Bunk replacement - make them yourself or buy them already made?

[kmelford]

How hard is it to make your own bunks? If I buy them already made from BassCat they will cost $350 ($225 + $125 shipping). The material cost to make them myself is $200 ($100 carpet + $30 shipping + $70 wood&hardware) and I can get them sooner.

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks.

[hoganapex]

Buy. I did mine on a ranger. Pain in the A for one man job

[neo]

i bought the carpet to do the bunks from basscat and did it myself,this is the info they sent me, 2007 Puma ..
Well i tried to paste the info here, it wont let me.
pm me your email and i will send it to you

[billius]

The BCB bunk boards are cut a special way. I forget the details, but they aren't just normal 2x6's. Speaking for myself, I'd buy replacements from BCB. Costly I know.

[catdude28]

I did it myself on my first Cat. A few 2 x 6’s and some outdoor carpeting. Maybe 75 dollars in total.

Boards need to be ripped, tapered at the front, and bevelled at the back. Very basic carpentry. You can get the details of the cuts if you do a search over on the BCB owners board. Trickiest part is installing them. Placement is critical so the boards fit between the chines.

[Phisherman]

did everything myself. bought 2 2x6's, bought carpet kit from BC which included new anchor bolts and washers, used floor jack's to pic the boat up off the trailer, used come along on the boards at the front once bolted to the rear and middle to pull the new bunks to their brackets. For me it was easy and didn't need a second person.

[Bassdeer]

Do it yourself if your up for it, Just put new carpet and lag bolts on mine last year, wood was still good.

[OldTimer57]

I did mine myself. Ordered carpet from BCB, bought contact glue from Home Depot, plus 2x6 P.T. lumber. If you go to the owner's web site, you can find detailed instructions. You need nothing more than a ruler and a circular saw to make the bunk boards themselves. Not a particularly hard job to make the complete bunks and install them. Certainly under $150 total... I even used new SS lag bolts on mine and fit it in under $150.

[NJBass12]

I did mine myself. I ordered the bunk carpeting from Bass Cat, comes with instructions on how to rip the 2 x 6's down to the correct size.
I used my old bunks as a template.

[kmelford]

Thanks for all the info and tips. I will need to think about it. Unfortunately I have to take my boat to the lake (1 hour away) to get it off the trailer and I can't risk that the bunks won't fit. Leaning towards buying vs making but will take a look online at the dimensions and gluing process. Thanks again.

[tanker4lyfe]

Do them yourself! Buy carpet from basscat. Get some quality treated 2x6s and rip them. Get some super 77 spray adhesive, SS staples and a gun and get to work. Basscat will give you a sheet with full directions on build specs. Took me about 2 hours to build and 45 min to instal at the ramp.

[Louie]

Might be able to save a few bucks if they could toss them into a new boat thats being shipped to your local dealer?

[OldTimer57]

You don't need to remove the boat to replace the bunks. You can measure the bunks length wise. On my classic, I believe the magic numbers were 2 6' bunks and 2 10' bunks. You rip 3/4" off of the width of all 4 bunks. Then on the two long ones, you measure on one end 3/4" from the edge and mark (on the end). Then you measure down that board 20" from the end and mark. Connect those two marks. Cut that thin triangle off of the two long boards, one end only. That taper will be the outside edge and can be omitted if you want. It makes the bunks look better and is cosmetic only according to BCB. On the other end of all 4 bunks, you cut a 3/4" triangle off across the width. This gives a tapered edge so that you won't rip the carpet as you load.

You then cover. I then jacked up one side of my boat with a floor jack, and removed one bunk at a time, replacing it with the new bunk. I went a little further in that when I put the new bunk up the two supports and got it centered, I marked the holes for the 1 1/2" lag bolts, then pulled the bunk back off. Turned it over, drilled the holes, and then threaded the lag bolts all the way in. Pulled them back out, and used some thin super-glue ("zap! at a hobby store) to harden those threads so that they won't tend to pull out. Gave it a few minutes to kick and harden, then installed that bunk and went to the next. Did the entire process with boat/trailer in my basement...

[kmelford]

Thank you for all the good advice. I will see if I can get the details from BC to better understand the total scope of the project.

[Jonestrollingmotor]

I did them myself. Got the bunk carpet through one of my marine suppliers, bought the PT 2x6 and cut them as described above. used contact cement and SS staples to carpet them at the shop. Loaded it all up along with a couple of batteries, drill and drill drive and new SS bolts/washers and went to a small local lake. Dropped the boat off, tied it up, and replaced in the parking lot. As mentioned above, make sure you get the boards in the same place (measure before removed and before installing)for them to line up with the chines/strakes. Use a ratchet strap to place the boards in the right place because the long boards will have a "bend/bow" in them.
John

[mulligans]

I purchased a set and saved my old one for templates

[RazorCat]

I have all the tools and above average carpentry skills, but I’ll still buy them from BCB. Some things are just better when the factory does it for you.

[kmelford]

Thanks again for all the tips and advice. I'm still deciding. The youtube videos make the replacement look like a reasonable job by jacking up one side of the boat at a time.

[Phoenix Jim]

The BCB bunk boards are cut a special way. I forget the details, but they aren't just normal 2x6's. Speaking for myself, I'd buy replacements from BCB. Costly I know.

same reason I went this way when I had a cat but shipping will kill you

[PII Magnum]

Did mine myself was pretty simple.