| |  So this turned out kinda cool #234483
07/06/11 07:28 PM 07/06/11 07:28 PM |
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,118
Northfield Mn Karl_Brogger  OP
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Northfield Mn | Ripped the carpet off of the cradles on my Cat-Trax and replaced it with foam. I got it from a buddy who got the foam tiles in with some other odd butt deal he was involved in. Literally an entire 8' pickup box full of these frickin' things. They are the snap together, LEGO looking, anti-fatigue tiles. I think any of the chain builder stores have them. Lowes, Home Depot, Menards, etc.... -Peeled off the carpet (which yielded quite easily btw), then half butt peeled off the glue that was still on there. I'm lazy and didn't get too carried away. -Rough cut the foam on the tablesaw. I gotta be honest here, that was pretty f-ing stupid. Foam doesn't cut nicely on a tablesaw. -Sprayed the cradle and the backside of the foam. Waited for it to dry. I used some contact adhesive for doing laminate countertops. If this sh!t don't hold its because I didn't evenly apply. -Stuck the foam on. Used a laminate roller to get it good-n'-stuck -Trimmed it with my hot knife I use for cutting line. -Stepped back and admired my awesomeness.  ![[Linked Image]](http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/270414_2032826711530_1570037517_31990362_3627062_n.jpg) ![[Linked Image]](http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/267953_2032828511575_1570037517_31990367_477539_n.jpg) Two reasons for doing this. 1. I can never find my wheels when they're in a stack with 50 others on the beach. I hope they stand out a bit better this way. 2. The foam won't hang on to sand or little rocks like carpet does. Not an original idea, I ganked it from Dennis Key at Barefoot Studios. He's using a sort of Hydro-Turf I think.
I'm boatless.
| | |  Re: So this turned out kinda cool
[Re: Karl_Brogger]
#234500
07/07/11 07:26 AM 07/07/11 07:26 AM |
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 744 Bob_Curry
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 744
| Karl, This is by far one of the coolest topics on this forum in a long, long time! Someone had to make this stuff. Can you ask your buddy to explore further for all of us? I would get some and do this to my trax in a split second. Thank you very much for sharing! BC 
"The election is over, the talking is done, Your party lost, my party won. So let us be friends, let arguments pass, I’ll hug my elephant, you kiss you’re a $$.”
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| | | Re: So this turned out kinda cool
[Re: Bob_Curry]
#234501
07/07/11 07:28 AM 07/07/11 07:28 AM |
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 3,906
Clermont, FL, USA David Ingram
Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 3,906
Clermont, FL, USA | Bob it looks like the same material used for yoga mats, and if it's the same stuff it is super sticky.
Last edited by David Ingram; 07/07/11 07:29 AM.
David Ingram F18 USA 242 http://www.solarwind.solar"Do or do not. There is no try." - Yoda "Excuses are the tools of the weak and incompetent" - Two sista's I overheard in the hall "You don't have to be a brain surgeon to be a complete idiot, but it helps"
| | | Re: So this turned out kinda cool
[Re: David Ingram]
#234502
07/07/11 07:32 AM 07/07/11 07:32 AM |
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 548
MERRITTISLAND, FL Matt M
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MERRITTISLAND, FL | Bob it looks like the same material used for yoga mats, and if it's the same stuff it is super sticky. Non-skid on your Trax cradles - Brilliant | | | Re: So this turned out kinda cool
[Re: Dlennard]
#234505
07/07/11 08:01 AM 07/07/11 08:01 AM |
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 5,525 pgp
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2009
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| West Marine has teflon strips power boaters use. I'd considered them.
