Bait]

One of the best things you can use on a bunk trailer is to cover the bare or carpeted bunks with 1/4" or 5/16" " pieces of UHMW (Ultra High Molecular Weight) plastic about the width of the bunks using counter sunk stainless steel screws to attach the UHMW to the bunks.

[Sabs28]

Hey Shark Bait,

Where did you get those?? How long do they come?? All the ones I have seen only come 15 inches long. That is a BIG Trailer.

[Shark Bait]

I had Rolls Axle put them on my trailer when I had it built.

You can get UHMW plastic from any good plastic supplier. It comes in a variety of thicknesses and colors and is normally stocked in 4' X 8' sheets. Since most people do not need a 4' X 8' sheet they will cut what you need. Since UHMW works like wood normal wood tools, saws, planers, routers, etc works well.

I usually have a bunch of UHMW and Sani-Lite (cutting board matteral) in various thicknesses laying around for little projects.

Good luck

SB