livemusic Posted October 31, 2019 Posted October 31, 2019 Hello, I have not had good luck with covers. The canvas one I had for tracker 17 ft boat with 40hp Merc mildewed, finally rotted, threw it away. This year, I added a used 19 ft Progator with 150 Merc; I don't know how old the cover is, bought the rig used, cover probably only a year old, if that. It tore a big slit sideways, had to throw it away. It was not made of canvas, it was thinner material. I hope to sell one of these boats. If so, I will be able to store under my carport. A cover is nice even there, though. Leaves fly in, bugs. But if I don't sell, I gotta store one outside. Can anyone recommend a good cover that doesn't cost a bunch? Rains quite a bit here, 54 inches/yr. Don't want to spend a lot, heck, I might sell both boats, lol. I got friends with boats and I don't fish much anymore. Quote
je1946 Posted October 31, 2019 Posted October 31, 2019 You say you don't want to spend a lot, but what is a lot? You could just get a tarp and support it well with strapping, and that would do if you removed any standing water. Heavy duty tarp are priced according to size and will usually last 2-3 yrw if taken care of. Biggest issues are sun and supporting the tarp so there is NO standing water. Quote
livemusic Posted October 31, 2019 Author Posted October 31, 2019 $350 to $450 is a price I see at Basspro and other places and that's too much. I see much less elsewhere. I actually contacted the guy I bought the 19' Progator from and he said he bought another, smaller boat, a 17' Tracker, and the former owner gave him some kind of tarp with reinforced grommet holes and says it works better than his previous covers. I hope to see what he is using. Quote
Super User slonezp Posted October 31, 2019 Super User Posted October 31, 2019 I have a Cabelas 600 denier polyester universal cover for a 20'-22' v hull boat. It was used for a total of 2 weeks while I was getting a custom cover made. You can have it for $50 plus shipping. Think I paid close to 2 bills for it. As far as it being universal, it is. I made some supports out of pvc to keep it propped up so the water would shed off. Quote
livemusic Posted November 1, 2019 Author Posted November 1, 2019 Slonezp, thanks much, will contact you soon! Quote
OnthePotomac Posted November 5, 2019 Posted November 5, 2019 If you store outdoors like I have to, use a $40 tarp silver from Lowes over your boat cover and it really adds life to your boat cover. I put a new cover on my boat 7 years ago and with the tarp on it, it still looks like new. The Lowes tarp lasts about two years. I do go the storage yard during the winter to remove snow. Quote
Super User Way2slow Posted November 9, 2019 Super User Posted November 9, 2019 My boats have been under a covers for many years and have found, you pretty much get what you pay for. I've used numbers of those $150 covers and they might last three years, if you are lucky. You are pretty much going to pay over $400 for a cover that's going to last any length of time. $400 is on the low side of what a decent cover is going to cost. 1 Quote
Super User WRB Posted November 9, 2019 Super User Posted November 9, 2019 All I see anymore are shrink wrap boat covers for boats in storage. I always used a custom bass boat cover if my boat is out over night, never trailered my boats with a cover on. The cheapest way is a trap over a inexpensive over the counter boat cover and supported by internal frame work reduce water puddling. Sounds like you have a good offer. A thought came to me, are you sharks listening? Pop up trailer tent! Picture this; the tent is laid out flat on the ground. Lay 4 planks of 2' wide X 8' long plywood flooring center of the trailer tires apart. Back up your rig onto the planks until the OB is near the tent end. Zip the tent top together down the length of the top of the tent. You get into the boat to complete this. The zipper has a 1' flap held down with Velcro to make the seam water proof. Now insert the flexible fiber glass poles thru loops stitched to the tend walls and insert the metal pins into the tents floor eyelets that hold up the pop up tent. Instant storage shelter, seals out the weather and critters. Tom Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted November 18, 2019 Global Moderator Posted November 18, 2019 Ive been hired to trap animals out of a lot of boats, every single one had a nice cover. Animals like a nice dry place with a roof. I prefer to leave mine open where i can see everything a few times each day 1 Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted November 18, 2019 Super User Posted November 18, 2019 4 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said: Ive been hired to trap animals out of a lot of boats, every single one had a nice cover. Animals like a nice dry place with a roof. I prefer to leave mine open where i can see everything a few times each day Agreed ~ But could this response be construed as a conflict to your own job security ? ? A-Jay 1 Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted November 19, 2019 Global Moderator Posted November 19, 2019 7 hours ago, A-Jay said: Agreed ~ But could this response be construed as a conflict to your own job security ? ? A-Jay Hahaha! It’s kind of like gutter guards/gutter helmet. Squirrels love living under those things, but I’ve never seen one nest in an open gutter. More gutter guards, more business! 