Boat Trailer Advice...

[bshaner]

Go out right, now, I dont care what you are doing, go NOW and check the bolts on your bunker/rail of your trailer.

My trailer is 5 years old.  I went to trailer my boat Tuesday night only to look back as I'm backing the trailer into the water and see that one of the rails appeared to be sort of creased in the middle.  I'm like, no way.  This is impossible.  When I go to inspect it I find an untreated 2 X 4 completely rotted and decayed in the center and sawed in half from the brace and the bolts had completely fallen out.  If I hadnt noticed the rail was a bit creased I would have trailered the boat routinely and not given it a second thought.  God only knows at what point the rest of the board would have fallen by the wayside on the way home and I'd be out of a boat for a long time.

I called Nitro to see if this was common and the customer service gal matter of factly said, "ya we dont treat the wood for environmental reasons, you should periodically check the bunkers."  (exact quote)

Check those bunkers/rails boys, save yourself some grief.

B

[Ryan]

I feel your pain, we dealt with a very similar issue and like you, we caught it just before something very bad could have happened.

We have a 2000 Nitro and a month ago while preparing to trailer the boat, we noticed one of the lag screws that connects the bunk to the trailer had pulled through the wood leaving the bunk hanging down, supporting absolutely nothing.  We then checked the three other bunks and all of those were also rotten and the boards were all split right were the screws had gone through.  These were ready to pull through at any time.

To correct the issue we bought treated 2 x 4?s and put carriage bolts through them and then put carpeting over them.  So far they seem to be working fine and hopefully we won?t have any more issues with the bunks.

-Ryan

[fiker]

I"ve found the same thing on my tracker trailer.  I too replaced my old 2 x 4 with a treated piece. 
Here's my thoughts. 
When they pressure treat wood, it is my understanding that the primary chemical used is copper sulfate. 
When lakes are treated for weeds, one of the chemicals they use is copper sulfate. 

How can the minuscule (by comparison) amount of CuSO4 used in lumber compare with the amount used as an herbicide, and be considered a hazard?

[stackenem]

Wonder who the teacher is on this forum? ( CuSO4 )  Hey Rick are we fishing Tues. Bill

[gnewski5]

Had the same thing happen 2 years ago.

Dumped the boat up at Bruin lake. We were staying there for a week so I just parked the trailer at the camp site.Walked by the trailer and noticed the bunks were drooping. The bunks were like balsa wood, all rotted out.

Same thing, I went and bought treated wood, but when I wrapped the bunks with carpet, I left the under side of the bunks open so the water was able to run out instead of being trapped in by a full wrap of the carpet.

So far, so good.

[joshimoto son]

Stop right there!!!

Has anybody thought of using the composite lumber?
It's more expensive, but I bet it would last longer than the carpet you put on it.
I think when my bunks get ready to go, I'm going to look into that.

joshimoto son

[smbassman]

Treated lumber should work just fine and last as long as the carpet as well.  Untreated lumber has no place on trailer bunks and I can not believe Tracker would do this.  Unbelievable!!!

[ronhuntfish]

Has anybody thought of using the composite lumber?
It's more expensive, but I bet it would last longer than the carpet you put on it.
I think when my bunks get ready to go, I'm going to look into that.

I don't think that would work. The composite lumber I have dealt with is actually very flimsy.  When you pick up about a 16 footer to carry, it bends alot.  It's good stuff, but it needs plenty of support below. 

Maybe some othe brands are different?

[yukonjack2]

I think composite lumber would work, but it needs to be the full 2X4 dimension, not the 5/4 stuff . Additionally, I would look for the profile extruded box section type that would lend mosre structure to the board. 

they are not cheap though - I think for the length of time womanized lasts, thats the best economics - compostie lumber for 2X can be $3 plus per linear foot - you do the math.

I also think that treated lumber(at lest the older stuff has arsenic in it - why it should not be used in picnic tables.  thats prolly the excuse tracker uses to not use treated wood. 

Jack

[bshaner]

With my boat there are 3 brackets for the long bunker.  My board was only 7.5 ft.  That's only about 3 ft between braces/brackets.  I dont think you'd notice the flex that much, as well there is a slight bow in the wood (very slight) when you tighten it down to the brackets.  With the regular lumber I nearly stripped the wood trying to cinch the board down tight.  A little bit of flex might actually be better.

B

[fowlmouth]

my experience with the "plastic wood" is it is very weak and does not impact well, plus it's slicker than warm whale poop on an iceberg when it is cold. learned this whole lesson all at once when I ended up looking skyward in my waders in november, fell so hard I cracked three of them boards.