Re-Carpeting A Tracker Pro 17

[Tim Hanford]

I have a 1995 Tracker Pro 17 that I absolutely love. The carpet is starting to show some stains, blood spots, coffee spills and dirt spots that I cannot seem to get clean. I do clean the boat regularly including presssure washing and shop vac'ing the carpet.



I am thinking of having the carpet in the boat completey replaced, possibly next season or this winter. I don't think it's something I want to tackle myself. I know from mounting a new trolling motor and repositioning my batteries to the front storage compartment, that some of the front deck screws are impossible to remove, I tried. I would think the decking would have to be removed to do this carpet installation so it looks like it came from the factory.



My questions is this - has anyone replaced the carpet on a similar boat? Did you do it yourself? If someone else did the job, how much did it cost to have done and how long did it take?



I've looked at various marine carpet suppliers to get a feel for what grade of carpet I want put in the boat. I want a thick, premium carpet that is some shade of dark to medium gray.



Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mike Levesque]

Tim, I'm curious to see how this turns out for you, my boat's just over a year old and already I have had some fishblood, Coke spills,and dirt and grease type stains, also thanks to my non ashtray using fishing buddy, a couple very small,(ok, so I'm the only one that notices them) ash burns. I've tried powerwashing,tried using our carpet shampooer,etc.

But then, now don't laugh, but then I used OxyClean with HOT water and a little brush, rinsed very well afterwards, (Just make sure the little crystals are completely dissolved first)and it worked better than anything else I tried... still however looks like I'll be doing carpet replacement before too long. Interested to see what kind of carpet,brand,grade,price,etc. you decide on if you do this project. Good luck with it, egMike --- had to edit, my fishing buddy does however put the "butts" in my no spill ashtray when he's done, not in the water!

 

[Steve Rizza]

 

[Steve Rizza]

 

[Steve Rizza]

 

[Steve Rizza]

Tim,I just tackled this project over winter in my 1991 pro 17.It IS a lot of work...It isn't a job that can be done in a hurry.I completly gutted out my boat and then did it little by little over winter.The only parts that don't come out are the front bulkhead,and the rear deck.

You ars right about the stripped screws,alot of them will need the heads drilled off.I replaced the floor in mine so I just hacked around them with a chisel,and grabbed them with vicegrips and turned them out.

Most of the carpet will pull off easily,but there is a stronger glue used around the edges.I kind of hacked at it with a putty knife to remove the hard stuff.If you can remove it in one piece,you can use it for a semi pattern.

The time part comes in gluing all the aluminum parts.I glued up the main flat sides,let that set up,trimmed it and the grued the smaller bends.The reason is that the bends will need to be clamped while the glue dries.

I used two different kinds of glues,one was an indoor safe non-flammable,and one was toxic fumes do not use indoors stuff.The toxic stuff seemed to hold better,but none has come loose yet.

When you carped the hatch covers,make sure the grain is running the same direction,I forgot on one of my live well lids and it sticks out like a sore thumb.

I got every thing at Lowes,they have a very nice grey indoor-outdoor carpet.I think it was a 10 ft wide strip,and It took around 27 ft. with a very little left over.

Also use stainless steel screws when you put everything back together.It will also give you a chance to do any other work while its apart.So think of any other jobs that need done,such as running new wires.

You can replace the rivits that will drill out(hatch covers)or I just screwed everything back together.

I turned out very nice and I'm glad that I did it.If you have any nore questions,just post and I will be glad to help,I'm sure theres alot of things that I forgot.



Good luck,and be patient,it's not a weekend job.

 

[Richard Whittemore]

I'm interested in how your's turns out if you do it yourself. I have a Pro Team 175 with grey carpet but I think I would like Dark Green for the sun to fade. :>)

Also, I'll wait and get some use out of what I have.