Hydroturf.....

Has anyone used Hydroturf in black? I need to know if you have had any issues with it bleeding or tracking black residue onto your boat's upholstery.

I am getting ready to replace the traction on my Supras swim platform. I saw a post from a while back where someone posted a pic of Hydroturf on their Supra swim platform and it looked great. However, the color they used was gray. I would like to use black on mine, but I want to make sure that it won't track black residue all over my boat's upholstery like my current traction pad does.

(Message edited by nauty on October 29, 2007)

i never seen any problem with the hydroturf

Line-x

Did mine, love it.

AnT i heard that line x does bleed/fade. I thought about this. Any pictures?

Hydroturf in black is great, does not bleed or track, I have had it on the boat for years.

The Hydroturf in this picture is at least 7 years old. Ballast drain pumps in picture as well. Bags pictured for size comparison. Damage to Hydroturf to the right of my foot done by a cat that used it as a scratch pad during the short time the boat was stored at a friends farm. Never did catch that cat, never replaced the Hydroturf either, still works.


Same Hydroturf probably 6 years ago (about a year on the boat) by the way I still have these small round billet aluminium spring loaded cleats somewhere in the garage and would sell them if someone was interested. One is shown disassembeled. I bought them, they didn't work for me, never installed. I ended up using the Attwood Neat Cleat pop up cleats instead. Chrome cupholders in the top photo are a recent upgrade.

Mark, that looks great. This is the info that I needed. Thanks a million. I appreciate it!

I have black on my gunnels and trailer. No bleeding what so ever. I really like the stuff.

I used it on my after market swim platform...I love it!

http://www.swim-platform.com/images/testimonials/mikei/swimplatform.html

What is the best way to cut the stuff? I like the look, Mark!

fatsac,
Best way to cut it is with a new sharp razorblade and a straightedge. You can also round the sharp edges with coarse sandpaper like 60 or 80 grit, I learned this later as the Hydroturf on my boat has sharp edges. Not like it will cut you though.

Mark, i pm'd ya on those cleats

Thanks! I assume you ordered it with the 3M backing, right?

I am thinking about using some of the molded diamond pattern for a section that has a slight curve to it. I guess it could be a little tricky because the cut will be going thru different thickness parts of the material. So the edge will be kind of uneven. Anybody have any experience with this? Here is a picture of the pattern:

hydroturf on new epic boat on expo 07 pics.

So I'm a little frustrated with the size selection of Hydroturf. My Supra Swim platform is 69" wide and Hydroturf's standard size is only 62" wide. They do offer an 87" size, but it costs $35 more. It just kind of sucks to spend another $35 for 5" of material. So I started looking into Seadek. They offer a larger sheet (39x77) for about the same price as hydroturf's 40X62 sheet. The thing is they are out of black until January or so.

FYI for Supra/Moomba owners……..I was talking to the guy at SeaDek about the residue problem with my Supra platform and he told me the reason for it...... He says that the material Skier's Choice used has a UV inhibitor applied to it that has failed and is now allowing UV rays to break down the material. Thus the black material is breaking down and tracking all over the upholstery of my boat. He says that Seadek has the UV inhibitor built into the EVA rather than applied to the surface, so this type of situation cannot happen with their product.

I was going to order Seadek material for my 2001 Outback LS platform earlier this year for the same reason. They informed me the black color was mainly intended for interior use, and they wouldn't recommend it for the swim platform (somthing about it wasn't meeting thier standards for shrinkage, or something when used outdoors. He did say they were addressing this issue, and would be coming out with black that would be suitable for the platform. Since I needed the material right away, I went with Hydroturf, and sectioned it in three pieces like the newer Supra/Moomba platform material is set up.

I didn't realize that Hydroturf offered a larger sheet, or I would have ordered it. That would have made the project much easier..

Yep, he told me about the shrinkage. He said it would shrink 1/4". That wouldn't bother me. I would just cut it to fit all the way to the edges of the platform to allow for the shrinkage.

So is your Moomba platform the same size as the Supra at 69"? How much space do you have in-between your 3 pieces?

Yea, it's the same size.

I want to say it was about 1/2 inch between the pieces. The gap is a little closer than what it is from the factory.