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Trailer Bunk Repair


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My wife came in sideways on the trailer Friday and took a good chunk of trailer bunk out. I am going to completely replace the entire piece. I have never done this before and had a few questions.

What type of wood is being used? I was thinking a pressure treated 2x4?

What type of felt material is used to cover the bunk and where can I purchase it?

Are the bunk bolt holes counter sunk into the wood to keep bolt head flush?

I am going to have to launch the boat and make the repair in a parking lot, I am trying to figure out exactly what tools I will need to have no surprises once the boat is off the trailer. It looks like a pretty easy repair, any other info anyone has would be appreciated.

Edited by Fman
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I would think it is probably 2x6. The old bolts may be useable again, you could pull one bolt out if you need to get more. Google search they make precut bunk carpet fairly cheap. GET Stainless staples.

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2x6 is probably more like it, I had about 2 mins this morning before leaving for work to glance at it. Good call on stainless staples, I was hoping to be able to pick up the material to cover it at a local hardware store, all weather outdoor carpet?

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Done it many a time.

Boatmate trailer right? The bunks are usually just plain ol 2x6 or 2x4 depending on boat size. Sometimes they are just lag bolted up from the bottom, some times they are through bolted with carriage bolts and double nutted. Either way it's pretty self explanatory. A 3/4" paddle bit will make quick work if you need to countersink for the carriage bolts. If you were doing them all I would say it goes a long way to router over all the sharp edges with a 1/2" round over bit and a router, but if just doing one bunk, just make it match.

You can get the exact carpet from Boatmate, or West marine has stuff that's pretty close, so does Lowes and Home Depot and it's a bit cheaper than West. Your gonna need a good stapler and some Monel ( expensive) staples or just some stainless ones. Take a good cordless drill and a 7/16" and 3/8" built for the holes if they are through bolted. If they are lagged, a nice cordless impact would be great. A junky or old set of dikes or side cutters works good to pull the staples so you can get the holes exact in the new board by using the old one as a template. Look at your bunks and see if the ends are cut off at angle, if so do that work at home before you get to the ramp. A nice 12" sliding CMS would be nice for that ;) . A good razor knife and a good pair of scissors is about the only other thing you will need besides some sockets and wrenches that fit the bolts.

How's the prop?

  • Like 2
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Yup, BB is right on. Make sure you have extra blades for your utility knife, they can get dull quikly. The bunk carpet comes in a clear plastic bag ready to install for the width (for 2x6) and you just cut it to fit the length for your bunk. Check and re-check before cuts tho, otherwise you can be short and then that can be a problem. Good luck.

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As far as I can tell prop looks untouched, did not see any nicks or paint removed from the trailer. I would think if it hit the prop I would see some type of damage? Maybe I will be in for another surprise when I launch the boat and drive it. Thankfully, I always out the trailer shallow and after she pulls it on I back down the trailer a couple feet and hand crank it on. She definitely missed the ball on this one, I was pretty happy I did not even show a single ounce of frustration... Although, my tongue sure did hurt!

I have a SBT trailer, I will have to double check on the bunk size. From the underside all I see is a threaded bolt and a nylon nut with a washer. So I am assuming it's a Carriage bolt. I am going to call my dealer Monday to see if they would entertain the idea of lifting the boat off trailer for me and I can repair it in there parking lot.

Thanks for all the info, assuming there is no way to lift the boat far enough off trailer to repair it in my garage?

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I do have 2x10 joists in my garage, I wonder if I could use some type of hoists off rear eye hooks and lift the boat up a few inches to slide a new bunk in? Do you think I could use a few lag bolts and just come up from the underside?

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You can jack the boat up with a couple of floor jacks and support it with wood an jack stands if you really needed to. I have done it before and it's tedious. I would rather just take it to the closest ramp and do it that way. Easier, less time consuming and less risk of hurting something.

Never seems kosher to ask your dealers service department to do something for free that they make their living off of. "Hey, can I use your gantry and parking lot so I can fix my boat? " coming from a service department myself ..... It just awkward. Asking them to fix it and you pay them is a different story.

