Trailer Bunk Carpet

J

John S

New member
Hello all,

Looking for some advice.

My standard carpet on my EZ-Loader trailer bunks isn't working. We've replaced some of the carpet with new carpet supplied by ez-loader (for free) but we continue to basically get carpet burns during launching or recovering that causes the carpet to look melted and worn down. Allowing the boat direct contact with wood.

Does anyone know of a source for quality marine or outdoor grade carpeting that I could use on my bunks?????

I've already looked at Home Depot and Lowes and couldn't find anything acceptable there.

It needs to be wide enough to wrap around a 2x6.

Here's a picture of the carpet I'm using now from ez-loader, even the engineer working with me told me I should try and find another source of higher quality carpet.

We've replaced a portion of our carpet with the slick plastic stuff, but that it not working well because of the different angles of our bow area as it contacts the bunks

Thanks



IMG_5105.sized.jpg
 
King trailers uses material that is a polypropylene that wraps around the entire 2 x 6 and works well. This one of the reasons we like the Kings because the Slick Bunk material works so well.

This is not to be confused with the pads that some others offer either as factory addition or aftermarket. The slick bunk material is sold in lengths and goes on as single piece by sliding over the bade 2x6.

My 2 cents and worth what you paid for it.
 
John,

I had the same problems with the design of my Pacific Trailer for my Tomcat. Check out my photos under Trailer Modifications to see how I resolved my problem. Without a doubt, use Slick Bunks on the front 1/3 end of your trailer instead of carpet. I like this product because it attaches to your bunks on the sides, negating the possibility of scratching your gelcoat if the screws were to back out.

Also, I suspect the scratches on your gelcoat may be occurring during retrieval at the launch ramp when the edge of your sponsons can easily hit your cross bar between your bunks because the trailer is at an angle while your boat is coming in level with water line.
 
Hi folks,

A few years ago, I replaced the carpets with plastic slides. You can buy them at west marine. I can now handle the launch and retrieve by myself. It does not seam to hurt the bottom paint.

Word of caution. If you paint the bottom when you have carpets, put wax paper between the bottom and the carpets, You might not be able to launch your boat.

Fred
 
Looking at your picture, it suggests that the bunk is not parallel to the bottom of the boat, and the edge is making contact--or it could be as the boat goes on the trailer. I always put two layers of carpet on the bunks--use monel staples.

On the Tom Cat, we use the slicks just to help loading/unloading--but make sure that maximum contact is maintained with the trailer bunks.
 
Matt Gurnsey":1hu6xqc7 said:
King trailers uses material that is a polypropylene that wraps around the entire 2 x 6 and works well. This one of the reasons we like the Kings because the Slick Bunk material works so well.

This is not to be confused with the pads that some others offer either as factory addition or aftermarket. The slick bunk material is sold in lengths and goes on as single piece by sliding over the bade 2x6.

My 2 cents and worth what you paid for it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the replies and ideas.

I'll try to work my way thru them here.

The slick plastic doesn't seem to work as well with bottom paint on the boat. The bottom paint has a rough feel to it rather than the slickness of gelcoat. (Can anyone else concur on this?) We put the slick plastics on our most forward bunks, but the front sponsons on the TC24 change angles as you move thru the first few feet of the boat. The irregular bottom causes the bunks to contact in different areas at different angles until the boat has settled into it's resting place on the trailer bunks, thus even the slick plastic can work paint off and the plastic surface has even been roughed up some by the boat. So I'm not sure this is the best solution for my boat with bottom paint, but we've tried some of it.

We recarpeted our bunks last year with the stuff from Cabela's. Worked great. Give 'em a try.

Rick & Donna
Click to expand...

I've looked at Cabela's "bunk carpet" before, but they don't sell any bunk carpet wider than 12" which is too narrow for my 2x6's
BUT tonight I looked thru their website at just standard marine carpet and saw the BEST selection I've seen so far. I will probably order some of the premium marine carpet to replace on these bunks.



John,

I had the same problems with the design of my Pacific Trailer for my Tomcat. Check out my photos under Trailer Modifications to see how I resolved my problem. Without a doubt, use Slick Bunks on the front 1/3 end of your trailer instead of carpet. I like this product because it attaches to your bunks on the sides, negating the possibility of scratching your gelcoat if the screws were to back out.

