Fake Grass or Carpet on Raft Trailer: Necessary?

[SimpleMan]

I'd rather not carpet my trailer, as I intend to use it to haul other stuff besides my raft. It has wooden decking on it that's in great shape and is not splintery. Must I carpet it for the sake of the bottom of my boat? Also, do trailers have to have license plate lights? Lady at the State Patrol said yes, but I haven't seen it.

[coloradopaddler]

i don't know about the license plate lights, i imagine if it is a licensable vehicle that you might need one. sometimes mine doesn't have any lights at all. just make sure to always wet your carpet first! i put astroturf on my utility trailer (which is almost exclusively for my boat) and everyone i boat with wishes they had that shit on theirs! super cheap and super slippery...

[willpaddle4food]

Yes they want a license plate lite, and no you don't want to get stopped some night for some damn little thing like that. Mine is a $4 generic lite mounted to the piece of plywood that holds my license plate. And astroturf has been working real good for mine. It took a forklift with 20 bags of concrete mix and a clumsy operator to even put a small tear in it.

[rwhyman]

What are you sticking the carpet down with? I used outdoor carpet cement to stick it on my wood deck and it only lasted a couple years.

[willpaddle4food]

whole bunch of short sheet metal screws with washers

[SBlue]

and 1" x 4"s screwed down along edges

[ecarlson972]

I would suggest taking the decking off the trailer. Go buy some indoor outdoor carpet from home depot. Also but the cement they recomend. Wrap each individual sheet and staple on the backside. Then reinstall the decking. That should make it last a lot longer since the edges wont be able to peel.

[Osprey]

It will cost more but last forever, replace the decking with a composite like Trex or similar and never have to think about it again.

[TakemetotheRiver]

I put astroturf on mine and I love it. Not only is it soft for the boat, but I can sleep on it and play golf on it.

[Stiff N' Wett]

I put a 6'x8' 2 piece platform on my 4'x8' trailer and wrapped both pieces in AstroTurf. All I need to do is take a few screws out and I have a regular 4'x8' trailer. Haven't actually used it yet, we'll see.