Ice/snow temporary metal tubing/tarp structure.....

[robert graham]

20 years now I've kept my boat under a 12ft.x20ft. metal tubing and tarp temporary cover and it's worked pretty darn well.....until this winter storm over the weekend dumped many inches of ice and snow on it to the point it collapsed on my boat....needless to say, this is a real pain in the butt to clean up...with hundreds of pounds of ice in the boat!....got another new temporary structure on order....if I get a few more years out of this new one then I'll be O.K.....winter sucks!!!!!

 

[wrench 3]

I had one support come down in a storm early last spring.There was about 20 gallons of water, slush and ice mix puddled in the tarp that sagged over the railing. I had to make up a lever system to get it back up over the railing!

 

[poconojoe]

Bummer! Yeah winter sucks in so many ways for us in colder climates.
What type of structure were you using? Was it one of those temporary type garage/carport things?
Maybe you can beef up the frame of the new one to make it stronger.

 

[robert graham]

It's just a white metal tubing frame with a silver tarp over it....I usually replace the tarp every 4 or 5 years when UV eats it up....it's just a cheap thing but keeps the rain and sun off the boat and has thus far worked pretty good....it says on the instructions that heavy ice and snow can overweight it to the point of failure but here in upstate S.C. We don't often get it this heavy....Anyway I've spent the last couple of days cleaning it all up....ready for my new shelter from Walmart for $75 delivered!.....Winter still sucks!....But we're dragging the boat to the St. John's River in Florida on Christmas Day, so all this will just be a distant memory by then!

 

[robert graham]

It's just a white metal tubing frame with a silver tarp over it....I usually replace the tarp every 4 or 5 years when UV eats it up....it's just a cheap thing but keeps the rain and sun off the boat and has thus far worked pretty good....it says on the instructions that heavy ice and snow can overweight it to the point of failure but here in upstate S.C. We don't often get it this heavy....Anyway I've spent the last couple of days cleaning it all up....ready for my new shelter from Walmart for $75 delivered!.....Winter still sucks!....But we're dragging the boat to the St. John's River in Florida on Christmas Day, so all this will just be a distant memory by then!

 

[poconojoe]

$75! Wow, that's cheap. Is that for the whole thing or just the tarp? I thought it would be hundreds.

 

[robert graham]

I shopped Harbor Freight, Northern tool, Lowes, Home Depot, etc.,etc., and the prices vary a lot but the Walmart on-line site was a great price.....I'm confident the quality varies a lot but for what it is and what it does I'll go with low price.....Heck, I've been paying $55 for just the replacement tarp at Northern Tools....