Also, I suspect the scratches on your gelcoat may be occurring during retrieval at the launch ramp when the edge of your sponsons can easily hit your cross bar between your bunks because the trailer is at an angle while your boat is coming in level with water line.
Click to expand...

Bad Boy, I checked out your photos and got some ideas. The design of the TC24 is quite different in that the most forward part of the the hull protrudes deeper than the rest of the hull. compared to the TC25. What I think I will do after seeing your photos is bring my front bunks in much closer to make a tighter Vee. This will require bracket drilling. WE WERE having the problem you mentioned of the bottom of the boat contacting the trailer and EZ Loader sent me some 2x6 with slicks to lay flat between the bunks to stop trailer u-bolts from gouging the hull. I'll post a photo. Thanks
Looking at your picture, it suggests that the bunk is not parallel to the bottom of the boat, and the edge is making contact--or it could be as the boat goes on the trailer. I always put two layers of carpet on the bunks--use monel staples.

On the Tom Cat, we use the slicks just to help loading/unloading--but make sure that maximum contact is maintained with the trailer bunks.
Click to expand...

Bob, I thought I saw an alignment problem also. So first I loosened the bunks slightly and let them move to where ever they wanted. After I had them out of position once or twice at recovery I just tried loosening them with the boat sitting on the bunks and then tightening them back up hoping they would have found their position. It didn't work and I'm kind of baffled by it.

I like the doubling up on the carpet idea, never thought of that.

I'm confused by your last line, that you use the slicks just for loading/unloading, aren't they there all the time once installed??

Thanks everyone,
John

bunks.sized.jpg
The photo above shows the flat centerboard that is EZ Loaders solution to keep the trailer from gouging the hull during recovery. After looking at this photo again I've noticed I can't move the front brackets closer because of the design of the frame. This photo is before the front bunk slicks were installed.
 
Go check out the Ducks photos it's on the last page The 2by6 's can be covered in tie down plastic covers The trailer is a 2450 Continental with extra middle supports (2by6's covered with tie down plastic )
 
There are a lot of different variations of the Tom Cat trailer--since made by different builders, with different ideas. Ours was made by float on--which has a lot of experience with cats in Florida, and is a popular trailer. It has center bunks which touch the inner sides of the hull as the boat is loaded, as well as outside aluminum tubing covered with PVC guideons. We have 8 foot of slicks foreward--the contact of of the hull on a steep ramp, with the trailer immersed is with the slicks--We may be immersing the trailer more than you are.

My impression is that there is no difference between the hull of the 255 and 24, other than the way that the transom is handled. I believe that the actual hull came from the same molds, which were modified for the stern changes. There is a 24 down the street--and it looks exactly the same as my 25 foreward.

My bunks are slightly V (about 7 degrees) along the full length. See the Thataway Album--sorry that I cannot post photos with the computer I am currently using.
 
thataway":xbdvdv3i said:
There are a lot of different variations of the Tom Cat trailer--since made by different builders, with different ideas. Ours was made by float on--which has a lot of experience with cats in Florida, and is a popular trailer. It has center bunks which touch the inner sides of the hull as the boat is loaded, as well as outside aluminum tubing covered with PVC guideons. We have 8 foot of slicks foreward--the contact of of the hull on a steep ramp, with the trailer immersed is with the slicks--We may be immersing the trailer more than you are.

My impression is that there is no difference between the hull of the 255 and 24, other than the way that the transom is handled. I believe that the actual hull came from the same molds, which were modified for the stern changes. There is a 24 down the street--and it looks exactly the same as my 25 foreward.

My bunks are slightly V (about 7 degrees) along the full length. See the Thataway Album--sorry that I cannot post photos with the computer I am currently using.
Click to expand...

Bob,
Now I see what you mean by the slicks are for launch and recovery. I don't have a good side photo of my boat for an easy comparison of the sponson shape, but it would be interesting if it were the same mold. I checked out your trailer, totally different approach than mine. I probably do get deeper in the water than you because I use the "extend-a-hitch"
Thanks for you thoughts,
John
 
I am trying to build a trailer for my new Tom cat. I forgot to measure the distance between the centre points of the two sponsons when I had her out of the water. Can anyone provide this information other wise it looks like I have to go for a swim.
 
Back
Top