Screwing Down the Otter Fabric

hey guys. I just put together my new (2014 older model) Otter Cottage. Read lots of posts on assembly and have to agree it was a pain but it came together nicely in the end. Question for you guys – do you screw in your fabric as the directions say you can do as an option or do you rely on the plastic sleeves to hold the canvas to the sled? For now I have decided not to screw it in as I prefer not to put holes in the canvas but if the plastic sleeve clamps don’t do the job holding it to the sled I guess ill have to. BTW I will only be pulling this by hand unless I get an ATV in the next few years

I think that’s a good route. You can always screw it down later if you prefer, but I never had an issue with the older trim popping off provided it was properly secured in the first place.

Joel

I ran a few screws in the spots where the plastic has to bend to fit the tub mainly near the corners. I put the screws in the plastic and not the fabric.

icenutz wrote:

I ran a few screws in the spots where the plastic has to bend to fit the tub mainly near the corners. I put the screws in the plastic and not the fabric.

How did you get the screws in without going thru the fabric? Isn’t the fabric trapped between the plastic trim and the tub? Therefore any screw in the plastic will penetrate the fabric before/as it penetrates the tub?

Dave – New for 2015, the fabric is free floating and not attached to the trim lock. This allows you to adjust how much slack in the fabric you want before screwing it down. Yes, you have to screw through the trim-lock, then thru the fabric to lock it down to the sled, but the holes are tiny and the effect is negligible.

Joel

Instead of using screws, I drilled small holes through the trim and lip on the sled. I put a plastic cable tie through the drilled holes, cinch tight and trim off the excess. Allows me to easily remove the canvas at the end of the season for storage.

DPJ wrote:

Instead of using screws, I drilled small holes through the trim and lip on the sled. I put a plastic cable tie through the drilled holes, cinch tight and trim off the excess. Allows me to easily remove the canvas at the end of the season for storage.

you mean that you drilled small holes in the sled lip and the canvas and stringed it together kind of like a shoelace? Do you have pictures of that?

I went through that with my clam and eventually screwed it. I put screws in right away on my otter.
I have no need to pull the canvas or I would do something like mentioned above. Good idea.

I guess the other factor in all this too is that I intend to pull my canvas off at the end of the season and store it in a plastic bin to preserve it. it wouldn’t impossible to do that with screws in it but over the years, with all that removing and restoring of the canvas, those screw holes might expand or tear…

I like the Tie-wrap idea, next fall I will use tie-wraps when I put it back on.

Not really a shoe lace. I will take a picture of what I did when I get a chance.

I didn’t use any of the screws to secure the cover to the sled with no issues, last years model, held up in the SD winds perfectly. I removed the cover for the off season and stored it in a tote in the rafters of the garage so no problems with critters.

I screw and unscrew the fabric every Fall and Spring. The holes are tiny and you often hit the same one when you line up the plastic trim. Beats mouse damage.