Bunk snapped!

[bob1340]

Re: Bunk snapped!

2X4 and 2X6 wood is fairly cheap. Look at it like changing the oil, every couple of years change the wood.

Back years ago I had a small aluminum Lonestar boat. I had no bunks of wood. Mine were steel with rubber on them. My dad built that trailer in the late 40's-early 50's and although I had black on the bottom of the hull in the 70's, it seemed to work well. On a fiberglass boat or heavy boat it would have ruined the hull.

We just swapped bunks on my son's trailer. It cost less than $20.00 with new carpet.

 

[Expidia]

Re: Bunk snapped!

Well, the two new bunk assemblies came last week. I pulled all the staples out of the carpet. They were those cheap shot in with a power gun staples that would have rusted out quickly anyway.

Pulled off the hardware and the wood is just a couple untreated bare wood probably pine 2 X 4's.

I slathered both real good with 3 coats of high gloss polyethylene from a can that I had in my shop.

These babies are gleaming now

I'll get a chance to install them over the next few days, but I need to cut the ends back a few inches because the rivets on the bottom back of the aluminum transom wore right through the carpet the first season. This time I'll have the bunk ends sit an inch or two inside, so that won't happen again. The fungus was on the other end anyway growing out of the sides right through the carpet.

Once I cut the end, I'll have to re coat the bare end again with another 3 coats of poly.

I know I could move the boat and winch stand a few inches, back but the weight is pretty much perfect on the tongue as it sits now.

Going to use T50 stainless steel staples when I put the new carpet back on.

Thx for everyone's tips!

 

[rwidman]

Re: Bunk snapped!

Just an update to those responded to my issues.

Shoreland'r C/S is replacing both bunks for free (even though they don't warranty bunks). but after reading the suggestions above, when they come I'm going to pull them apart and poly the wood with a few coats to waterproof them before I re-install on trailer.

Thx

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?p=2933614#post2933614

If you leave the bunks as they come fom the factory, the wood will get wet but then it will dry naturally. If you attempt to waterproof them, any moisture that does get in (through a defect in the coating or from a penetration such as the bolt holes or carpet staples) won't be able to excape and the wood will rot.

I would install them as they come from the factory according to any directions they may include. I would not try to re-engineer the design.

Go to a boat ramp on a slow day (weekday) when it's cloudy and cool and you have less chance of being in anyone's way. Go early in the day.

 

[pootnic]

Re: Bunk snapped!

Theres a manufacturer that makes plastic(some type plastic)bunks,looks great for aluminum boats.
Just google it...ultimate bunk boards.
There pretty slippery,nice for shallow launches.

 

[Expidia]

Re: Bunk snapped!

If you leave the bunks as they come fom the factory, the wood will get wet but then it will dry naturally. If you attempt to waterproof them, any moisture that does get in (through a defect in the coating or from a penetration such as the bolt holes or carpet staples) won't be able to excape and the wood will rot.

I would install them as they come from the factory according to any directions they may include. I would not try to re-engineer the design.

Go to a boat ramp on a slow day (weekday) when it's cloudy and cool and you have less chance of being in anyone's way. Go early in the day.

Thx for your reply. I had already re-installed them after 3 coats of poly. Used stainless steel screws with washers to tack the carpet down instead of the cheap staples that they came with..

The one that broke I took apart to save the hardware and the baots been out of the water 2 weeks yet the wood inside was still damp. I feel much better with the poly coating now. I bet I get 10 years out of these. They really should treat then with something from the factory, but it's a low end trailer and I got what I paid for.

 

[Expidia]

Re: Bunk snapped!

Theres a manufacturer that makes plastic(some type plastic)bunks,looks great for aluminum boats.
Just google it...ultimate bunk boards.
There pretty slippery,nice for shallow launches.

Thx. Ya I thought of those already but you can't use them on painted aluminum boats has they will wear the paint right off.

I was clued into this when I bought some of those plastic slides off a website 2 years ago and a warning insert said these can't be used with painted bottoms so I had to send them back.

I suppose one could cover them in carpet. If these new ones rot I'll try that route.

 

[Guest]

Re: Bunk snapped!

The best wood I ever found for bunks was an old peice of hard elm. with stanless steel bolts it lasted over 10 yrs! (That wood is so hard you have to predrill to put nails in it.) good luck.

 

[outdoorsman1962]

Re: Bunk snapped!

Just an update to those responded to my issues.

Shoreland'r C/S is replacing both bunks for free (even though they don't warranty bunks). but after reading the suggestions above, when they come I'm going to pull them apart and poly the wood with a few coats to waterproof them before I re-install on trailer.

Thx

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?p=2933614#post2933614

Please let me know where you got the replacing bunks for free? My talk with them in July didnt go that way. I bought it at Cabelas even....3 years ago..NEW. Thanks

 

[Expidia]

Re: Bunk snapped!

My rig is only 3 seasons old so the tech support guy was nice enough to ship me two new replacement bunks.

The warranty that came with the trailer I think was 5 years coverage. But they normally don't cover wear items. My response was to him that the carpet is a wear item. The wood should last more than 3 years. Not my fault they don't treat them before tacking the carpet on.

Some have said the fungus grew out of the wood because it stays wet inside the carpet. all the more reason to treat the wood because bunks get wet . . . Well, that's what bunks are designed to do. But coating them with a lake safe water resistant coating would add costs onto their trailer.

Actually, only one side sprouted the fungus. Seems to me that one was made with defective wood which probably had deep cracks in it. I'm sure Shoreland'r had other complaints. They really should poly dip them before assembly. That's what I did to the new ones after taking them apart.

If you bought your trailer at Cabela's 3 years ago, it's really the manufacturer's problem now. Did yours snap? If they snapped it's because it's only like a cheap pine 2 x 4 in inside the carpet. If you step on the ends they will snap. I doubt that they will cover snapping, since it's not the weight of the boat, it's the uneven weight of your body stepping on the unsupported bunk end.

Mine snapped because it was riddled with some type of wood fungus.

 

[RadarRick]

Re: Bunk snapped!

For the record (and for anyone who is interested), the jelly-like substance in the photos is wood pitch.

In a living tree, pitch accumulates in areas that have been damaged (for example, fractures from wind). It's the tree's way of protecting itself from organisms that would otherwise invade the damaged area. Some trees have much more pitch than others. Pine and fir are probably the worst. I've had drops of cherry pitch eat through the paint on my car when I parked under a cherry tree.

Once the tree is cut into lumber, the pitch will ooze out of these areas, especially in warmer weather where it is more fluid.

From the description, the bunk broke right at the spot where the pitch was oozing. This makes sense because that would be the weak point - the location of some kind of previous damage.

The weakness of this bunk is due to a flaw in the lumber. The manufacturer let it slip through or used a poor grade of lumber. If the grade of lumber was adequate, you could not break it by stepping on it (unless you're 800 lbs)

As someone else mentioned, red cedar may not be the best choice as it is not as strong as other species, even though it holds up very well in wet conditions.