HydroTurf removal

[Chris K]

Well after long time reading how to get the hydroturf off the boat in preparation for the new seadek thats sitting in the shed loft.....

Most of the reading points to doing it while cold, so it was 25 in the AM so went out and opened the boat, and started trying to get a corner up. ok that went well.. got a lil corner up.... grabbed ahold and pulled, and 1/2 the turf came off in one piece. do the same thing on the rest of the piece, and same thing, the rest of the hurf came up. same thing on the other rear piece, and bam same thing, 2 long strips, clean as a whistle, no adhesive left on the boat. ready to wipe down with acetone and lay down the new stuff.

same story on the other pieces on the rear, except they came off in one single peice. the anchor box cover, same thing, only single piece..

Only one that had issues is the piece above the head, guess by the time we got to that, it had warmed up enough to get the adhesive a lil gooey. so I will be getting some dry ice and make that nice n frosty when i try that again.

I have pics and will post when i get home from work.

But as far as my opinion, cold is definitely the way to go. get a corner up, and pull with authority.

 

[tdonoughue]

Same experience here. I did it at 39 degrees (F). Got all mats except for the anchor locker (last) up in one piece.

 

[SCSTWG]

Good news in the turf removal. Do you think that it helped greatly that your boat is relatively new and the turf is still in very good shape?

 

[Chris K]

It definitly could be a factor. After seeing some of the pictures of other members, I was a little worried, but luckily the "to-be" son in law had not been swayed by forums, so he went right into it the way he would without any prior knowlege and tried to get it up in single sheets. Whereas I was already expecting a though time. So one of them times where what I have read had already got me in the mind set it was gonna be a bear. So I was expecting hours n hours in it, not 15 minutes from start to finish.

 

[Bruce]

Good news in the turf removal. Do you think that it helped greatly that your boat is relatively new and the turf is still in very good shape?

When I removed the 7 year old turf on our 2007 SX230 in 2014 most of it came off in a single piece. The only section I had difficulty with was one that I had been kneeling on and warmed up. I also believe that cold is the key.

 

[cozilla]

When I removed the 7 year old turf on our 2007 SX230 in 2014 most of it came off in a single piece. The only section I had difficulty with was one that I had been kneeling on and warmed up. I also believe that cold is the key.

I had the same experience as @Bruce when I removed mine this past fall.

 

[robert843]

Delete this thread my face is getting red reading it lol I'm glad you guys didn't have my experience. Next time I will have to try it in the cold I did mine in 80 degree weather.

 

[jawsf16]

Same experience here. I did it at 39 degrees (F). Got all mats except for the anchor locker (last) up in one piece.

I'll second that! I removed mine in "cold" weather of about 40-50 degrees and some sections came off sheeted, but the anchor locker was crumbs. I suppose sitting in the Texas sun for a long time of its life didn't help.

Nobody likes a bragger @Chris K !!!

 

[Noko]

The hydro turf looks great but the stories about removing and replacing it have kept me staying with the carpet.

 

[Chris K]

yea it had me apprehensive about it as well... but so glad i did it ... excited about trying the dry ice on the head cover piece in a while...

 

[tdonoughue]

I brought liquid air, to try in case I had problems (if you invert the can and spray, the propellant freezes on contact--don't try on your skin). When I had trouble with the anchor locker mat, I tried that. Sad to report no improvement of significance. If you try the dry ice, use care. You might crack the gel coat.

 

[msavold]

Had the boat partly under the house in the fall when I did it. Cool temps made it SUPER easy to do the stern, in the shade. The anchor locker? What a PITA! Whole job took less than a couple of hours to do it *perfectly* but the anchor locker was about a quarter of the time. Boat is a 2012 and the existing stuff was in fair to poor shape - could never keep the boat clean because of all the brown crap we'd pick up walking into the boat and from the anchor locker.

For those on the fence, I can honestly say don't hesitate if the concern is removal of the existing crap - just do it in the cooler days of the year.