Pete Pollard
Blade 702
'When you have a lot of things to do, it's best to get your nap out of the way first.
| | | Re: So this turned out kinda cool
[Re: pgp]
#234512
07/07/11 11:10 AM 07/07/11 11:10 AM |
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 1,403 Ventucky Red
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| Karl: Awesome job.... a little fyi Brah!!!! Keep them out of the sun.... at least the Southern California sun. Did this a few years back and the sun just beat the crap out of the material. Next time around I laminated quality indoor/outdoor carpet to the foam and the re-glued this to the hull cradles. Did this for the beach wheels and the trailer hull cradles while I was at it... a little winter project. Here is a pix of the material and this all can be had at Lowes or Home Depot. They also have a indoor/outdoor padded carpet, but it is not a stock item and I had to order 9 yards of it...... nah!!!! Here is a X-section of the material I made... ![[Linked Image]](http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/rr269/nacradriver/IMGP0005-1.jpg)
Last edited by Ventucky Red; 07/07/11 11:11 AM.
| | | Re: So this turned out kinda cool
[Re: Ventucky Red]
#234543
07/08/11 12:35 AM 07/08/11 12:35 AM |
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 493
Minnesota Jeff Peterson
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Minnesota | If the foam is way too grippy and you decide it wasn't such a great idea, before you remove your wonderful workmanship, try spraying silicone spray (or teflon spray) on them to make them slippery. -Hopefully the carrying solvent won't soften or dissolve the foam.
Jeff Peterson
H-16 Sail #23721
Big Marine Lake, MN
| | | Re: So this turned out kinda cool
[Re: Jeff Peterson]
#234575
07/08/11 04:34 PM 07/08/11 04:34 PM |
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,307
Asuncion, Paraguay Luiz
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Asuncion, Paraguay | EVA foam is not so anti slip. We used it instead of carpet in all trailer supports of my 27 ft folding tri. The boat slided easily over the foam, even when dry. It is becoming more frequent than carpets in trolleys and trailers now in Brazil. Nobody wants to use carpets anymore.
Luiz
| | | Re: So this turned out kinda cool
[Re: Luiz]
#234577
07/08/11 05:03 PM 07/08/11 05:03 PM |
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 1,200
Vancouver, BC Tornado
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Vancouver, BC | Hey...that's the same anti-fatgue foam matting I used on my tornado dolloy cradles. Mine was the grey stuff though. And, I placed a layer of out-door carpet on the top side. The Home Depot carpet I chose was called "Olefin"...kinda looks like very fine green lawn...like they have on putting greens. A soft fuzzy feel which does no trap water against the hull and allows the hulls to slide off the cradles when launching. I use the same stuff on my trailer cradles as well and can slide the boat on/off without any rollers at all.
I looked at the typical bunk carpet sold in marine stores...but didn't like the un-eveness of the surface...I had an older boat get gelcoat "dimples" from that stuff.
Last edited by Tornado; 07/08/11 05:05 PM.
Mike Dobbs
Tornado CAN 99 "Full Tilt"
| | | Synopsis
[Re: Tornado]
#234653
07/11/11 10:37 AM 07/11/11 10:37 AM |
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,118
Northfield Mn Karl_Brogger OP
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Northfield Mn | So I rushed things a bit. This was about a half hour project, that I should've spent a bit more time on. The foam is peeling around the edges where the lip on the cradle is. The radius is just too tight for the amount of prep I put into it.
I think it peeled because of a few reasons:
- Inadequate amount of glue, just wasn't heavy enough right at the edges
- The surface of the cradle was/is too smooth for the glue to adhere well. I'm a bit scared to try epoxy, I'm thinking I'd end up with a puddle of orange goop. I think the answer is to try the contact cement again, but I'm going to lightly rough up the surface of the lip on the cradle with a wire wheel on a angle grinder. Just hit it enough to make it good and rough. Maybe a wire brush and doing it by hand would be enough as well.
- I cut it with a hot knife after it was stuck/rolled. The contact cement I used can be re-activated to some extent with heat. The glue was also pretty fresh when I cut it back. I think I'm going to wrap the whole thing up in stretch wrap on the next attempt and let it sit a few days and allow the glue to completely dry before I trim it back. Perhaps a small saw is the answer to trimming it versus the hot knife.
