Trailer Bunks

[Uncle Dave]

I will be replacing my bunk covers soon. I notice an ad for vinyl (plastic?) covers for the bunks. Is this better or worse than carpet? Seems it would be harder on the bottom paint?<br />Anyone tried these?<br />Thanks,<br />Fitz.

 

[moderator1]

Re: Trailer Bunks

Moving to Trailer questions.

 

[DJ]

Re: Trailer Bunks

Fitz,<br /><br />I would still recover them with carpet. If you decide to use the "slicks", you can apply them over the carpet.<br /><br />I do not see much need for them unless you frequently launch at unimproved, or shallow, ramps.

 

[lakeman1999]

Re: Trailer Bunks

I am fed up with bunks rotting, because the carpet holds the water in, and keeps them wet longer, causing rotting. I am looking for a better solution, and with my last bunk covering job, I did not cover the back of the bunk, hoping that this will allow better circulation of air , and faster drying, thus delaying rotting of the bunk. I have been deliberating trying the new composit material for deck building, in place of treated lumber.

 

[oldblumerc]

Re: Trailer Bunks

Lakeman, i konw of the plastic lumber of which you speak and wish i had thought of that 3 weeks ago when i redid my bunks. just a word of advice about this stuff though, because of the way it is pressed together you can put a screw in it but i warn you it will not hold like it would in wood ther will be no compression around the threads to hold it in. You will have to drill throught it and put on a nut and a bolt. other than that it sounds great no rot no need for slicks or you can just carpet over it

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Trailer Bunks

Lakeman:<br />I saw just the application, last week, that you speak of. I had just launched my boat and was returning to a parking space. I had to make a 90 deg turn around the end of a parked trailer when my eye caught site of his bunk boards. They were Trex Composite Deck 2 x 6. Well I was so interested in his composite boards that I failed to watch my trailer as I made that turn around the back of his. My left fender caught his right tail light bracket, lifted his trailer up over my fender and back down, broke his lite, bent his bracket and just murdered my freshly painted fender. Well needless to say, it was a somewhat expensive introduction to composite bunk boards and in all the excitement I never did see how the boards were attached to the mounting brackets.

 

[boater4life]

Re: Trailer Bunks

Try aluminum bunks! They are fairly new to the industry, but work well.<br /><br /> http://www.greatlakestrailers.com/

 

[lakeman1999]

Re: Trailer Bunks

Try aluminum bunks! They are fairly new to the industry, but work well.<br /><br /> http://www.greatlakestrailers.com/

<br />I went to your site, and could not find any mention of aluminum bunks (only mention of Michigan hardwoods), only an advertisement for a trailer manufacturer (how are you getting this publicity past the "MODS"? ). It seems to me aluminum bunkls would be very expensive.<br />

Lakeman, i konw of the plastic lumber of which you speak and wish i had thought of that 3 weeks ago when i redid my bunks. just a word of advice about this stuff though, because of the way it is pressed together you can put a screw in it but i warn you it will not hold like it would in wood ther will be no compression around the threads to hold it in. You will have to drill throught it and put on a nut and a bolt. other than that it sounds great no rot no need for slicks or you can just carpet over it

I do not know why lag bolts ( they are the first problem, as they are put in with screw guns, usually stripping the threads in the wood) are used to start with on trailer bunks by manufacturers, other than the fact they are cheaper, and save time , as they can be drilled in with a screw gun. I have always drilled holes through, and used 5/16ths carriage bolts, with lockwashers, and nuts on the back, pulling the head into the bunker (below the surface of the carpeted front. This constitutes a few possible problem with the composite's. I have not checked them yet. (1)-Are they soft enough to pull the carriage bolt head below the surface (maybe would have to counter bore a bit to accept the head) ? (2)-Are their dimensions (thickness) beefy enough to have enough strength after counter boring, or pulling the head below the surface (actually, if the carpet was applied after installation, they would not have to be countersunk, as the carpet would go over the heads). (3)-are they too brittle to use, giving enough strength between mounting points (when used on decks, they are supported every 16/24 inches). (4)-How expensive are they? (5)- When covered with carpeting (holding in the water) will they rot as fast as or faster than treated lumber?

