Hi guys and gals, I'm looking for help from experienced woodworkers. Any of you have experience attaching HDPE strips to wood planks? I am adding sliders to painted, untreated 2x6x16 spruce boards on my pontoon boat trailer and I wonder is there is a glue that will adhere to HDPE? I also wonder how much contraction/expansion the strips are going to do when the trailer sits in direct sun for 8 hours. I suspect screwing them down would cause bulges and sags as the trailer heats and cools so I thought glue might work best. I need some tips from the pros.
- Status
Unfortunately, the very nature of HDPE that makes it so slippery also makes it hard to glue up. The same dynamic would apply to the glue on a surface that is stable in water versus an adjoining material (AKA wood) that contracts and expands with moisture. I would suggest you fasten the strips with countersunk machine screws, washers, and oversized holes to allow the wood to move independently of the HDPE. Use Nylok nuts and all stainless steel screws & washers.
I would add to what Dennis suggested by saying you should cut the HDPE into shorter strips (like 12" long), champfer the ends and screw them in lines with a small amount of spacing (like 1/4") between the ends of each section of the array of strips. This should eliminate any cumulative expansion.
That's what the high end boat trailer manufacturers do.
Thanks for the replies. I'm not convinced short HDPE pieces would be better than 8 footers.
The boards started as 20 footers and I sawed off each end to eliminate the cracks on the ends. I immediately sanded them and painted 4 coats of 10-year vanilla-white latex deck paint on all sides to seal and to reflect some of the sunlight. I'm expecting the expansion/shrinking of the 2x6's to be less than an inch. Tell me if I am wrong.
I thought I could mount 8' long HDPE strips with a gap between them and drill oblong holes every 20" might work but I'm uncertain.
Also, tell me why stainless machine screws with nylock nuts as opposed to stainless T nuts underneath? or countersinking 1 1/4"x 1/4" ceramic coated star-drive screws without washers? They have larger flat heads already.
The boards started as 20 footers and I sawed off each end to eliminate the cracks on the ends. I immediately sanded them and painted 4 coats of 10-year vanilla-white latex deck paint on all sides to seal and to reflect some of the sunlight. I'm expecting the expansion/shrinking of the 2x6's to be less than an inch. Tell me if I am wrong.
I thought I could mount 8' long HDPE strips with a gap between them and drill oblong holes every 20" might work but I'm uncertain.
Also, tell me why stainless machine screws with nylock nuts as opposed to stainless T nuts underneath? or countersinking 1 1/4"x 1/4" ceramic coated star-drive screws without washers? They have larger flat heads already.
I'm having trouble visualizing what you want to do and what's the purpose. I've never looked closely at such a trailer so... :dontknow:
Are the spruce boards the same as "bunks" and you want to add the HDPE strips as "bunk sliders" for less friction, etc.?
A few pics or a sketch would be helpful. Sorry, I have my dunce hat on this morning. :icon_scra
Like this?
http://www.surfixinc.com/surfix_trailer_bunkslides.html
Are the spruce boards the same as "bunks" and you want to add the HDPE strips as "bunk sliders" for less friction, etc.?
A few pics or a sketch would be helpful. Sorry, I have my dunce hat on this morning. :icon_scra
Like this?
http://www.surfixinc.com/surfix_trailer_bunkslides.html
Jeff, you have it correct. That is precisely what I am doing. The bunks are 16' end-to-end spruce and not going to be carpeted. I used Olympic 10 year deck sealer to coat them and now I want to add two 8' HDPE sliders to each bunk side. I'm uneasy about what the sun is going to do the HDPE so I am eager to hear best ways to attach with the least maintenance.
Attachments
Ok, thanks for the pic. Why worry about HDPE movement up/down/sideways when attached to the bunks? I doubt that the pontoon or you will notice one way or the other.
Gotcha6 (Dennis) has the right hardware plan I believe.
Consider this in a lighter moment while the trailer is baking in the sun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0O0nzkESTI
Gotcha6 (Dennis) has the right hardware plan I believe.
