Winter Outdoor Storage tips

Hi Everyone,

I’m looking for some advice on storing my 1775 Impact next to my garage for the winter. I always stored my old 1997 pro sport next to the garage with no issues, however the new cover seems problematic for winter storage. First, it doesn’t cover the bow and splash pan. I know those two areas are resilient and for good reason, however I’d be more comfortable knowing the whole boat is enclosed.

Then there’s the snow issue. Wondering if anyone has experience with storing these new lund covers outdoors all winter. Any problems, anything to look out for, etc? Seems like it should be okay but I’m thinking I should put some support struts in.

Alternatively I was thinking about shrink-wrapping but it’s more expensive than I thought and would like to avoid if possible.

Thanks in advance for any tips or tricks!

If the boat is worth more than the truck,i t goes in the garage. My newer truck sits outside, but the tournament 17.5 sit in garage. My 2 cents.

The factory cover is basically just a dust cover and won’t hold up to winter storage.

The enemy is snow and then water/ice pooling on the cover. The key is to have a heavy duty tarp with enough height and pitch to let snow slide all the way over the rail without pooling. The tarp needs to be supported the full length of the boat so no sagging can occur. Bow rips and those little mushroom things that sit in the seat sockets are absolutely worthless.

I have a solution the works really well and has done so for about 20 years. I built what I can only describe as a 17-foot long sawhorse. This “sawhorse” forms a ridge down the length of the entire boat from bow to stern and the peak of that ridge is a full 4.5 feet above the floor of the boat. The front legs of the sawhorse sit on the casting deck, rear legs sit in the well by the outboard. The “back” of the sawhorse is a 2×4 stood on edge for strength.

Then I just use a heavy duty tarp stretched over the sawhorse. There is enough pitch and the tarp is slippery so snow just slides right off and over the sides of the boat. Works perfect. I’ve sized my tarp so the whole boat is under the tarp and the tarp extends all the way down the sides of the boat so no paint is exposed.

The key is to get the pitch right so no pooling can occur. Guys always WAY underestimate how high the peak needs to be to get it right, on my little lund I needed to be over 4 feet above the floor to have enough pitch for snow and water to slide over the rail.

Heavy silver tarps last about 3 storage seasons. The whole solution is way cheaper than shrink wrap and reusable. Mice have never been an issue, in fact storing a boat in a garage is far worse for mice because the mice are trying to get into nice warm spaces, they don’t want to be out in the cold. I would put a couple of small containers of moth balls in and some dryer sheets and call it good.

In an ideal world, we’d all have 120 by 500 foot heated and air conditioned pole sheds so our boats adn all the other toys would never, ever be outside or get wet. Life is hard on boats here in the tunrda.

Grouse

grouse – what brand of tarp do you use? the heavy duty silver ones from menards?

also, in comparison to the beam, how much extra width of tarp do you buy? For example, I have a boat with a 68″ beam (~5.6 ft)… I was thinking of getting a tarp at least 12 ft wide.

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

also, in comparison to the beam, how much extra width of tarp do you buy? For example, I have a boat with a 68″ beam (~5.6 ft)… I was thinking of getting a tarp at least 12 ft wide.

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

I am not sure where you are but you can find storage in a farmer’s pull barn for less than a good trap.
The PVC tarps are the ones I would go with.

Thanks for all the input! I figured the lund cover wouldn’t cut it for storage and now I know.

I recently inherited a 10ft x 20ft heavy duty outdoor shelter. I am going to try and assemble that over the covered boat for winter and see it it fits. I really like that sawhorse idea, so might go that route if the boat doesn’t fit under this shelter.

The boat is indeed worth more than the truck (and the SUV) but the garage space is needed for projects in the winter so outside it goes, to the boat slab.

Thanks again

Evan Pheneger wrote:

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

Yes, I took algebra too! I was hoping for a little more input as far as what he’s found ideal for the extra length hanging over the gunnel.

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

grouse – what brand of tarp do you use? the heavy duty silver ones from menards?

also, in comparison to the beam, how much extra width of tarp do you buy? For example, I have a boat with a 68″ beam (~5.6 ft)… I was thinking of getting a tarp at least 12 ft wide.

I think I got the last one from Fleet Farm. Also, you have to look at the FINISHED size of the tarp to size correctly.

What I did originally, was buy the tarp the right length and then I built the “sawhorse” high enough so the sides of the tarp just extended to about 6 inches short of the trailer on both sides. So basically you build the sawhorse to fit the tarp, don’t try to buy a tarp to fit the sawhorse.

I have to measure my tarp every time I replace it because I can never remember the finished size.

Grouse

I have done the same as grouse with a few minor exceptions. I created a thing that looks like a guy wire tent out ropes and 2″ x 2″s. It has 5 legs from front to back the legs are about 5′ long. The ridge is a 2×2 and has a 2×2 splice in the center for length. The legs are connected to the ridge by a 1/2″ dowel. The front, back, and middle legs have a triangle shaped fillers surface screwed to the side of the ridge to add some forward and backwards strength. Starting from the front to the back I drilled six, 1/2″ hole through the ridge. Threaded a guy rope through the hole in the ridge and wrapped the rope around the ridge once, The guy ropes then wrap around the gunnels of the boat and tie to the trailer. The guy ropes provide lateral support along the entire length of the boat and keep the tarp from sagging. I use a cheap camo harbor freight tarp (19′ x 29′ – about $40). Using an assortment of bungee cord to fasten the tarp to the trailer covering the boat entirely. The bungee’s keep tension on the tarp and keep it from sagging.

It takes me about a hour to assemble it and disassemble the boat tent. I have one of these tent for my 16′ Lund and my Pontoon boat. The pontoon legs are a little taller.

The cheap tarp lasts 3 winters before the sun degrades the fabric and it starts to fail.

Last night I threw together the 2×4 A-frame structure for the tarp to sit on for winter storage. Since I had most of the lumber laying around, it only cost me about $10. Now I just need to find the correct sized tarp to finish the job. I took my measurements and I need something that’s a minimum of 10 ft wide and 22 ft long. Not ideal measurements for standard tarp sizes. Hopefully I can find something reasonable and not insanely over sized.

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This was my solution , got tired of all the framing and tarps.. back it under and leave it all open.

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DonG wrote:

This was my solution , got tired of all the framing and tarps.. back it under and leave it all open.

Yep, that’s the route I’m going to go, but I will have the lund cover on it to keep away prying eyes when I’m not home. I just need to get some side walls for my shelter and it’ll be off to the races.

Thanks!