PVC Boat Cover Frame?

[ruidh]

I'm thinking about making a frame for a cover out of shedule 40 PVC pipe instead of springing for another shrinkwrap job. I'm seeing various ways of pending PVC and I think I can put a 1 foot radius 45 degree bend (an obtuse angle of 135 degrees) in a bunch of pieces, cut them to various sizes and frame it out on my ODay 23.

Thoughts?

 

[peterbud]

I'm thinking about making a frame for a cover out of shedule 40 PVC pipe instead of springing for another shrinkwrap job. I'm seeing various ways of pending PVC and I think I can put a 1 foot radius 45 degree bend (an obtuse angle of 135 degrees) in a bunch of pieces, cut them to various sizes and frame it out on my ODay 23.

Thoughts?

I made a frame out of PVC pipe for a Catalina Capri 26 a few years ago with no real issues where i needed to change directions I used plumbing fittings. Make sure you put in a cross piece running the lenght of the boat about half way down the frame it will give you some strenght. What are you using for your ridge pole?

 

[alexco38]

You'll get better results with galvanized electrical conduit. They can be bend with a proper 3/4 pipe bender. It's 7/8 OD with 3/4 ID.

At the stanchion you'll need 6 inches or more clearance to prevent wind bending the frame. You can't get that precision with PVC tubes. They only comes with 45 or 90 degrees elbow. Besides, it is a pain to haul and store PVC tubes.

 

[Prime Time]

Simple Frame

When I had a Mirage 27, I made a simple frame using 3 saw horses with varying leg lengths to make them equal height above the deck (I made it so I could stand in the cockpit. I placed them on the bow, over cabin and in cockpit lengthwise. I used a series of 1 x 4s screwed together (lap joints) for the ridge pole, taping them to the saw horses. I then built a simple A frame for the bow and stern. I reused the frame every yr. Blue or Brown poly tarp over the frame. Stanchions removed so no need for vertical supports along the toe rails. Used duct tape to go from toe rail to ridge pole every 6 feet. Works with or without mast up.

Ended up with great pitch. Worked very well for many yrs.

 

[Alan]

I've been using 1" PVC for years. It's quick, cheap and easy to work with. The 1" allows for easy bending and is surprisingly strong. The boom and spinnaker poles make excellent ridge poles. Here's a pic from the inside.

 

[ruidh]

Now, that's a lot bigger than I was thinking. I was thinking of making a bunch of frames and lashing them to a wooden ridgepole so that I could collapse the whole thing for storage. I was also thinking of putting them much closer together than that -- maybe 12 to 16" apart.

 

[Ralph18422]

Just use your mast

Make two saw horse type frames to hold your mast horizontally on the boat. Take off your lifelines, drape the shrinkwarp over the mast and down the sides of your boat, poke the stanchions through, tuck the bottom of the wrap under the belly line and shrink up the boat. Worked for me 5 years running now. No frames to make, assemble and store. I still have room to move around on deck.
Cost is about $100 per year in plastic.

 

[garyc]

Re: Just use your mast

I second Ralph's plan I idid it that way for ten years at Lake George with the sane boat.

 

[hman]

I've been using PVC on my 23 for years now. Instead of bending the pipe, I put elbows on and ran sections down each rail using ties to hold them there, with 4ways over the mast at each spot with sections running the length of the boat. I throw a tarp over it and bungee it all down. It stands up well to the rain and snow in the winter....

 

[dscribner]

I use PVC on my Lancer 25. I built a "wall" that is about 3" higher than the stantions. A continuous horizontal pipe with verticals every 24" or so. The verticals stand on the deck and are tied to the toe rail. Then I take different lengths of PVC and bend them over the mast (laying down). At each end of the cross members is a tee with 45% of the "head" removed on a band saw so it will clip over the horizontal of the wall. A couple of turns with the handyman's secret weapon and I'm good. Then, I have a tailored cover that I made out of the compulsory blue tarp. It took me a few hours of layout time and another couple do sewing, but it looks much better than just a blue tarp. To attach it, I used bungee cord. When a fair sized storm comes, say 12" plus, I need to get inside and pus the snow off, but other than that, she does great all winter. Better than me, being on the hard for months at a time.