- I also think cutting the foam back at an angle would give it less strength to pull itself back on that edge.
It does not slide as easily as carpet, but it was by no means difficult to get the wheels under the boat. My new Viper hasn't been waxed up yet either, so that may come into play a bit. I actually could live with them being a bit stickier, how many times have you cursed your wheels for not sliding around?
I'm boatless.
| | | Re: Synopsis
[Re: Karl_Brogger]
#234656
07/11/11 11:27 AM 07/11/11 11:27 AM |
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 5,525 pgp
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 5,525
| What are the dimensions of your foam blocks? (sorry for the hijack)
Pete Pollard
Blade 702
'When you have a lot of things to do, it's best to get your nap out of the way first.
| | | Re: Synopsis
[Re: Karl_Brogger]
#234662
07/11/11 01:10 PM 07/11/11 01:10 PM |
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 1,200
Vancouver, BC Tornado
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Vancouver, BC | If Contact Cement isn't handling the foam well, try a good sealant...I found some stuff call "Big Stretch" that seems to bond well to many types of rubber foams. Also, you could try 3M 4200 or 5200 to be really sure it sticks done well. So I rushed things a bit. This was about a half hour project, that I should've spent a bit more time on. The foam is peeling around the edges where the lip on the cradle is. The radius is just too tight for the amount of prep I put into it.
I think it peeled because of a few reasons:
- Inadequate amount of glue, just wasn't heavy enough right at the edges
- The surface of the cradle was/is too smooth for the glue to adhere well. I'm a bit scared to try epoxy, I'm thinking I'd end up with a puddle of orange goop. I think the answer is to try the contact cement again, but I'm going to lightly rough up the surface of the lip on the cradle with a wire wheel on a angle grinder. Just hit it enough to make it good and rough. Maybe a wire brush and doing it by hand would be enough as well.
- I cut it with a hot knife after it was stuck/rolled. The contact cement I used can be re-activated to some extent with heat. The glue was also pretty fresh when I cut it back. I think I'm going to wrap the whole thing up in stretch wrap on the next attempt and let it sit a few days and allow the glue to completely dry before I trim it back. Perhaps a small saw is the answer to trimming it versus the hot knife.
- I also think cutting the foam back at an angle would give it less strength to pull itself back on that edge.
It does not slide as easily as carpet, but it was by no means difficult to get the wheels under the boat. My new Viper hasn't been waxed up yet either, so that may come into play a bit. I actually could live with them being a bit stickier, how many times have you cursed your wheels for not sliding around?
Mike Dobbs
Tornado CAN 99 "Full Tilt"
| | | Re: Synopsis
[Re: Tornado]
#234667
07/11/11 03:04 PM 07/11/11 03:04 PM |
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,118
Northfield Mn Karl_Brogger OP
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
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Posts: 4,118
Northfield Mn | What are the dimensions of your foam blocks? (sorry for the hijack) 24"x24" But the border of it has a puzzle shape so it interlocks with other pieces. The border is 7/8", so you basically end up with a 22"x22" If Contact Cement isn't handling the foam well, try a good sealant...I found some stuff call "Big Stretch" that seems to bond well to many types of rubber foams. Also, you could try 3M 4200 or 5200 to be really sure it sticks done well. I think it stuck to the foam, it didn't stick to the cradle, if that makes sense.
I'm boatless.
| | | Re: Synopsis
[Re: Karl_Brogger]
#234668
07/11/11 03:13 PM 07/11/11 03:13 PM |
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 5,525 pgp
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 5,525
| Thanks Karl.
Makes perfect sense: the cradle had the old contact cement on it which had already kicked off and is no longer reactive...I think, maybe..
Pete Pollard
Blade 702
'When you have a lot of things to do, it's best to get your nap out of the way first.
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