slippery sliders solve a sticky problem

[fisherguy123]

I have a fairly heavy older tri-hull and have had a problem sliding it on and off of my bunks . I used a spray silicone which helped a bit but looked for a better solution on this forum and someone mentioned a commercial type of plastic slider....living here there is none available so I found a place which sells 3/8 " thick teflon in 4" by 10' strips for $20. I bought 1 and cut it in half , rounded the corners and used a 3/8 round over bit in my router and rounded all the edges. My bunks are 6' long so I left the carpet on the front end a foot and used ss screws countersunk to screw the teflon on. Well what a difference sliding the boat on and off.....like a sled on ice !!!!......I could have bought 2 strips and gone the full lenght but my hull arcs up a bit towars the bow and doesn`t contact the last foot or so anyways. Most industrial suppliers carry this teflon for lining the walls of cargo trucks if you want to get some .
PS . the guide ons for my trailer are arms from an old office chair....they work great .

 

[Jetwash]

Re: slippery sliders solve a sticky problem

How old are your winch strap and tie down straps?

In general most boat owners buy straps that WILL NOT hold the boat on the trailer if it flips. Thats a ticket for an unsecured load.

 

[fisherguy123]

Re: slippery sliders solve a sticky problem

How old are your winch strap and tie down straps?

In general most boat owners buy straps that WILL NOT hold the boat on the trailer if it flips. Thats a ticket for an unsecured load.

winch strap and tie downs are all new......and just for your info I am an LEO who issues the tickets for insecure loading of vehicles. In this jurisdiction the Cargo Securement Regs require that the securement system be capable of withstanding the following forces [a] 0.8 G in forward direction
0.5 G in rearward direction [c] 0.5 G in sideways direction.......the aggregate working load limit of the cargo securement system shall be not less than 50% of the total weight of the cargo....this is the standard throughout most jurisdictions as well.
so in short if your boat weighs 3000 pds and you have a bow strap and 2 transom straps as I do then each much have a working load limit of 500 pounds to be legal.

 

[Av8nBill]

Re: slippery sliders solve a sticky problem

Nice job on the bunk slicks. You saved a couple bucks too. Mine were $17.85 each for .5" x 3" x 54" strips.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: slippery sliders solve a sticky problem

Keep an eye on those ss screws me by! If one of those tings backs out, you're gonna do bad tings to your hull.

You may want to consider thru botling your strips down and using washers and nyloc nuts on the underside of your bunks just to be on the safe side.

I bought the commercial glide ons and they were a lot more expensive than yours, but they do work well.

I have a look see at my screws every time I launch, just to make sure.