Pontoon cover support.

[Likesspace]

Hi guys,

I'm going to pull our boat out of the water this weekend and need to begin thinking about a support system for our cover.

I purchased a cover from pontoonstuff that is supposed to fit a boat 20 - 22 feet in length.

Our boat is a 20 foot Bass Buggy, (the play pen is probably only about 16 feet), so I'm sure the cover will be large enough.

My question concerns how tall should the support structure be?
I'm thinking about using 2" sch40 pvc pipe and fittings.
I know I want to get as much "tent" as possible but could someone tell me how tall they made their poles?
If so, it would be a big help.

Thanks in advance.

Dave

[MH Hawker]

their several ways , PVC pipe or 2 x 4 is common

[Coldbrew]

This thread may be helpful:


viewtopic.php?t=24072

[ralph]

I went with the Kover Klamp system

http://www.koverklampframes.com/boat_cover_framing.html#

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IMG_0039.JPG (158.79 KiB) Viewed 4774 times

[Likesspace]

Thanks for the ideas, guys.
I think I'll use the two by four idea but adapt it to pvc pipe.
I need to get the boat pulled out, cleaned up and then covered by next weekend.
And of course I've waited until the time changes so I'll be doing some work in the dark.
Oh well....it's simply been too nice here to take the boat off of the lake.

Thanks again

[guy48065]

If you want to use normal 45° fittings on your pvc "rafters" you need the center posts to be the same height above the railings as the distance from them--both at ~4'. Add the 26" rail height (or whatever you have) and you cut your posts to 74".
These dimensions will put your "rafter" length at 68". The width of your tarp will need to be 26+68+68+26 = 188" or nearly 16'. Add a couple feet per side to hang down over the logs if you prefer and you can use a 20' tarp.

This will give you a 12:12 roof that snow won't build up on. Store-bought covers typically are much lower so you have to be careful to sweep them off if you live where there's a lot of snow accumulation.

I used rope for most my rafters and that worked out just fine--saved money and storage space.

[guardian667]

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6_Desjardins_Sports_BIG.jpg (78.4 KiB) Viewed 4680 times

www.navigloo.com

[guy48065]

I doubted my thin eBay cover would survive a northern Michigan winter so I followed my own advice and made a new frame & tarp for winter storage of my new(er) boat.

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[guy48065]

Using the measurements from my earlier post the width is perfect with a 20 x 20 tarp but I could have used a couple more feet in length even though my playpen is only 14 feet in length.

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[Likesspace]

Thanks again to everyone for the replies and advice.
We started building our frame this evening and hopefully will have the cover on by next weekend. There's still a lot of things that I need to do with the boat before I seal it up but thanks to you all I know what I need to do and how to do it.

Hated pulling the boat off of the lake today. One of the hardest things I've had to do for awhile. I never would have guessed how much we've enjoyed being boat owners.

[Bamaman]

You'll first need to install the cover and then see how much slack you need to take out of the top. You'll want to get the top tight to prohibit water pooling.

[Likesspace]

Bamaman, that's exactly what we did.

I was only able to make the support a little over 4 feet tall and still cover down to the logs.
Regardless we have a pretty sharp pitch and with the cover cinched tight, rain should run right off.
As for snow I'll probably have to do some sweeping if it's a wet snow but since the boat is parked at my house that won't be too much of a pain.

I still need to pull the plugs and put a little motor oil in each cylinder and then I'm done for the year.
Can't wait until spring.