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sharkhide dealer addon $800

K

KLM

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Is it a good deal for a 24 ft sps tritoon? That is labor and materials. Don't think I can get a good coat on without lifting the boat up.
 
I ordered mine without and bought the sharkhide and did it myself (Two Coats), I have a 21 foot sps and it took about 3 hours total.  $65 for the sharkhide and about $8 for the cotton baby diapers.

I also made sure that the dealer did not put the boat in the water before I received it. 

After I received the boat, I cleaned the toons per instructions on the Sharkhide container, Applied first coat, let it dry per instructions and then applied second coat, let it dry,  Done

And I also have a little extra for touch ups

Note: you might have to buy 2 quarts for a 24 so then it would be about $130 for the sharkhide. Still a major savings.
 
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I wouldn't be concerned with the bottom of the logs if it's a trailered boat. The bunks and guide-on boards will remove the Sharkhide where there is contact.

I guess it's a matter of your personality. Some guys like writing a check and having someone else do the work, whereas I'm a hands-on tightwad that likes doing things myself.
 
Maynard G. Krebs said:
I wouldn't be concerned with the bottom of the logs if it's a trailered boat. The bunks and guide-on boards will remove the Sharkhide where there is contact.

I guess it's a matter of your personality. Some guys like writing a check and having someone else do the work, whereas I'm a hands-on tightwad that likes doing things myself.
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 Oops sorry forgot about that part of the post,   I agree, I did not do the bottom  where it sits on the bunks, and I also do not leave mine in the water. 
 
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That's a ridiculous price to apply Sharkhide. It is really super easy to do it yourself and for a fraction of the cost. 
 
The main concern I have is whether I can apply sharkhide on the center toon when it sits on the trailer. Do able? The space look tight.
 
I have an ESP, not an SPS, and I can't fit in there. But I wouldn't bother doing the center all the way through anyway. You'll never see it. If it were me, I'd go in as far as I can reach on the front and back. Maybe get a pole setup of some sort and get a little further. When I did mine it was on my previous two-tube boat so I did do the insides, but I only did one coat on the far insides.
 
I did my center tube, Yes it was a little tight but it still was possible. 
 
Sharkhide can be sprayed on with a HVLP paint sprayer. Practice spray pattern on cardboard first as it's thin and runs easily, prep surfaces, mask areas you don't want overspray on, and apply 2 coats. With a sprayer it's easier to get coverage into tight spaces and hard to reach locations. Wear a respirator as the fumes are worse when spraying on. I've had mine on for two years now and it's just as new. If your careful you can get a near perfect job thats nearly invisible. Keep your spray gun moving and keep a wet edge as you overlap.It will take a bit more material to complete because of overspray and the thicker coverage, but it's made up for in quality of your finish and time saved.
 
Thanks ricks, that's good info.  I have a gun but the instructions only mention applying it with a soft cloth so I went that route. Next time.
 
My dealer is charging $265.00 for the center & starboard pontoon .( insurance is paying for the port ) 
 
Yes, thanks Rick!

Now you tell me. 

Good to know for the future though.  Guessing at some point I will just buff it all off and start over (once the finish is scuffed up enough). 
 
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The problem with Sharkhide is the preparation before it's applied. 

My boat was built the last few days of May, and my dealer put the boat inside a large, dark warehouse.  When I bought the boat on July 7th, the toons already had some slight tarnishing on the toons.

I polished the toons with a dual action polisher, however the black oxide got in all the welds, cracks and weld spray.  I worked and worked with lacquer thinner before applying Sharkhide.  And the black oxide still smeared in the Sharkhide.

With the proper power tools and right polish, I can polish the outside of two toons and 3 nosecones in about an hour.  I would think that it'd take 10 hours or more of back breaking labor with lacquer thinner to get the toons clean enough for Sharkhide.

It'd be nice if the quality of the aluminum used in pontoons was better than it is.

Note:  It takes a polisher with a wool applicator to polish aluminum.  You can also use a high speed polisher, however they're much more physically demanding.  I use White Diamond metal polish--from Advance Auto Parts.  I tried Mothers Aluminum Polish, but it was junk.  With the high speed polishers, you can also use the side of a cotton applicator and rouges.  But realistically I couldn't keep a mirror image that shiny all year.
 
+1 on the white diamond.  I used that BY HAND first time I polished my toons.  It was good exercise.

Then I used the high-speed grinder/polisher and the rouge.  Took about just as much time, but resulted in a MUCH shinier finish.

I screwed up on the black oxide too.  Thought I had it all off.  It hides extremely well in the welds.  Applying Sharkhide brings out any that you missed with a vengeance. 

Without the Sharkhide, the polished shine is tarnished in a couple weeks, and black again in a month.

Not sure why I'm even writing this.  Just repeating what you said.
 
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kaydano said:
Yes, thanks Rick!

Now you tell me. 

Good to know for the future though.  Guessing at some point I will just buff it all off and start over (once the finish is scuffed up enough). 
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I'm still waiting...
 
Not happening. 

May not happen again to my own boat!
 
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