cover it or garage it?

I got question for you guys. Want to know your opinion. Looking at two different lengths of boats. One is a 16ft the other is a 17.5ft. I live in a residential area and have a two car garage. I have measured the garage and the 16ft boat and trailer will fit in the garage straight. Dont think the 17.5ft boat will fit in there straight but it might at an angle. My question is how much better is it to keep the boat in the garage compared to just covered up outside?

Way better in the garage unless you are going to trade often.

No comparison. A cover is a good temporary solution for short periods of storage, however there is no substitute for keeping in the garage.

i agree... garage it. that way you won't have to sleep on the sofa, you can sleep in the boat...

in the garage you can easily do the small maintanence things required.

I wouldn't own a boat if I had to keep it outside. TX heat and sun will cook one.

I once made a deal on a boat and on the paperwork it said subject to boat fitting in the garage.

No question for me but there are lots of people who do it. I also should probably mention that my wife claims I like my boats more than her

will it hold 2, Judd!?! must have city boys designing houses now days! my boat wont fit at an angle even... told the wife to not get too comfortable , we will be selling in a few years....

Not just city boy's. New homes on Lake Fork should be required to have 24' garages. Ours is only 19 1/2 but it is finished out nicer than my last house's interior rooms.

a cover provides adequate protection from sun and in most cases rain as well. Hail, falling tree limbs, and stray cats, not so good. Ants. Thieves. It's a bit of a hassle, and sometimes it collapses and lets water in, but it drains right back out. Temperature & humidity will take their toll, gradually. All in all, it's really not that bad. Myself, I'd take the bigger boat & cover it. You're talkin 15 square feet of deck space and maybe 25 cubic feet of stowage.

No. When we switched houses 2 years ago we debated on building for that reason and almost bought a house we didn't like just because one side of the garage was 30ft deep LOL.

We didn't have the time to wait for a house to be built so we bought an existing one...the garage is 19'6" deep by 18'10" wide and I have a 20'4" BassCat sitting in it. As my buddy says it is a garage full of boat But it is in there and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I agree these new houses and the garages are a joke. I couldn't even park my truck in there I don't think.

Garage!

UV rays will penetrate most any cover made today, and the heat underneath them is brutal, esp in Texas.

I heard if you own a Bullet you won't need to cover it.

My boat is 10 years old and has been garage kept the entire time. Still looks brand new. I am looking to buy a new boat this winter and first and foremost, it MUST fit in the garage!

Mike

Garage or some form of covered parking that gets the boat out of direct sunlight.

I keep my boat at a Boat and RV storage facility in covered parking. The parking space with a roof and the boat cover have kept my boat looking new. My boat is out of the sun the whole day.

I cover mine and it sits under the carport.

Without a doubt get one that fits inside.

I have had boats in the past that stayed outside and now have one inside and there is no way I would go back.

Aside from the issues mentioned above there is a major hassle factor involved. My boat stays loaded and ready to go. When I went to go to the lake I hook up the trailer, unplug the battery charger and go.

When the boat was outside I had to always load and unload all my poles, boxes, fishfinder, nets, laterns, tools etc. Also dealing with the cover by yourself is doable but not super easy. You can easily spend an hour loading all your stuff and making sure it is ready. I used to hate coming home late at night, tired from a long days fishing and then have to jack with unloading the boat.

It all comes down to what you'll be most comfortable with. I have a 22' center console add that to the trailer tongue, the hyd jack plate and motor and I'm at 27'+ in length. Though it would be nice to store indoors, I simply cover it. Of coarse, my boat stays hooked up to my Expedition, so the only thing I have to do is remove the cover, drop in the poles and hook up (2) graphs and it's off I go. If you're worried about someone stealing your tackle and such, install locks on the storage hatches. If you do go with the cover, invest in a good one. I can remove my cover in about 1 minute and put it back on in less than 5 minutes. Do whatever will make you sleep good at night

If it is a fiberglass boat, the worst thing for the finish there is, is the sunlight. No matter if it's covered, UV rays will get to it, and the next thing you know, you'll be asking how to get the shiny finish back. If it's aluminum, I'd say just keep it covered to keep the UV rays off the interior.

I kept my Skeeter in the garage for 10 years. As a result, it's beautiful ( when I clean it up). I had to angle it slightly and knock out a small hole in the sheetrock ( about 6X6 inches)for the back of the engine to fit into. It never went over the centerline of the garage, so my wife could get her car in and open her door.