 

[tommays]

If you use the mast you need at least 3 points of support to stop it form bending on that one bad day and in general your frame needs to live through the worst day of winter when you cant get outside overnight while 24" of snow falls and it blows 67 MPH

 

[ruidh]

Yeah, I pay my boatyard to store my mast in their shed. It's not available for a ridgepole. 2x4s with several supports looks like it's going to be the thing.

 

[ruidh]

Here's the current plan. I'll be making 11 trusses out of 1" Schedule 40 PVC and a bunch of connectors from littlegreenhouses.com Each truss will have a 90 degree angle at the top, 45 degree bends to vertical members and a horizontal run between the two legs tying them together for strength. As the boat narrows towards the bow, the trusses get narrower and the vertical members taller, but the ridge stays at the same height.

Each truss will be connected to the one forward and back at the top and two bottom legs by 2' lengths of PVC not glued in and then lashed together. The idea is that, come spring, I'll be able to disassemble the trusses from one another and stack them for storage. A 20'x30' tarp goes over the whole thing and gets lashed underneath the boat.

Wish me luck this weekend. For the amount I spent last year to shrinkwrap, I'll have a reusable system. It's probably way over engineered.

 

[Ducati]

PVC looks to be too much work and more expensive.

I take wood 8' lengths of 2x3's and drill screw them in a long line so as to make a ridge pole. Then stand them up with 4 equally divided posts (held with screws). That cost me $25.00. We buy the shrink-wrap from a local supplier and that cost us $120.00 for my 36' boat. Some misc. expenses (tape + strapping = $15.00) we do our boats for around $160.00.

If you want to get really cheap, carefully take it off in the spring and reuse it + the wood for the next couple of years.

 

[redhead78]

Can u apply the shrink wrap with a small heat gun ? red

 

[PaulK]

We had a pvc frame made up of pieces with elbows like you're envisaging. It lasted us about two years. The weight of snow bends the tubes, and they can't be straightened afterwards. Sunlight and cold make the pvc more and more brittle over time so the pieces crack - even the heavy schedule stuff. We now use galvanized conduit, as Alexco suggests. The bends are easy to do with a pipe bender, and you can put in connector joints that have screw fittings, so they can be disassembled to fit in your car. Over the conduit we tape 1x4 wooden stringers, fore & aft, to support our heavy canvas tarps. We tie everything down with old spinnaker sheets. This setup has lasted us about five years so far. Just took the pieces down to the boat yesterday. After three years, we more than broke even compared to shrink-wrapping, and the shrink-wrapping costs keep increasing.

 

[RichBone]

Here's my frame

I made it as high as I did for standing headroom so I could comfortably work on it in the off season. On mild sunny winter days in the 40s temps inside easily reach 70s. I'm currently waiting for the shrink wrap for its 3rd winter.

Rich

 

[Richard Bryer]

I have used a wood A frame type frame that I made from 1x3 for the past 7 years. Each year I seem to end up making a slight adjustment but by and large it is the same wood. I numbered the pieces and re- assemble them each year. I fasten the ends to the toe rail with electrical ties and the ridgepole the same way . I use a 20X30 heavy duty tarp and a 20X15. The first large one lasted 5 years and I will replace the small one this year for the first time I figure my all in costs ( including duct tape to patch each year) to be about 30$ per year

 

[Cool Beans]

Interesting solutions. . .some of you mentioned using the mast as the ridge? I'm assuming you take your masts down every year? Other than for shrink wrapping, is there any benefit to removing it every year?

Thanks, and sorry for hijacking :Liar:

 

[ruidh]

Finished my cover. Probably way overengineered. 1" Schedule 40 PVC with connectors from ACF Greenhouses


Winter Frame by ruidh, on Flickr


Blue Tarp by ruidh, on Flickr


Tucked in for the Winter by ruidh, on Flickr