DOH! The boat tarp ripped wide open! Snow everywhere!

[Mark42]

I used a blue PVC tarp from Home Depot for about one and a half years to cover the Bayliner. There is a "pup tent" frame made from PVC pipe that the tarp is over so the snow slides off.

Yesterday under the weight of a little wet snow the cover ripped open about 2/3 of its length right down the center. Snow/rain/slush is inside the boat

I doubt Home Depot will give me another especially since I don't have a reciept. So I ordered a heavier cover from Harbor Freight.

I need these problems like a hole in the head.

Just had to vent.

 

[Windykid]

Re: DOH! The boat tarp ripped wide open! Snow everywhere!

Mark, my undrestanding is that the brown tarp from harbor freight is heavy duty compared to the blue ones.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: DOH! The boat tarp ripped wide open! Snow everywhere!

The silver HF tarps are much heavier than the blue ones.

 

[mthieme]

Re: DOH! The boat tarp ripped wide open! Snow everywhere!

The blue ones don't last long.
I use the silver ones, they seem to last for about 5 years.
Never tried the brown ones....there are heavier green farm ones too.
One of these days, I'll get a proper cover!

 

[JB]

Re: DOH! The boat tarp ripped wide open! Snow everywhere!

PVC degrades when exposed to UV. It will become brittle in a year or two no matter what.

 

[Mark42]

Re: DOH! The boat tarp ripped wide open! Snow everywhere!

I checked the tarps that HF sells. The heaviest is the silver at 11 mills. Ordered one for the MFG a month ago, feels very stout. Havent put it on the MFG yet, will probably toss it over the hole in the Bayliner cover for the next week or so. I was going to put the new tarp on the MFG this weekend, but maybe not.....

Also ordered some of the tarp clips that someone here pointed out work well. Should make attaching the bungies easier.

Better the tarp fail now than in -20 weather in February.

 

[Mark42]

Re: DOH! The boat tarp ripped wide open! Snow everywhere!

PVC degrades when exposed to UV. It will become brittle in a year or two no matter what.

Opps! My bad. I wrote PVC, should have been Nylon. Here is the description of the new tarp:

Rot and mildew resistant
Rust resistant grommets at corners and approximately every three feet
Made of 14 x 14 mesh of 1000 denier nylon threads
Four double stitched hemmed edges
Thickness: 11 mil

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: DOH! The boat tarp ripped wide open! Snow everywhere!

I have always used the silver or silver with the brown back.
Usually a couple years at least with those.

I will be buying a new one in the next week or so too...

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: DOH! The boat tarp ripped wide open! Snow everywhere!

i have had good luck in Florida with the blue, the silver will not stand up to the sun here. silver last 6 months here.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: DOH! The boat tarp ripped wide open! Snow everywhere!

That's the one

I keep one of those on my boat in case I get stuck in bad weather, 2 corner grommets to the front cleats and several bungees securing the back to the transom cleats. It's been through a few nasty rain/wind storms and kept me dry.

Also works good to keep the dew and ice off the interior when i slip the boat and can't use my canvas cover.

 

[WaterWitch2]

Re: DOH! The boat tarp ripped wide open! Snow everywhere!

My silver with the brown on the back tarp from Wal Mart rotted out in about 3 1/2 months here in So Cal. Even the cheap blue ones last longer than that one did.

 

[idrownworms]

Re: DOH! The boat tarp ripped wide open! Snow everywhere!

Thank you for keeping the snow east of me.
We had lake effect snow the other day but i was just outside of that to.
guess its time to think about parking the boat for the winter.
jamie

 

[lkbum]

Re: DOH! The boat tarp ripped wide open! Snow everywhere!

If you ever need tarp info there are a couple of good "direct tarp" places on the net. They have a good description and more sizes/choices than the Big Box stores/ HF or Northern Tools. Click on the link below:
http://www.tarpsplus.com/?ovchn=OVR&ovcpn=tarpsplus&ovcrn=tarp&ovtac=PPC&OVRAW=tarps&OVKEY=tarp&OVMTC=standard&OVADID=6630288511&OVKWID=38624283011&ysmwa=yTtEwGbOfXo6pQL2Ei_rmqQWKUoy6H0-JlYu66alEW88AAT-b1jyhNoRh3ZJoFho

 

[dingbat]

Re: DOH! The boat tarp ripped wide open! Snow everywhere!

All traps are not created equal. Whatever tarp you buy make sure that it has some sort of UV protective coating. Most of the cheaper tarps, no matter what color, don't have this protective coatings. The life expectancy of an untreated tarps is sustainably less than that of a trap that has some sort of a UV inhibitor built in.

I?ve used a 20? x 30? silver/ brown tarp on my boats for the last 14 years and always get 3-4 year out of one before needing replaced.

 

[Mark42]

Re: DOH! The boat tarp ripped wide open! Snow everywhere!

I have always used the silver or silver with the brown back.
Usually a couple years at least with those.

I will be buying a new one in the next week or so too...

If you order from Harbor Freight, check out the post in Dockside Chat about sharing coupon codes. There is a $5.00 off online order code posted there.

 

[Mark42]

Re: DOH! The boat tarp ripped wide open! Snow everywhere!

All traps are not created equal. Whatever tarp you buy make sure that it has some sort of UV protective coating. Most of the cheaper tarps, no matter what color, don't have this protective coatings. The life expectancy of an untreated tarps is sustainably less than that of a trap that has some sort of a UV inhibitor built in.

I?ve used a 20? x 30? silver/ brown tarp on my boats for the last 14 years and always get 3-4 year out of one before needing replaced.

You got me to thinking about what I had actually bought from Harbor Freight. HF does not give a lot of detail on their products, so you often don't know until the item arrives.

I pulled the paperwork that came with the tarp and it lists:

- UV inhibitors to extend life in the sun
- Heavy duty industrial polyethylene nylon reinforcement.
- Lamined both sides for maximum weatherproofing.
- Double reinforced edges and corners.
- High strentgh rust=resistant grommets approximately every 3 feet. (they appear to be aluminum)

If you want to order from HF, at least now you will know what the silver heavy duty tarps specs are.

 

[wajajaja02]

Re: DOH! The boat tarp ripped wide open! Snow everywhere!

you got mail, I bought two tarps from these folks cheap, and they are top quality, come over and check em out.