  • Like 2
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I do have 2x10 joists in my garage, I wonder if I could use some type of hoists off rear eye hooks and lift the boat up a few inches to slide a new bunk in? Do you think I could use a few lag bolts and just come up from the underside?

You can't be serious! 4k plus weight hanging from ceiling! Just go to a crap launch and tie up and make repair in lot. Through bolting makes it alittle more pain in butt. Would be much more simple to lag it. Could pre carpet new bunk and slap it on in prob 10 mins.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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All good info, my thought was using a floor jack with a hoist system in garage... But seeing as I am only 20 mins from ramp probably just easier to launch it and repair in parking lot.

Thanks again for all the feedback... Much appreciated.

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Yeah I replaced all my bunks last year. I just used regular fir lumber from menards and stainless staples. Measured all my bunks and made duplicates in the comfort of my garage! Lumber was only about $30. Much much easier than trying to rip off the old board and tear off carpet and staple in lot! Like I said my trailer used lags so made it even easier!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Since pressure treated lumber has Arsenic in it.... which isn't all that good in the water, I used fir when I replace mine. Cedar would also be good too.

If you can find lumber with arsenic in it, please send it to me. I need it for a deck that has the new treated lumber, and it's rotting away. CCA treatment has not been available since 2004.

Also, the new treated lumber will corrode fasteners, so choose your stainless staples carefully. Monel is not good. Galvanized bolts and screws are better than stainless for treated wood.

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I used galvanized lag bolts to hold the bunk to the trailer and I didn't have a staple gun readily available so I resorted to buying a box of galvanized nails and used those to pin down the carpet (i wrapped the carpet so it overlapped on the backside and had to just put a string of nails down the centerline. It has worked well for 2 seasons now (trailer getting dropped in the water about 40-50 times a year)

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When I repaired mine, I got the bunk carpet from Bakes here locally. Check www.bakesonline.com.

I am going to repair it this Wednesday, I have a three day trip coming up at end of month and dont want to be unloading and loading boat with a damaged bunk. I cant get it in time from Bakes so unfortunately I have to head to my local West Marine. Not a huge fan of that store, there prices are rediculously high and they will not price match anything online. A roll from Bakes is $21, from West Marine $29. I can get the Monel staples for under $10 from Home Depot along with the lumber. I was going to contact my dealer bu decided against it, for some reason I do not think this will be my last bunk repair during boat ownership and I better just figure out how to repair it myself.

Edited by Fman
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I can get the Monel staples for under $10 from Home Depot along with the lumber.

Like I mentioned before, if you go with treated lumber (and I would use treated lumber), do not use Monel staples. Get 316 stainless.

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Through bolt only with carriage bolts for me. Had all the lags fall out of one bunk on my SMP 06 model trailer in it's 3rd year. Bad deal to back into water to retrieve boat and see your bunk floating away. Thankfully had large Nylon Zip Ties to hold it back on till I could make repairs.

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which bunk was damaged?

on my boat mate, there are 6 total rails and 2 of them are 2x4 and the others are 2x6.

I don't have a boatmate trailer, I have a Sport boat. It's the front drivers side bunk, I think it's a 2x4 but I only took a quick look this morning before heading off to work. It could be a 2x6, I will take a better look on Tuesday.

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Through bolt only with carriage bolts for me. Had all the lags fall out of one bunk on my SMP 06 model trailer in it's 3rd year. Bad deal to back into water to retrieve boat and see your bunk floating away. Thankfully had large Nylon Zip Ties to hold it back on till I could make repairs.

Good point, I was going to go with the same thru bolts. I will have to staple the carpet on at the lake rather than my garage but I agree, a much more solid repair. Question for you... Are the carriage bolts sunk at all in lumber or do they just rest on top of the bunk with carpet over them?

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Like I mentioned before, if you go with treated lumber (and I would use treated lumber), do not use Monel staples. Get 316 stainless.

The lumber still has me a bit confused, seems like everyone is using different types. On Tuesday I will take a peek to see what SBT used, I would think pressure treated would only be better for longevity.

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