Boat cover

[Vader809]

Any dyi boat cover ideas out there?

 

[airshot]

Pole barn....

 

[LDUBS]

Years ago I replaced all of my boat canvass with homemade. I signed up to an adult ed upholstery class. That gave me access to a heavy duty machine and someone to help me along the way. Worked pretty well.

 

[Kismet]

You might check and see if there is a semi-truck cover manufacturer around you. Might not be a huge operation, but all those flatbed and open bodies trailer demand extremely well-crafted covers...usually a rubberized canvas.

Best Wishes.

 

[airshot]

In past years I have experienced both solutions, getting help from an experienced cover person and also using a trailer tarp mfgr. Both solutions are great if you have either near you. At one time a fellow employees made custom upholstery for old cars that guys rebuilt and he made a number of repairs and mods to existing boat covers. Now I have a couple truck tarp makers near me and they have been helpfull in making mods and repairs to covers. If you can give them time and not be in a hurry, there costs have been very reasonable....sort of a fill in job when things get slow.

 

[LDUBS]

If you are talking about a fitted cover, you can probably find a Carver flex fit online for about $100 (assuming 15 - 16' boat). I've used them on my last two boats. I like them.

 

[Hunt2871]

I have fought with boat covers for dang near 50 years and every one of them is worthless LOL. I have started using cheap sheets, sewing them on a cheap sewing machine and waterproofing them with a mixture or mineral spirits and silicone caulk. There are a bunch of you tube videos for how to do this but basically dissolve (mix) silicone caulk in mineral spirts at a ration of 1 part silicone to 5 parts mineral spirits, or there about, and paint the sheet with it. It will shed water, will resist the sun as good as anything and if you spray it annually with the same mixture, with a garden sprayer, it will last for years. Sheets are cheap, light weight and best yet they breathe even when waterproofed as described.....they do not cause mold and rot like heavy tarps and PVC backed materials do. They can be sewn with a $80 sewing machine and normal needles and threads. Use some golf balls or some smooth rocks to make tarp tie points where needed and it'll work better than any commercial product. I have a frame for mine built out of 3/4 inch pvc with a stick of 1/2 inch emt inside it bent in a loang radius that spreads from gunwale to gunwale and I stretch the bed sheet cover over that and strap it to the trailer. It weights about 10 pounds for everything and I can cover my boat in about 15 minutes and uncover it in about 5. I have trailered it like this but I do not do it regularly....it will take it but it beats it up pretty good. I probably have $30 total in my cover and it covers a 1860 jon boat with an open floor plan from the transom to the bow and it even has a pocket for the trolling motor. I have a proper mercury outboard cover on the outboard but I made a cover like mine for another boat I used to have that covered the outboard also.

 

[PGRChaplain]

I had a Cover made this Spring. It had to fit around the Trolling Motor, 2 Anchor Mates and the Outboard, with the ability to Tilt the Motor with the cover on. I paid $600 for it, and it's worth every Penny.

 

[jojo]

What about a tarp? I quit buying overpriced covers a long time ago.

 

[LDUBS]

I had a Cover made this Spring. It had to fit around the Trolling Motor, 2 Anchor Mates and the Outboard, with the ability to Tilt the Motor with the cover on. I paid $600 for it, and it's worth every Penny.

I feel the same way about my Carver flex fit cover. It isn't as nice as a custom fit cover but it does cover the outboard and trolling motor (a rear strap goes around the outboard cavitation plate). I synch it up tight with their support pole so rain runs off (not that we have had much rain lately). I've had it on every day I'm not on the water for four years and it is still going strong. However, to be sure, I would not keep it on while trailering the boat.