Synthetic bunk material - replacement for carpet.

[mikesxpress]

Just an FYI for you guys that are considering replacing your bunk carpet.
Gatorbak | Protecting Your Investment. Synthetic bunk covers, caps, and bumpers.

Here is a set of pic's of the install. Pretty easy.
Gatorbak Photos by mikesxpress | Photobucket

I use my I boat in salt and fresh water. If you’re interested in going a step further and eliminating the nasty carpet that holds moisture for weeks, promotes gelcoat blisters, retains sand/grit that scratches your hull, and is just a PIA for upkeep. Send me an email and I will hook you up on how to do this with a no-mar synthetic material that drains and is easy to install with a 5 year warranty. *You can kick to the curb the issues of it being too slick and marking the hull.





Pressure treated boards contain ACQ (Alkaline Copper Quaternary) and is very corrosive to metals. Galvanized will hold up a little longer that painted metal but it too is susceptible to corrosion at a rapid rate when in constant contact. Add wet bunk boards and trap the water between the board/bracket along with wet carpet that keeps the whole process in motion for weeks while it dries and you will have issues.

As a mechanical engineer, I only do things one time effectively so I will share what I have done and you can decide for yourself if it’s for you or not. The brackets attached to the pressure treated boards must have a barrier between them to eliminate the constant contact in a wet environment. If the ACQ emitted from the board can drain/dry quickly on the galvanized surface it has little effect. I removed my brackets and abated the corrosion via mechanical means then applied Gem rust converter. 24 hours later the galvanized coating. 6 hours later the rubber barrier coats (2 each) on the top of the bracket.




Here is what the material looks like from the transom end with 3500 lbs of Ranger hull sitting on it. Slight compression with voids to let the water drain out. the material surface has a rubber texture to it. *I will be taking launch and load videos this week and post them up when I get done.

[mikesxpress]

A few more pic's.

Load/unload video was a wash. It didn't show what I was hoping for so I will just give my review.

I left the winch attached to the bow eye with a foot of slack and forcefully backed the rig down to the ramp from 30' applying the brakes enough to lock and slide on the gravel at Hope Springs and the boat did not move. While this is not a very steep ramp it did tell me that the material is not as slick as what some of the harder poly add on slides are know to be. I would never do this except for this test and always unhook at the water. Loading the boat was about the same as carpet and I got the boat loaded to the bow eye, shut the motor off (normally I leave the motor engaged in FWD gear to hold it in place so it did not slide back on the previously installed carpet), and went to the front to hook it. The boat did not slide back. I have never loaded my rig and left the water without hooking the bow and did not test it that way as it's unsafe no matter what bunk covering you have. 10 minute ride to the house where I jacked the boat off the bunks and completed a hull inspection upon arrival which showed no signs of marking or rubs to my recently refinished hull bottom. As best of all everything under there was totally dry!!!!


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