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Trailer Bunk board Legnth

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dbchaplin

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I have a 2007 Bennington 2250 RSI.  The trailer is an EZ Loader.  Currently the bunk carpet is torn and the boards are starting to crack.  I decided while the boat is still on the water to replace the bunk boards and carpet.  The problem i face is that I brought the trailer home today from the marina and they are just over 17' long.  Lowes and Home Depot only stock up to 16' boards.  The way the bunk supports are laid out there is about 2' or so of board that is unsupported off the rear of the trailer.  If i was to lose about 14" of that do you guys think it would cause any problems?  I can't see that section of the trailer really carrying any weight considering there is no support.  If you can tell by the photo i attached; the board currently goes to the very back of the trailer frame where the license plate mounts.  If i were to use 16' boards it would be about 14" or so further forward. 

There is a small lumber yard that is close that has 20' boards but they are closed through Tuesday because of Labor Day weekend.  I have off this weekend and the wife and kids are out of town visiting family so i really wanted to get this trailer fixed up while im home alone.  What are your guys thoughts?  I am the last person in the world who would cobble somthing together.  I am a firm supporter of doing things right the first time.  I may be answering my own question with that but if it really doesn't make a difference I would like to press forward with the project.

trailer1.jpg
 
I personally would wait for the 20' boards and don't use treated wood.
 
That is another thing I was wondering about.  I am installing bunk sliders on top of the bunk boards they are made out of HDPE (super hard plastic like what heavy cutting boards are made out of) and it will cover every inch of the bunk board. Should I still aviod using pressure treated lumber if i will have 3/8" of plastic between the wood/carpet and pontoons?
 
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You don't need every foot supported, my 20-foot boat sits on just 10 feet of bunk boards. The rear 5' section goes all the way to the end of the toons. There's a 3' gap over the wheel/axle area. Then another 5' bunk section ahead of that which leaves about 7' of unsupported toon at the front. Since there's more weight on the tail end I suggest you shift the bunks all the way back and let the front end ride unsupported.

 
 
If you are using a plastic bunk covering or the HDPE sections, then you can use PT lumber for your bunks. If you're covering with carpet the preservative will leach from the lumber to the carpet...and then to the aluminum pontoons. It is very corrosive compared to the now banned CCA preservative. The new preservative requires either double dipped galvanized fittings and bolts, or stainless steel.  My trailer has the vinyl coverings on the bunks, which looks like an inverted U, and my boards are PT and 24 ft long.
 
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