Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Ok have a few small tears in my bunk carpet. Pondering going with new carpet or the poly glides.

Pontoon stuff says to glue the carpet to the bunks. I've read other places to not glue. It makes sense to me to glue, then it shouldn't rip as easily.

Who has the poly glides? Do you like them? They are slightly higher than new carpet. I'm surprised how much new quality carpet costs.


Everyone that reads this, please remember DO NOT USE PRESSURE TREATED WOOD FOR BUNK BOARDS!

My old boat trailer had carpet.

New pontoon trailer has poly glides.

I like the poly glides, but have to admit this is only the third year for the toon, so I'm not sure I'm qualified to comment on longevity.

I would say if your wood is in good condition which I kinda doubt after 8 years, simply glue the carpet back in place with a good water proof contact cement. Replace all if any rot. Plastic coated bunks can be really slippery so beware. I used treated wood with UHMW glued and screwed to it.

Link to my replacement job....
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12785&hilit=+bunks

kryptonite wrote:... Everyone that reads this, please remember DO NOT USE PRESSURE TREATED WOOD FOR BUNK BOARDS!

I'm sure that I've read this before but I'm drawing a blank as to why?

teecro wrote:

kryptonite wrote:... Everyone that reads this, please remember DO NOT USE PRESSURE TREATED WOOD FOR BUNK BOARDS!

I'm sure that I've read this before but I'm drawing a blank as to why?

I am curious about this, too. I would think treated would be better.

One of the "C's" in CCA stands for copper. Copper and Aluminum don't play well together. The bunks may last longer but the pontoons may not.

OK. Thanks. For -I don't know how many years- we have available to us an ACQ type (Alkaline Copper Quaternary) for non-ground-contact uses to get away from CCA. I imagine that wouldn't help. We may still have CCA available for 6x6 on up, though.

dbltrblpapa wrote:One of the "C's" in CCA stands for copper. Copper and Aluminum don't play well together. The bunks may last longer but the pontoons may not.

http://www.pontoonstuff.com/collections ... de-plywood

Well then I guess someone should tell these guys to stop selling CCA plywood flooring? Is this a myth or does the C in CCA here not stand for copper?

Interesting... CCA = Copper Chroamted Arsenic. Pretty much only available for piers now....

They got rid of the arsenic in everything else now...

Still a lot of copper in it though.... Apparently the galvanic corrosion we are worried about is only serious in salt water. Freshwater doesn't have the right stuff in it to corrode fast enough...

I think some toon makers put a piece of rubber tape between the supports and the floor......

I believe all manufacturers use it, I've been told, though it has copper in it, it doesn't react the same. wondering if you could just use a barrier and use treated wood on bunks?. Like was said above, may not react violently unless salt waters involved.

Evanyj350 wrote:... I think some toon makers put a piece of rubber tape between the supports and the floor......

What good is an insulating material between the two when the wood deck is screwed to the supports? If the reaction were real it would attack the screws.

teecro wrote:

dbltrblpapa wrote:One of the "C's" in CCA stands for copper. Copper and Aluminum don't play well together. The bunks may last longer but the pontoons may not.

http://www.pontoonstuff.com/collections ... de-plywood

Well then I guess someone should tell these guys to stop selling CCA plywood flooring? Is this a myth or does the C in CCA here not stand for copper?

You have a good point. Although I thought marine grade plywood was not necessarily CCA treated, but that is what they say it is. It doesn't look CCA (or ACQ) treated, though.

I bought the 3" wide x 48" long polymer bunk glides for our trailer last year and I like them a lot. We launch at a shallow ramp and these make it soooo much easier to load the pontoon on and unload off the trailer without having to wet the truck tires. I got them from, http://www.surfixinc.com/surfix_trailer_bunkslides.html

I was also able to safely use pressure treated bunks because the pontoons will never touch the wood!

Don't unhook the winch from the pontoon until your trailer is in the water, lots of horror stories of boats sliding off!

I replaced my carpeted bunks with plastic glide material. I bought mine from Tennessee Trailers but you can also get it from iboats or overtons - eg - http://www.iboats.com/Bunk-Wrap-Kit-Gre ... id.1264418

For ease of installation I bought new pressure treated 2x4's (again, wood does not contact toons), installed the wraps, had my dealer lift my boat off the trailer, and installed the new bunks. Used stainless screws on the wrap and stainless lags to bolt the new bunks onto the trailer.

Used it all last year and am very happy with the wraps. They are not 'super slippery' but I do take precautions to not disconnect bow strap until it is in the water and I tie it down front and back for trailering. Much easier loading and unloading than with carpet.

Any copper will be bad news. NEVER, ever get copper compounds anywhere close to aluminum. They love each other a lot and it will end in a ugly divorce, guaranteed. Does not matter if it is salt water, fresh water... although salt water may accelerate the process.

I've use the cheapest carpet I could find at Home Depot and it works great -IF - it is firmly attached with no slack. I used an electric staple gun to attach it underneath the bunks.

This tool is very useful for stretching the carpet tight to the bunks before stapling:

https://design-restoration-spares.de/pr ... sborne-co/