New Trailer Steps
Printed From: CorrectCraftFan.com
Category: Repairs and Maintenance
Forum Name: Boat Maintenance
Forum Discription: Discuss maintenance of your Correct Craft
URL: http://www.CorrectCraftFan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=51556
Printed Date: January-15-2025 at 9:55am
Topic: New Trailer Steps
Posted By: 75 Tique
Subject: New Trailer Steps
Date Posted: May-06-2024 at 9:01am
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At some point in my trailer's history, the steps were replaced with plywood, no sort of covering, like carpet, and by the looks of it, just plain plywood, as they are all rotting pretty significantly. I want to replace without breaking the bank, so I was going to go with plywood again. I was thinking of CPES-ing it and was going to ask what the resin to acetone ratio was, as I could not find it on here (despite the fact that 15 years ago there were 4,000 references to CPES among all the boat restorations going on). But then I thought, is pressure treated plywood an option? Any better or worse than regular plywood with a few coats of CPES? Any thoughts? Any other cost effective alternatives to the plywood? Carpet over the wood would probably look nice, but doesnt that just hold water and promote rotting? ------------- _____________ “So, how was your weekend?” “Well, let me see…sun burn, stiff neck, screwed up back, assorted aches and pains….yup, my weekend was great, thanks for asking.” |
Replies:
Posted By: fanofccfan
Date Posted: May-06-2024 at 4:23pm
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This is of no help in answering your questions but we are working on my brothers trailer right now and are going back with steel treadplate. The carpet idea was nice looking and comfy while being a great promoter of rot and rust. Good luck with whatever route you end up going. ------------- 2004 196 LE Ski 1969 Marauder 19 1978 Ski |
Posted By: KENO
Date Posted: May-06-2024 at 8:04pm
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Since pressure treated plywood is treated all the way through with pressure and not coated with something that doesn't penetrate nearly as good and doesn't really care if it gets wet and lasts a long, long time without rotting, it seems like using the pressure treated plywood with some carpet on top would work pretty well. Space the plywood away from the steel frame that it's getting mounted to using some washers on the mounting bolts so that you have an air gap and the metal will want to dry off easier instead of rusting . I made a floating dock like this out of a pontoon boat many years ago and it's holding up just fine. It doesn't exactly receive the utmost in care, being in the water for 7 months of the year and then it's stored under a blanket of snow in a good winter. We religiously change the cheap Home Depot indoor/outdoor carpet every 7 years or so and the plywood looks just fine when the carpet is removed. Since the framework is aluminum, we don't worry about rust. It's on it's 4th carpet now. Always been amazed at how that cheap carpet holds up
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Posted By: Jonny Quest
Date Posted: May-06-2024 at 8:07pm
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1/2 inch HDPE 24 X 48 cut to size. I did that when I rebuilt the 1994 SN trailer. Comes in black and white typically. ------------- Current 2003 Ski Nautique 206 Limited Previous 2001 Ski Nautique Open Bow 1994 Ski Nautique Open Bow Aqua skiing, ergo sum |
Posted By: KENO
Date Posted: May-06-2024 at 8:27pm
Must be some sleepery sheet when it's wet
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Jonny Quest wrote:Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: May-07-2024 at 7:30am
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I did cpes on exterior grade ply and then bedliner (herculiner) on my last go around a few years ago. Looked great initially but the wood cracked up a bit- my best guess is that I didn’t give enough cure time following cpes. I’d also go 3 coats on the bedliner despite it looking good after 2. Cousin Donald has bedlinered steps on his sport Nautique that looked fantastic and I assume have held up well. Black pvc sanded and then bed linered would be the ultimate, imo- won’t rot and if the liner wears thin, it’s still black underneath. Would be slick if left uncoated. Not a cheap solution, though. Carpet looks good but holds water and rots everything it touches. Most of the diamond plate looks cheap- though Ramlin did do some in the mid-late 00’s that was steel and painted that looked good. Another challenge on the ramlins as I recall is that you need a 10’ long piece of material if you don’t want to 2-piece. Luckily the 89 cc trailers can be made to work with a single 8’. |
Posted By: KENO
Date Posted: May-07-2024 at 8:47am
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Here's an old thread about the same subject Larry
http://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=47178&PN=1&title=plywood-for-trailer-restoration" rel="nofollow - link choices, choices
