Important or not? Shrink wrapping

[Mason78]

I drove by a local boat dealer today, and as usual I took a quick look at the assortment of used boats for sale on the lot.
I noticed that none of the boats were shrink wrapped. They all had canvas that was buried under several inches of Ohio snow and ice.

I remembered a few years back I was picking my boat up from the same place about late November and the service manager tried to talk me into letting them shrink wrap it for the winter. He said that shrink wrapping is critical to protecting the boat over the winter. I store my boat indoors so I declined his offer.

So either shrink wrapping is not that important and the guy was just trying to sell his service, or the dealer does not care about taking care of these used boats as they hope to be selling them come spring.

I just wanted some opinions on this.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Important or not? Shrink wrapping

Shrinkwrapping provides good protection over the winter. Clearly some inconsistency in what the dealer says versus does. Just leaving the canvas up is asking for trouble . . . There will be a whole bunch of ripped canvas come spring time.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Important or not? Shrink wrapping

Well, at least they were covered. They probably have someone tend to the boats if the snow starts piling too high on the covers so they don't tear. Shrink wrap is more of a "wrap it and forget it" deal... and since the covers are reusable they're cheaper than the shrink wrap.

... and yes, the salesman was trying to sell you a shrink wrap job. I'm sure it's a quite profitable line of income up north.

 

[Another retired guy]

Re: Important or not? Shrink wrapping

For me it's important. My boat is at a storage yard - outside - and is not accessible to brush off snow accumulation. So only way to ensure that no snow/rain gets in during its 7 month winter hibernation is to shrink wrap it.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Important or not? Shrink wrapping

For me it's important. My boat is at a storage yard - outside - and is not accessible to brush off snow accumulation. So only way to ensure that no snow/rain gets in during its 7 month winter hibernation is to shrink wrap it.

I've had lots of boats stored over winter that I couldn't access that weren't wrapped in shrink... The trick is to do the proper prep work, like build whatever structure under the tarp. Bows work well, but even just sawhorses/ladders, and some rope. Also, I use my regular boat tarp, but I also will fit a cheap disposable blue plastic tarp over the top of that, to protect the expensive fitted boat tarp. I get a season or two out of the blue ones at best.

The part I don't like about shrink wrap is that it is really good at sealing the boat up. They are SUPPOSED to have air vents, but the installers don't always do that. The wrap by itself creates a nice little mini-sauna in your boat, and some owners have been surprised in the spring by the greenhouse now growing.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Important or not? Shrink wrapping

It's not that complicated. It's cost/benefits. A dealer will not recover the cost of shrink wrapping an old boat, and he doesn't care about long-term effects since he's going to move it in one season. Cosmetic work in the spring is cheaper than wrapping.

Also, unwrapped, a better chance of a winter sale.

What a merchant does with inventory, and what an owner does with his property, are two different matters. To a degree, obviously; the merchant isn't going to allow any immediate harm.

 

[Mason78]

Re: Important or not? Shrink wrapping

It's not that complicated. It's cost/benefits. A dealer will not recover the cost of shrink wrapping an old boat

I agree with you, except some of the boats are not that old. I saw a couple Fourwinns that looked to be less than 5 years old.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: Important or not? Shrink wrapping

X2 ^^^ Hard to sell a boat that can't be uncovered to show easily.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Important or not? Shrink wrapping

I agree with you, except some of the boats are not that old. I saw a couple Fourwinns that looked to be less than 5 years old.

then they can handle it.
Of course a lot depends on the boat, first, and the climate, second. There are a lot of boats made to handle outdoor use that don't need to be covered at all.

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: Important or not? Shrink wrapping

X2 ^^^ Hard to sell a boat that can't be uncovered to show easily.

Ding, ding, ding...we have a winner. How are you supposed to look at the used boat if it's shrink wrapped?

If you store your boat outside shrink wrapping is a good idea.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Important or not? Shrink wrapping

Shrink wrap can be installed with a zipper for easy access.

 

[25thmustang]

Re: Important or not? Shrink wrapping

Done both, tarped and shrinwrapped, on both boats. The shrink wrap is a lot better, but for me not just a set it and forget it. After snow I like to check up and make sure the snow sheds off and nothing is damaged. A few boats in my yard have shrink wrap damage and snow/water getting in.

 

[beaverliner]

Re: Important or not? Shrink wrapping

I live just north of Toronto. I have my 26 Chris Craft Sportdeck sitting in my driveway and it is tarped with a structure that prevents snow accumulation... I prefer that to the shrink wrap mainly because of cost and secondly cause it allows me easy access to the boat for minor stuff I want to get done. However if I was to put the boat in storage and out of my reach for the winter, I would shrink wrap it. I have found myself tightening the ropes that hold the tarp in place, as a matter of fact 2 days ago we had about 70km/h winds, had no tears or damage in the tarp but re tight all ropes just in case... My.02