 

[vaccfam]

Re: Trailer Bunks

I too have been thinking of the "plastic" deck material when I redo my bunks. My question is, do you still carpet them?<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />Mike

 

[lakeman1999]

Re: Trailer Bunks

I may get a piece of it, and experiment, I am going to have to replace the bunks on my pontoon trailer, before I load iot again. I would hate to load it, and pull out of the water, and have a rotton board give way, and let a log drop down over a metal bracket supporting a bunk, as I heard of another persons doing so.

 

[vaccfam]

Re: Trailer Bunks

Here is a link to the technical information on one of the man made materials.<br /><br /> web page <br /><br />Mike

 

[lakeman1999]

Re: Trailer Bunks

Here is a link to the technical information on one of the man made materials

Now if I could just talk/understand "TREX" talk, I would have all of the facts.

 

[oldblumerc]

Re: Trailer Bunks

ok i can answer a couple of questions about this plastic lumber. 1 yes i would absolutly countersink the bolts with or without carpet and there should be plenty of strength. 2 carpeting with this stuff it's ealy a matter of prefrence if you leave the plastic bare then its like having bunks slicks. with carpet you get a little better hold but tougher launch good for steep ramps bad for flatter ones. As for rott on that web page it says no rott. and the strenght shouldn't be a problem since the weight is pretty well spread out

 

[timothyl]

Re: Trailer Bunks

It seems to me that if you used composite boards and put a rhinoliner type covering on it, they would last for a life time. Would be slick though.

 

[pra51]

Re: Trailer Bunks

Here is my experience with this stuff.I needed to replace my rotting bunks at the begining of summer.I went to a local place that sold marine carpet and bought the carpet in the color I wanted,I also bought some exterior glue they had for gluing marine carpet.I then bought 4 8 foot pieces of the composite material from Lowes.My trailer has 4 bunks,2 8 feet and 2 5 feet.I cut the the 2 short ones with skill saw.I cut my carpet to go around the compsite.I then painted the glue on the compsite boards and layed it on carpet,then I stapeled carpet down on bottom side.Yes a good power staplier will shoot staples in it.<br />My trailer had lag screws coming from bottom,short ones.I bought new stainless steel lag screws,loaded up a couple of cordless drills and went to lake and put boat in.I replaced the bunks in parking lot.I also put some wood thread lock on lag bolts so they wouldn't turn loss.Since I have been very happy with it.I have a fairly heavy boat sitting on them,1991 1900z Mariah.I have seen no bowing in them and they are dry in a matter of mins.

 

[vaccfam]

Re: Trailer Bunks

Phil...I was at Lowes yesterday looking at this stuff. They carry the kind that is made from recycled wood as well as plastic. Is this the stuff you used?<br /><br />Mike

 

[pra51]

Re: Trailer Bunks

Mike<br />I used the plastic.BTW my 8 foot bunks have brackets at both ends and in the center at 4 foot.I would use some kind of thread lock in bolts if you use lag screws to hold them.I had 2 types of staplers, a hand powered one and a electric one.The hand one would not set the staples but the electric one had enough power to.<br />I put a lot of glue on the bunks.We will know how well they hold up after the boat sets on them all winter in my garage.Yes my boat stays in heated garage.Cars stay outside,wife sure doesn't like that.

 

[lonewolf5347]

Re: Trailer Bunks

This year I bought a new boat set-up was included a new venture trailer model was vb 2400 yes it came with bunks<br />When I heard this then I thought why not upgrade to a easy roller trailer I no the nitemare when it comes to bunks,but the dealer upgrade was a little to high on the price so I went with the package they put together.<br />These bunks are 2x6 board that are covered with some type of plastic cover they use and let me tell you something about these bunks DON'T UNHOOK THE WINCH BOW CABLE UNLESS THE REAR OF YOUR BOAT IS IN THE WATER THIS STUFFF MAKE THE BOAT FLY INTO THE WATER.