1 Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted November 19, 2019 Super User Posted November 19, 2019 13 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said: Hahaha! It’s kind of like gutter guards/gutter helmet. Squirrels love living under those things, but I’ve never seen one nest in an open gutter. More gutter guards, more business! So it's either no leaves and Roof-rats or no Roof-rats and clogged gutters. That's a no win for the unsuspecting home owner A-Jay Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted November 19, 2019 Global Moderator Posted November 19, 2019 3 minutes ago, A-Jay said: So it's either no leaves and Roof-rats or no Roof-rats and clogged gutters. That's a no win for the unsuspecting home owner A-Jay Ha! Yeah it’s a lose-lose when you have to pay for guards and then pay for us! Gutter guards certainly have their place, I would guess on taller houses with steep roofs. At my house and at our family lake house, I can use a short ladder and easily walk around the entire roof and just clean them out. I’ve even seen a couple More modern houses in the last few years without gutters, kind of interesting. 1 Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted November 19, 2019 Super User Posted November 19, 2019 1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said: Ha! Yeah it’s a lose-lose when you have to pay for guards and then pay for us! Gutter guards certainly have their place, I would guess on taller houses with steep roofs. At my house and at our family lake house, I can use a short ladder and easily walk around the entire roof and just clean them out. I’ve even seen a couple More modern houses in the last few years without gutters, kind of interesting. Hi-Jack Alert ! I have no gutters. The piles of snow & ice would just rip them right off. A-Jay Discontinue Hi-Jack alert at this time . . . Quote
Global Moderator TnRiver46 Posted November 19, 2019 Global Moderator Posted November 19, 2019 Back to boat covers! I don’t personally use one but the tight fitting ones I have seen some touring pros use while trailering seem like the best option. If it’s just for an off season, I’d go with the tarp route and discard the tarp or re purspose it. I learned a tarp grommet hack this summer, instead of using the metal rings buy a couple sleeves of tennis balls. Anywhere you want to tie off the tarp, shove a tennis ball inside and tie the rope under it. No more torn grommets Quote
Swamp Yankee Posted November 19, 2019 Posted November 19, 2019 17 hours ago, TnRiver46 said: Ive been hired to trap animals out of a lot of boats, every single one had a nice cover. Animals like a nice dry place with a roof. I prefer to leave mine open where i can see everything a few times each day I cover mine for winter with a cheap plastic tarp tented over. I kill two birds with one stone by using my wife’s 12’ SOT kayak, upside down, propped up inside the boat to keep the tarp tented. I also leave just a little bit of an opening at either end so air can circulate in the boat, but rain and snow can’t get in. Before I put the tarp on I distribute maybe half a pound of mothballs inside the boat, some in each compartment. I’ve yet to find any signs of mice in the boat come springtime when I use mothballs. The camper, right next to the boat, also gets the mothball treatment. 10 years, no signs of mice when I open in spring. 1 Quote
redmexican5081 Posted November 19, 2019 Posted November 19, 2019 14 hours ago, TnRiver46 said: ...I learned a tarp grommet hack this summer, instead of using the metal rings buy a couple sleeves of tennis balls. Anywhere you want to tie off the tarp, shove a tennis ball inside and tie the rope under it. No more torn grommets This is budget boat cover hack level genius. I will be using it next spring when the boat comes out of hibernation. 1 Quote
Swamp Yankee Posted November 19, 2019 Posted November 19, 2019 32 minutes ago, redmexican5081 said: This is budget boat cover hack level genius. I will be using it next spring when the boat comes out of hibernation. And it leaves no marks on the hull... unlike my hack: taping the tarp to the hull with Gorilla tape. ? Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.