Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hope everyone is having a good summer and 4th.

I'm looking at replacing my bunk boards this summer. Bunks are 30 years old looking shabby and feeling kind of wimpy. Not sure how much flex I should have and or how much is from loose bolts but I figure it's time. So looking for advice.

#1: Treated or untreated? Saw one utube that said treated was bad for aluminum?

#2: carpet, no carpet, paint, or something else. Boat stays in the water 6 months out of the year (unless I need to take it out to fix something like last weekend). Most of the year the ramp is fairly deep and easy to launch.

Why not a composite board? If I had a trailer, I wouldn't want the hassle of wood, carpet, etc.

https://www.ultimatebunkboards.com/

Yah that would be nice but wow the pricing isn't feasible 2X6X20 (4 times) it would cost almost $3K.

Appreciate the suggestion.

You're right, that's pretty pricey. I tend to have a "do it once, do it best" philosophy", but I'm not sure that even I would invest that kind of $$.

What about just using composite deck lumber like Trex of similiar? I quickly looked on Lowe's site and it looks like 2x6x16 are about $115. If that would work you'd probably only have to spend about $500-$600.

My trailer has plastic covers over the boards which allow boat to slide pretty easily. Not sure how expensive they are and wood under them looks like regular 2 x 4. I haul a 24 footer and store it on the trailer as I go different place when we go out.
If you use pressure treated, you may want to let it dry out a little bit. My boards are screwed on with galvanized deck screws.

I don't think regular composite decking would be strong enough with my trailer. I would probably need more support brackets.

The original lumber and carpet lasted 30 years. In 30 more years if I'm still kicking I'll be 83 heck at that point I might enjoy seeing the 60 year old boat skid across the highway.

I dont remember why but when i have read the other posts on here and the FB page, they both said use regular wood not PT.
If i have to recover my bunks, i'm going to use the gatorback covers and imbed the LED lights in the bunks similar to what was done here:[youtube]https://youtu.be/NoBEV1O0N18?t=971[/youtube]

The LED lights are certainly a cool look, but even if they are "waterproof" I wonder how long they'll last once they get wet. The gatorback is going to trap water in the groove where the lights are, essentially keeping them in water all the time. I also think the groove would stay wet and encourage algae and mold growth and also make the wood rot faster. Call me a pessimist but to me the cool factor isn't worth the potential problems.