Consider this in a lighter moment while the trailer is baking in the sun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0O0nzkESTI
I was hopeful, now I want to know the disadvantages of using ceramic coated screws with large flat heads as opposed to SS machine screws with washers and nylock nuts. Pontoon has two tubes, one on each side. What seems "off"?
So there are two strips on each side, total of 4 strips? Are the bunks canted as I really cannot tell by the picture. You are planning on the strips being contact pieces right? I would have a suggestion that I have seen on heavy duty pontoon trailers if interested.
As for the ceramic coated screws. Most of them aren't coated well enough to prevent rust all together and there will always be rust on the head where the coat was worn from the bit used. Basically, you can use them, but they will still rust. Real SS won't. As long as your clear of saltwater, it should be ok, just not last near as long as SS.
As for the ceramic coated screws. Most of them aren't coated well enough to prevent rust all together and there will always be rust on the head where the coat was worn from the bit used. Basically, you can use them, but they will still rust. Real SS won't. As long as your clear of saltwater, it should be ok, just not last near as long as SS.
Yep. 2 on each side board placed end to end with a 1" gap between to ease the 'toon on and off. The boards are indeed canted, pic doesn't show an end shot very well.
So the ceramic coating may wear away? Hadn't considered that. I definitely don’t want to have to jack the boat off the trailer to do maintenance but maybe once every 5 years or 10.
Thanks for laugh. (music plays... I wish I was 18 again. (Music fades)
I am worried the HDPE will bulge, and sag and get worse over time if I miss the amount of slack I include in my oblong holes. Honestly, I don't know what to expect from HDPE after it lays in 95 deg. sun for 7 hours.
Yeah, that maintenance on the trailer can be hard to do if you got the boat in the water and the beer in the cooler....
As for the ceramic coated screws, what species are the bunks made from? I can think of a couple of woods that would eat through the screws in a couple years - even Hot Dip Galvanized will fail in time. DAMHIKT. Although they are softer than traditional screws, I would still recommend SS for around the water use.
As for the ceramic coated screws, what species are the bunks made from? I can think of a couple of woods that would eat through the screws in a couple years - even Hot Dip Galvanized will fail in time. DAMHIKT. Although they are softer than traditional screws, I would still recommend SS for around the water use.
Whats wrong with Carpeted bunks?
Grade 2 Spruce. I am coming around to SS. The coated screws offer some speed and a semi-hole, not all the way thru, but if the hole begins to wallow out then I have to move to a new hole and you know the rest.Yeah, that maintenance on the trailer can be hard to do if you got the boat in the water and the beer in the cooler....
As for the ceramic coated screws, what species are the bunks made from? I can think of a couple of woods that would eat through the screws in a couple years - even Hot Dip Galvanized will fail in time. DAMHIKT. Although they are softer than traditional screws, I would still recommend SS for around the water use.
I'm glad you asked. It mildews. Even the best marine carpet that wears well and doesn't rot, will mildew. All it takes to ruin my wife's day is to smell some because she has chronic asthma.
It's a frictional wear with installation. Easy way to see it is to run the screw in and then back it out and look for shiny metal. It's worse when you don't predrill and use hardwoods, but in cheaper screws, the coating is easily worn off on installation.
As for sunlights on you sliders....look at this websites: http://rescoplastics.com/plastic-lumber-capabilities
As for sunlights on you sliders....look at this websites: http://rescoplastics.com/plastic-lumber-capabilities
Of course not. You take good care of your bass boat. Mildew on pontoon bunks is common where I live and worse on the back (dark) sides of the carpet. Nap looks good on the outside but mildew starts immediately on the inside as water gets between the wood and the carpet. Pressure treated wood lasts longer but aluminum pontoons can't tolerate Arsenic or salt unless the pt-wood is covered with good marine carpet. So I chose to get rid of the carpet, use non-pt, and employ plastic sliders instead. ABS (in short pieces) works great and I thought the HDPE would work even better, but I don't know what direct sun may do to it. It may shrink and get brittle. This time next year, I'll know more.
I hope I didn't come across as arogant. I'm learning as I go and don't want this lesson to cost me more than I want to pay.
- Status
