A Frame For Grady White 180

[NHAngler]

Inexpensive yet effective reusable frame for your Grady White 180 winter cover. I just wanted to share how I did this with PVC. Pitch on it is steep enough that the snow has been just rolling off. We have gotten a few snow storms now with almost 2 feet of snow and this cover is holding up very well.

1 Inch PVC scheduled 40 conduit with T connectors ripped at the top (so they snap over the braces where they connect). Duck tape to keep the ridge brace and side braces in tact/connected. Zip ties at every intersect. 2x3 at aft. 16x24 foot cover with this design has no creases or folds to worry about.

If anyone has any questions or would like more details, let me know.

 

[DennisG01]

That's a very nice looking structure you built there and I'm sure it will go up quickly next year. If I may, though, can I offer a word of caution? This comes from experience with PVC piping in the cold (and I'm sure there is info online to back this up). Sch 40 is really not meant for anything structurally supportive, especially in the cold weather. It get's brittle - to the point that it literally shatters. Sch 80 (or wood) would be a better option for this. Now, you've built the pitch high enough that you may never get a significant snow load on it, but I would hate to have to redo this while it's snowing and 15* outside in the dead of winter. Again, I don't mean to sound like a pessimist - just saying I've "been there, done that" and have learned from it.

 

[NHAngler]

Thanks Dennis. Ya, I do know that pipe is not too strong and not intended for this. My expectation is that the pitch will route the snow off of it and so far it has done well. My small boat on the right is a different story. I used 1x3 for that and had to clean the snow off it each time. Maybe next year I might need to give the cover a wipe of armor all or something to keep the snow rolling off. Or just buy a new tarp.

My last boat I had a Shelter Logic portable garage. I did not like it. It was constantly wet in there from the rising moisture from underneath and I would have to bump the snow off of it.

A "down the road" project is to build a barn though. Always wanted a barn.

 

[onoahimahi]

It looks like a nice layout that will be easy to set up again next winter. A 25-ft Wellcraft walkaround I bought a while back came with a PVC frame that was so complicated it took about a dozen photos to put the thing together. It seemed like every piece of pipe was a different length. It held up fine to the snow but was so complicated I scrapped it after the first winter. Your design is a lot cleaner and simpler than that one was.

 

[DennisG01]

I agree that the extreme steepness of the structure should make it OK. I would only suggest that if you ever make another structure, spend a few more bucks on the Sch 80 - it'd be good piece of mind. But, aside from that, very nice! If you find you're getting moisture in there (which is very likely), there are very inexpensive vents you can install right through the cover w/o taking it down. A small slit is made, the vent is slid in and then shrink tape can be used to fasten it in place. Check them out at a place like bigshrink dot com. They're usually only a couple bucks each. 2 or 3 vents will be plenty. One last suggestion - reach in there and double or triple up the zip ties in key areas - better safe than sorry.

 

[JeffN]

Your cover looks very nice, it should work well. I also use a PVC frame with my winter cover but my arrangement is a bit different due to cabin and radar arch on my boat. I used 1 1/2' PVC on mine and I have four conduits running from the bow rail over the radar arch and then angle down and rest on the swim deck. I have used this setup for years. Yours will shed snow better than mine but with the amount of snow we get it has been fine. My enemy is wind, the cover has only come off once when we had a steady 90 MPH wind with gusts over 100. The bow was facing the wind and the lines in the bow parted and the cover just lifted off front to back, it remained tied in the stern so the cover just stretched out behind the boat. I also used schedule 40 as I use it for work and that is what I normally have around. It will get brittle in the cold but I have only seen it break when struck by a hammer. I have not had any breakage on my frame and your cover will hold less snow than mine. Never say never but for me so far so good.

Lots less expensive than shrink wrap and I get four years or so out of a tarp. In addition the year I had it wrapped I had mold issues and I used the vents. My area is very damp though. In the bow I don't close the tarp tight and in the stern there is about 8" of space between the tarp and the transom for good air circulation.

 

[NHAngler]

Past couple of months has been painfully cold and dry event though we have gotten snow. Single digits at night. This weekend was quite humid though with a bit of warmer weather.

What you don't see in the pics is I have a small fan up in the bow and reach in and plug it in on the extra humid days like today. I have an idea to create a fan inside that is powered by the wind from outside. Really just another pc of pipe that reaches inside and extends outside with a small lightweight fan on each end. Kind of like a reversible windmill. The front and back are open a little; enough to get air in and out.

 

[JeffN]

Sounds like quite the set up angler.

 

[DennisG01]

I know there are plenty of people that use PVC with no ill effects, and I certainly hope you are in that category. But the brittleness is the exact problem - if a certain stress is put on the pipes such that it tweaks/bends/compresses it, it can break pretty easily (I've seen it happen). As far as a hammer goes - never tried that one, but when I was about 18 years old I took a hockey net that I had made out of PVC, over the summer, with me to a frozen pond. The FIRST shot I took hit the right upright and shattered into a bunch of little pieces. I just stood there - in the middle of the pond on my skates, not knowing what to do and looking around with what, I'm sure, was a rather dumbfounded look on my face.

