Winter cover solutions

[WaltF]

Hey Gang,

Whats your toon cover solution for the winter?

Ive mastered my poles now and they work great for rain, but the slope is only steep enough for rain. I know when i get hammered with 3 feet of snow it taint gonna work.
Im thinking of running a rope length wise about 10 foot above the toon, tied to 2 trees and draping a tarp over that. That way the steepness of the angle would be high enough to shed the snow.

What do you all do and I want Pics!

[cdub]

Howdy WaltF. I have one of the full covers that snap onto the rails and has 5 adjustable poles to lift it up along the centerline. It is kept outside on the driveway. We get lots of snow. My only recourse is to sweep off the snow. Every day if that is what it takes. Sorry, I have no pics of me on a ladder, freezing my butt off, trying to stay ahead of the snowfall. It's a small price to pay for all the enjoyment we get out of the toon. Take care,Craig

[REPETE]

I get mine skrink wrapped every winter. They make a PVC A Frame to support the skrink wrap. I used to have an A Frame set up like this made of wood when I used to just tarp my old toon...but PVC works better I think. If you make the A Frame at a sharp enough angle you don't have to worry about snow...and I don't!

I always remove the bimini.

[badmoonrising]

I had this installed last year, $3500 installed. Lakerunner has a similar setup. I have since taken down the fabric weather guard (on the left side) it sucked and looked like hell. It WAS free though.

I'll probably enclose the sides at some point.

[Beamer]

cdub, I also have the mooring cover with adjustable poles with vents in the top, but I would not want that for a winter with snow on it.
I made two saw horses that run the complete length inside the boat and put a grey tarp on it. The Grey one being the heaviest mil rating.
Used a 12 x 32 tarp. Used I believe 10" bungies along the side and since the tarp was quite long I was able to cover the motor and wrap the tarp right underneath front & back attached with bungies underneath.
We've had about 6" of snow so far and it looks good.
For a little extra support I ran some rope from the gunnels over the saw horses under the tarp.

[cdub]

Beamer, great idea. I have been putting off a tarp cover in hopes of getting a setup like BMR's. With the economy like it is, maybe I should rethink that. Take care, Craig

[lakerunner]

Before I got new barn in winter I removed my Bimini frame and stored it under my shed roof. I made these uprights to replace aluminum poles.
I took a gallon coffee can, 3/4" PVC and 1/2" PVC I drilled hole in 3/4" and ran an old bolt through then filled can with concrete. The 1/2" fits perfectly in 3/4'. On top I caped it and added a 2"PVC cap over that. I would hand them to Betty and she raised the 1/2 up till firm under cover and marked it and I drilled and bolted it together.




For our tanning pad I made a A frame to keep water from pooling on it.



Cover was nice and tight


With Bimini frame off I took a 30X20 PVC tarp and covered the cover. I tied it down nice and tight so wind couldn't get under it and rip it off. This method shed snow just fine when we had snow.
The 20' width was perfect to fit just below rub rails on outside of floor. Air was still able to circulate and when we uncovered it had no mold or mildew all winter.

[Hayden]

No photos but I made upright posts from 1 1/2" PVC glued into a toliet flange as a base, tee fittings on top so I have a solid ridge of 1 1/2" PVC pipe. I tie rope off the ridge about 5 places along the ridge on each side. This gives support to the cover. I have a mooring cover over that. Instead of using bungi cords I use ratchet straps. Bungi gives, ratchet straps hold tight. I use clips I bought a WalMart to clip on the cover and hook the ratchet strap to it. The other end of the strap is wrapped around the trailer frame. I use 5 ratchet straps on each side on a 20 ft toon. As winter approaches I will throw a tarp over all of the as extra protection against the snow. Works for me!

I found an older image.

[dockholiday]

Made up something like Hayden on my old toon, for the generic cover, I had then. The PVC deformed under the heat, can't remember the span between the tee's but think it was about 6 ft. The old cover was real heavy and it probably got 110 degrees under there. Worked real well at first. Probably should have had less span distance between the tees, Even thought of filling the inch and half with concrete but never did.
doc

[Beamer]

Mine looks similar with the ropes for extra support.
Also at each end where I tucked it underneath the bow and stern, it's a little bit open so I'm hoping that will give enough fresh air flow to prevent any moistiure build up and prevent mold.
I also placed a bunch of Bounce sheets inside to help prevent the criters from coming in.
We find these work great in our trailer.

[wish2fish]

My cover is similar to Haydens except I used PVC pipes instead of ropes for the rafters. The main beam pipe is approximately 54 inches off the floor of the toon. I got the tarp from a local billboard sign company. Total cost was around $140. Have used it for 2 winters so far and no problem. I don't know if this would hold up to your snow load though!

[WaltF]

Awesome ideas so far!!!
Hasnt dumped out here yet, but it will

[Beamer]

Looks good, don't see why it wouldn't stand up to a snow load.

[REPETE]

Howdy Beams!

[Beamer]

Hey Pete, how ya doin?