storage options

[bigwalleye1]

Looking for inputs on the topic of boat storage. Got an 1800 Lund Pro-V, single console

Losing my indoor storage spot, and I'm looking for other indoor alternatives. Local to me it's running $200/mo.

Anyone in the northern climes ever shrink wrap something with no windshield and store it outside? How do you avoid a snow load on something like this, and get the shrink wrap sloped enough to allow runoff? }Traveling cover on or off?

How about one of those "garage in a box" things, like from Shelter Logic (brand)? a 20 ft long x 10 wide runs about $5-700, but again, how do you avoid snow load? How long do these actually last?

https://www.garageappeal.com/shelter...0-x-20-x-8-ft/ or https://www.garageappeal.com/shelter...rtable-garage/

[REW]

Big,
My youngest son owns a big river boat.
A lot of the folks at the Marina pay the Marina folks about $700-$1500 per year to heat shrink their rigs. For a really nice boat - it can make some sense.

However, my son likes to save money when he can.

As a result - he built a frame made from 2x6s and 2x4s that sit on the top section of his boat.

Then, he pulls a 60 foot tarp over the rig. He always checks the canvas after every major snow storm to be sure that nothing has failed in his winter cabin.

For your boat. just take some 2x4s and create 2 or 3 v shaped tripods to fit on the inside of your boat extending up 3-5 feet. Then, run a 2x6 along the length of the boat in the slots that you form when you construct your tripods.

Finally, pull a tarp over the structure and have it big enough so that the tarp covers not only the entire boat top, but also down the sides of the boat as well.

It will cost $200 or so to create the structure and for the tarp.

If you have a factory cover - cover the boat with the factory cover first, and then use the top over the structure to cover the rest of the boat.

If you use common sense when you construct your tripods, you will be able to break down the supports into the 2 or 3 tripods and the one long board for the peak of your canvas cover.

Another way to construct your canvas frame is to use pvc tubing. Use 2 inch tubing, and you can just put the tubing together like a lego puzzle. Also easy to store.

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You tube videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0ARCXJgP5U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHR2CFbIQQ4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUtbgRnAdd8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78kjYshVMQQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSnJl88h45M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBPE3ism9xo

[Misdirection]

I purchased my own shrink-wrap gun and materials from Dr Shrink.

You build a ridgeline or place 2x4's vertically with tupperware bowls on them (there are a ton of options). And then cover and shrink your boat. Our boats were stored on the south side of Lake Erie where 2' of snow isnt uncommon.

We also have a guy who uses electrical conduit to make half circle's, kinda like slats under your boat canvas and then shrink-wrap on top.

Doing it yourself is the most economical way in the long run.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

[Sportdog]

Originally Posted by bigwalleye1

Losing my indoor storage spot, and I'm looking for other indoor alternatives. Local to me it's running $200/mo.
https://www.garageappeal.com/shelter...0-x-20-x-8-ft/ or https://www.garageappeal.com/shelter...rtable-garage/

Just curious as to what you got for $200/month. Access to electric? Heated?
I pay $110/month for a 10’x30’ storage unit, unheated, and no electric access. I store a bit more than my boat and the only drawback is when I get back to Michigan where it is stored my batteries and tires are low.

[dvl2700]

I keep mine under a 10 X 20 canopy. Sits outside until Christmas, then goes into my brother in laws summer home garage for free. That said, we sometimes get snow and all I do is go outside with a large push broom and bounce the snow off the silver tarp. The tarp has lasted for the last three years. The actual boat cover also keeps any blowing snow out of the boat. I think it is a reasonable alternative to keep the sun, rain, snow off the boat while it is parked in the back/side yard. BTW, southwest michigan with some lake effect snow.

[Carnhzkr]

I'm on boat #2 and have always stored mine outside next to my garage. My first boat was a 1725 tiller and I made a rafter system with 2x4s that met a cross beam which spanned the length of the boat, then stretched a tarp over which I bungied to the trailer. Sorry, I don't have any pictures. It actually worked quite well. I always checked after a snow and used a rake or push broom to clear snow build up.

My current boat is a walk-thru windshield. I bought it mid-winter and didn't have much time to engineer a home-made solution so I bought a Navigloo, which is more or less the same thing, but a pre-fab version using plastic adjustable framing. I think I paid around $550ish. It works well, with very little snow build up, but it looks like I have a sailboat parked next to my garage. Google search Navigloo to see if it will fit your bill.

[Jack G]

REW has the right idea. I store a jon boat outside with carpeted wood floor, raised platforms front and rear with a Ranger seat mounted on each platform and a bow mount trolling motor. Its nothing fancy and I more or less clobber together a gable roof that sits on the gunnels. I store the boat with the bow higher than the stern to accommodate drainage. I use two plastic tarps to cover this gable roof, enough excess to allow the tarp edges to over hang the sides and ends. I pad any spots that might put pressure on the tarp. I bungee the tarp down as tight as I can make it. Only using one tarp makes it difficult to cover the entire "roof" tautly. Two tarps, over lapping so that drainage from one tarp will not run under the second tarp, works nicely.

The "roof" is made of 2 X 4s only, gaps between the rafters.

I check the rig, especially when we get freezing rain and/or snow. I use a push broom to remove any snow that might cling to the tarps. I do not get aggressive with ice stuck to the tarp. The ice can pull fibers from the tarps if you have to pull it off the tarp.

This is just what I do and it works and is inexpensive.

Jack

My set up costs less than $100 and can be reused every winter, except I always use new tarps.

I could get a carpenter to build a nice looking "roof" but mine works just fine. Nothing gets inside the boat.

[Ohio fisherman]

For my hunting boat with blind and other stuff that i wanted protected, I built rafters notched for the gunwales plus overhang and a center notched board that held them in place. A few screws locked everything together. Then the silver tarp held down securely. Easy on and off. Fishing boat lives inside a pole building with concrete and electricity. Remember to put in some mouse bars. Looking at building a 40x60 pole building when lumber prices go down.

[RoosterSlayer]

I have the rounded ShelterLogic carport for my Voyageur 175. At 17'10" long it doesn't all fit in the 20 foot length; the main pushes out the back panel and the swing hitch pushes out the front panel (both leading to premature wear and failure of the end pieces). Also, at 87" beam, it just barely fits width-wise. With respect to quality, it's windy where I live and the main covering lasted about one year before wear holes started allowing drips. I bought a heavy grade tarp and strung over the existing cover to get more mileage out of it and avoid the cost of a replacement cover. The cost you mention seems high; this is from my purchase from WalMart in 2019: Shelterlogic AutoShelter 10' x 20' x 8' RoundTop Instant Garage- Sandstone, $385.60. For me in my temporary location, it was worth the $400, other than the above-mentioned tightness for an 18 foot boat and the fact that I'll have to drape a tarp over it occasionally (cheap one annually or heavy duty every several years.)

[sportfish1]

I have been shrink wrapping mine for a number of years. About $200 or so, works great. I'm building a lean to off of my garage no more shrink wrapping will be needed, I hope.