Interesting thing... We have a screened-in porch off the back of our house. It's brick wall to about 3', then screens the rest of the way up. So, basically, 3 walls of screens with the 4th wall being the main house. We've had that weird, wet, warm weather over the last couple of days, too. To my surprise, the entire ceiling over the porch had huge droplets of water all over it. I never would of expected to see that, given all the easy air circulation.

 

[JeffN]

Oh don't get me wrong PVC can surely break in the cold. We break it apart all the time at work, very easy with a hammer in cold weather. The sun will also degrade it making it more brittle, next season I will replace all of mine but I will use PVC again. Looking at NHanglers application I would run it. Nicely done - 18' boat with nine braces, not much span so plenty of support there IMO. He has fastened it down with bungees to the trailer that will absorb wind load and stress keeping the extra load off the PVC. The pitch of his "roof" will make it hard for even wet snow to cling. I'm thinking that if he can keep people with hammers and ice hockey equipment out of the inside of his boat he is good to go. An ice storm might be an issue but I feel most of us with a cover with any type of support material can be at risk with enough ice. That is where NHanglers future barn would be nice. We wired a boat barn last year for a guy with a 35 down east type boat, talk about a sweet setup. If NH anglers cover does fail it is a boat, they is made to be out in the weather just go out and observe what failed and how and correct it when you rebuild. As a side note in my neighborhood I can not fasten to the grommets in the tarp as they rip out in the wind. I put a tennis of golf ball under (on the inside) the tarp, wad it up and tie my line around the base of the bulge on the outside of the tarp. Never had one fail.

Dennis in regard to your moisture on the ceiling thing, again IMO, that is just a result of condensation. Cold weather results in a cold ceiling weather changes to warm and more moist = condensation. Go under a covered boat stored outside in the same weather it will be wet. Maybe a boat in a bubble (they make them for cars and motorcycles) won't get wet but I am not going to spend the money to find out. My plan is to have circulation to even out the temp and get rid of the moisture. I have motorcycles and store them in an non climate controlled garage I cover them under a cotton bike cover that will breathe. If I check it in the conditions you mentioned the bikes are soaked - no way to avoid it. A couple of days later they are dry. Store the same bike under a water proof cover in the same garage and in the spring you will not be happy. It stays soaked for quite a while as the water can not pass through the cover. The water will not pass through my tarp but the ventilation will get rid of the excess moisture in time.

NHangler - did you get ice in your area this weekend? How did you make out? I know they had a lot of ice up north but don't know how far up you are.

 

[JeffN]

What you don't see in the pics is I have a small fan up in the bow and reach in and plug it in on the extra humid days like today. I have an idea to create a fan inside that is powered by the wind from outside. Really just another pc of pipe that reaches inside and extends outside with a small lightweight fan on each end. Kind of like a reversible windmill. The front and back are open a little; enough to get air in and out.

I you can keep the fan dry and out of water you might be able to rig up a humidistat that would turn at a preset humidity. We have enough wind here usually to air the interior out without a fan. I put a window fan secured with bungee cords in mine one time when it had been very cold and then got warmer and really wet but no wind. Dried it right out as soon as the weather changed. My set up is similar to yours as I can get inside and stand under the cover to work on the boat. Once the temps get into the 40s on a sunny day it gets quite hot in there. I have used the fan for cooling too when I am in there doing my winter projects.

 

[JeffN]

Hey angler - looking for an update. I figure you have had a pretty good ice storm and now the snow last night since previous posts. How did she hold up? I'm thinking fine but was curious. I finally got mine covered and so far in this storm it looks good. Right now the wind is gusting over 50 but she is riding fine.

 

[NHAngler]

Hey angler - looking for an update. I figure you have had a pretty good ice storm and now the snow last night since previous posts. How did she hold up? I'm thinking fine but was curious. I finally got mine covered and so far in this storm it looks good. Right now the wind is gusting over 50 but she is riding fine.

Still holding up. Held snow for the first time with one of those past storms but wind knocked it down before I had to. So far so good. I also climbed up inside the other day to inspect for mice. My little enemies of the forest. Moth ball trick still working. No mice.

Days are getting longer and I'm starting to think about the to do list for getting the boat ready. Still have 2-3 months but anxious.

 

[DennisG01]

I'm glad to hear it's holding up for you, NH. I hope that I was clear enough up above that I do indeed hope it all works fine you. By no means am I hoping it collapses just to prove a point - far from it. My point is just that, in the future, the use of Sch 80 is a MUCH better choice - a few more bucks, but it is meant to be in the cold and does not get brittle like Sch 40 does. Remember, sometimes it's not about "it's worked fine so far" or "other people use it". I do know of people who used Sch 40 and had it collapse. However, your setup is built better than theirs.