Hoping for QUICK Bunk Board Answer

Just removed all the carpet (and seemingly thousands of staples) ... previous owner had used a few nails on the top of the rails with what seemed to be household carpet on top!? These appear to be the original boards and I scrapped off a bit of the original black Nautique carpet (I think Ram-Lin used some adhesive on the underlying layer) ... Anyway, I think the boards are in good enough shape to keep; however, I have 3 loose screws attaching the boards to the trailer (2 up near the front on the port side and 1 at the very rear on the starboard side). What the play here? Go up in screw size? Drill new holes through the boards and into the trailer and then countersink? Want to get this answer this afternoon, as I need to have this work done so the trailer can go to the sandblaster/painter tomorrow. Also, I plan on coating the boards withe CPES and spar varnish before covering with original carpet from Ram-Lin.

The small section of potentially "bad" wood (I think the CPES can put and end to this) ... you can see one of the nail holes to the right of the bolt in the first image:





Am I making a mistake not replacing these boards? Seems like the ol'94 likes riding on these rails and I really think they will go a lot longer once fixed up with the CPES?!

I think CPES would be a waste of money on bunks. They look OK & I would use them again. You might want to counter bore the screw heads a little deeper though.

They don't appear to have much bevel...... the bunk boards on the '78, '92, '91 and '04 all have a beveled edge that looks steeper that what you have - maybe it's just hard to see in the photos...

If that's so, that's another reason to replace..... It will load better and the hull will "ride" on the trailer bunks better.....

Analyze where the most wear on the carpet was and modify accordingly.
Wasn't much thought put into the bunks. Even the other brands with multiple "supports" don't get the geometry right!

I prefer treated over CPES since they get totally submerged often.

I'd bet on the original boards being basically a single 2x6 table sawed at a 45, or close to. These are production units, improvements can be made.

Hollywood wrote: I'd bet on the original boards being basically a 2x6 table sawed at a 45.

That's it!   

Ok, I want to do this right (and not have to do it again), especially to get our '94 to load and ride better on the bunks ... I have the boards off, as shown in my earlier posts. I am sending the trailer off to the sandblaster/painter later today. I suppose that I can get treated 2 x 6 lumber and then cut it to the width of my existing boards with a 45 degree bevel to the inside edge (will this be the best for the hull on our '94 hull)?! Then use self taping SS screws once I get it back from the painter, moving the screw holes forward 1-2" off the existing holes and using clamps ... do I understand everything correctly? Will this give me the best possible loading and trailering for our family skier? Otherwise, I am going to CPES the existing bunks and reattach them with new SS hardware once it gets back from the paint shop ... leaving everything as is (I have new carpet on the way from Ram-Lin). Thanks again!

As I see it, even though the trailer is heading to the sandblaster/painter today ... I can custom build these boards without the trailer and then mount them up when I get it back (a couple of photos)? I will have to rent a table saw (or perhaps I can rip it with my circular saw?) and get the lumber home ... those boards measure 14' (I will wait until I hear what dimension wet treated wood to get) ... to that end:

Steve/Kevin ... my dimensional question is this, after looking at the "red trailer post" if I took a treated 2 x 4 and knocked off the 45 degree inner edge, the boards would be too narrow? The boards that I pulled off measure 2 1/2" wide. So if I follow correctly, I would buy a single 2 x 6 and cut it down the middle on a 45 degree angle ... this will yield the two beveled bunk boards that will be slightly wider along the top surface and at the base, the surface that attaches to the trailer, then what I pulled off yesterday?

Oh yes, I see what you mean TRBenj ... Thx.

Where I am today:

You can't split a 2x6 to get both sides as it won't be wide enough...... plus, you want to look for boards which have the bend already started.... The lumberyard will love you for taking those!

Also you may NOT need to reposition the holes if the the screws removed like they are supposed to......

Hollywood is right - there's a TON on the site about bunk rebuilds. Bing or Google search in this way:

site:correctcraftfan.com xxxxxx

(where xxxxx is trailer or bunk or whatever you wish to find)

BTW - google image search with the same qualifiers is a great way to zero in on things quickly........

Brian:

It's all good. I am tryin to help. The search parameter talk was designed to help, not belittle. Not all the members on this site are very search savvy - no offense intended.

As far as the rest, forming the bunks is a little difficult as the wood you have now is not the same as what you ideally want to go back to. It would be awesome to copy what you have if it was just rotten, but your bunk boards are a little non-standard currently.

I am not at the lake, otherwise I could measure a cross-sectional profile for you..... Maybe Marty, or someone else can?

Anyway, keep the questions coming - don't clam up. I will help as it is one of the few things I can do! PM me if you don't want to "go public" .... but the more there is on the site, the more help there is for others. I would rather have 100 bunk repair threads than 1 political thread (and no one stops "peeping" on those!)

The shape is wrong for CC to have gotten 2 bunks out of one board unless they were making a 3+ cuts. Two 2x4's are cheaper than a single 2x8 so Im sure they were just buying those. I posted a cross section of the bunk at one point, possibly with dimensions.

Someone mentioned starting from the front first. This allows you to use the length of the board as leverage since there is more curve there.

Don't seal treated lumber. Wrapping the carpet only traps water in, accelerating rot.

Hollywood wrote: Wrapping the carpet only traps water in, accelerating rot.

Tomatoes--Tomotoes--- The trailer only gets dunked for 5 minutes at the most- then it's out in the sun all day drying. When you put the boat on the trailer- it squeezes down on the bunks - squeeging the water out. Water is eventually getting on the trailer and boat-- that's just the way I did mine. I don't think I'll have a problem anytime soon with my bunks.. Everyone is going to have different ideas-- as FrankS says-- I Did It My Way :)

Do it however your comfortable with and if need- get a friend to help .
I don't think there is a wrong way to do this....

The bevel looks perfect. It will be worth all the effort when you are done. You may want to put some fresh paint on the metal before putting the bunks back on.

If you are using treated lumber don't use galvanized hardware!