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Posted By: fanofccfan
Date Posted: May-07-2024 at 9:08am
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I’ll let y’all decide if these will be worthy when complete. ------------- 2004 196 LE Ski 1969 Marauder 19 1978 Ski |
Posted By: fanofccfan
Date Posted: May-07-2024 at 9:14am
https://ibb.co/WfFP9Hh" rel="nofollow"> https://ibb.co/gWPGwwp" rel="nofollow">  ------------- 2004 196 LE Ski 1969 Marauder 19 1978 Ski |
Posted By: fanofccfan
Date Posted: May-07-2024 at 9:21am
I also clicked on the link referenced above....I miss the back and forth banter between Ken and Pete!!  ------------- 2004 196 LE Ski 1969 Marauder 19 1978 Ski |
Posted By: KENO
Date Posted: May-07-2024 at 5:39pm
I did a little spot checking today and he still hasn't straightened out the APA or anybody else on what Pete approved marine plywood is
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Posted By: MrMcD
Date Posted: May-07-2024 at 5:50pm
| I wish my boat had the steps like the trailer shown, when we go camping we load the boat to the gills with all our gear. It would be really helpful to have those steps front and rear. As little as we are able to use the boat these days I don’t think I will commit the time to get it done. It is tempting though. |
Posted By: Jonny Quest
Date Posted: May-08-2024 at 9:16am
Belt sander with 50 grit did a nice job roughing up the surface of the HDPE sheets. Worked well. I would use it again if the need arose. I wanted something that wouldn’t have to be replaced while I owned the trailer. JQ ------------- Current 2003 Ski Nautique 206 Limited Previous 2001 Ski Nautique Open Bow 1994 Ski Nautique Open Bow Aqua skiing, ergo sum |
Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: May-08-2024 at 9:46am
| Any pics of the hdpe steps installed? |
Posted By: Jonny Quest
Date Posted: May-08-2024 at 12:05pm
Sorry, Tim....sold that trailer a couple of months ago (along with the SNOB).  I'll look around the hard-drive and see if there are any pics. JQ ------------- Current 2003 Ski Nautique 206 Limited Previous 2001 Ski Nautique Open Bow 1994 Ski Nautique Open Bow Aqua skiing, ergo sum |
Posted By: Hollywood
Date Posted: May-08-2024 at 8:26pm
| Give Tim the new owner’s contact information. He’ll be happy to relentlessly hound him for pictures. |
Posted By: pjsmoreno
Date Posted: May-09-2024 at 8:24am
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Back to your original questions about the marine grade or
treated plywood and carpet. Whichever type of plywood you use, I would seal it
with CPES for safe keeping. When I replace my side steps carpet, the original
plywood was still in great shape. Only a small area was dry rotted which I was expecting
more areas due to being cover in carpet. I repaired that area with fiberglass
and then resealed with CPES. Lay my new carpet down with DAP All Weather
Outdoor Adhesive. The only thing bad about carpet on the trailer is it holds
water. Even through most of the water has drain off after getting home from the
lake, I still put fans on in the garage to get it to dry out by the next day.
Don’t want any mold of mildew showing up. |
Posted By: 75 Tique
Date Posted: May-09-2024 at 10:33am
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Thanks for all the input guys. I definitely considered some sort of PVC or HDPE at first (based on thinking our kitchen cutting boards would be an excellent material) but at $100 - $150 per 2 x 4 sheet, it ran the cost up quicker than I had hoped. Chances are, after reading all this, I will go with the PT Plywood. After that...carpet? Herculiner? Painted (like I have now)? Not sure. At the home builder I work for, I was told there is a hunk (16'?) of Ipe over in the "boneyard" I was told I could have. Thought about that. Cut it into strips and do a wooden cat walk sort of thing. But I dont think that one hunk would do the job. Note to Tim on that, and needing a 10 foot sheet of plywood, remember, I got the "short version" so 8 feet will be oh so close to doing it. My current wood is in 3 pieces. I measured each piece to determine need. Only recently did I add up the length of the 3 pieces. 97 inches. Ugh, 1 inch over 8 feet, but I bet with a little strategic spacing around the braces at each end of the fender, I could make it work. We will see. Now that spring has sprung and all the boat prep is done and it is in the water (including the 4 new pieces of interior) the trailer is freed up for the attention it needs. Final thought, as far as carpet and holding water, the trailer might get dunked four times a year, so maybe not that big a deal, but on the other hand, it does get rained on a whole lot more than that, so, still need to give that some thought. ------------- _____________ “So, how was your weekend?” “Well, let me see…sun burn, stiff neck, screwed up back, assorted aches and pains….yup, my weekend was great, thanks for asking.” |