Now it's in the sun, with the original Skeeter cover on it at a mini-warehouse, and I'm not happy about it. As soon as I figure out when I'm getting out of this condo, it'll be garaged again.
You might make sure it's riding as far forward on the trailer as is practical, angle it slightly and perform a dry wall modification. It may fit in a 20-21 foot garage.

The difference between 16 & 17.5 is significant.

The decision here is one of priority; which is more important, appearance or fishability?

Dull gelcoat is not a permanent impairment; it can be buffed out to get your resale value back up, 10 years from now when you're ready to sell it.

I built a carport on side of my garage and keep the boat covered. That way the sun is off I sprinkle a little fox urine around on the ground keeps critters away.

Well it is going to be aluminum and i would love to have the bigger boat at 17.5ft. I also have another option. My parents own a farm 5 min from where i live. I could build a small covered carport to put the boat under and put a cover on it also. I would still have the job of loading and unloading my boat everytime just incase some doosh bag kid decided to hop the property fence and look for rods to steal, but that wouldnt be that big of a problem cause the boat would be close to their house so they could keep their eye on it. Also, dont they make a locking mechanisim that will fit on the hook up on the trailer tongue to keep people from being able to hook up with their truck and steal it?

That what i do with mine it works for me!!

Mavs

can you modify the trailer tongue to make it fit. I lost close to 2 feet by having a swing away tongue to fit my baystealhin the garage.

Yes the swing away trailer tongue is a great advantage to parking in the garage. If i go with the 16ft boat i will have one with a swing tongue to help it fit easier.

If at all possibel garage it.

Hey Joe,
How many beers before the fox goes ?

Nut

You know you could save money by doing it yourself.................

If I can't fit it in the garage then I'm not owning it.

So, if you couldn't have a garage, you wouldn't have a boat?

Even the best covers will start leaking rain after a couple of years out in our Texas heat....

Just do what you gotta do. If you don't have a garage - you don't have one. Don't let that stop you from owning a boat. That'd just be downright silly.

I wish I could garage. I have the old garage type. Two doors with a pilar seperating them. Not wide enough to even wedge the trailor in. COver has not helped. My interior needs replacing.

I wish I could fit mine in my garage, but these city homes just don't have the room. My Skeeter is 19'8" and then the trailer and motor, and even if I angled it and prayed real hard it still wouldn't fit. Heck my regular cab short bed for barely fits with the hitch in. I bought a quality cover from the dealer when I bought the boat. I hand wax the boat at least twice a year with paste wax, and in between then I use Maguires Spray wax every 2 to 3 trips out. I plan to build a carport as soon as my homeowners association will approve my plans too.

Get the bigger boat and build a car port. Cover it too. But the carport still will not protect like a dark garage. UV rays find their way to surfaces even when they are covered from above. Don't leave your boat outside in direct sunlight. It will fade the paint and anything else. No comparison. I keep my boat 6 miles away in a shop on the ole family place. I just won't leave it outside.

CWCW, I think I am in the same situation you're in. I plan on buying my first boat this fall. My biggest priority is being able to put it in the garage. I told my wife that I had to keep it in the garage. I am going with the Alumacraft 1652 tunnel hull http://www.csoutboard.com/ALUMACRAFT/ac1650cct.htm with the 4stroke 60hp Yamaha and the foldaway tongue. Been spending my free time building shelves so I can get most of the stuff off of the floor in the garage. Can't hardly wait!

I wish my ZX250 would fit in my garage but my truck won't even fit. Thanks David Weekly (builder)! BIG mistake when I had this house built 5 years ago. Didn't know I'd get boat fever back then! Double garage but SUVs and trucks don't fit! I'm having to use the Aurora custom cover and a tree. It really sucks not being able to garage it but I wanted a boat and wifey won't let me put a $800 carport on our acre lot. "It has to match our brick home." I love that 21ft bug boat! I try to get it wet EVERY weekend.

the cover is good but it will get weather damage.
if its in the garage its harder for people the still it things out of it.

Both. I have mine parked under one of the Carolina Carports, a custom cover AND a tarp over the cover to keep it clean.

get the 17.5, you wont regret it. It's IMPOSSIBLE to use a 16ft. boat on the lake when its just a little windy, it will kill ya

Its still bad even with a bigger trolling motor? I dont see why the 16ft would be pushed around more than the 17.5ft. The 17.5ft is only 40lbs heavier than the 16fter. The boat comes with a 40lb-trust trolling motor but im gonna upgrade to a bigger one

I had a customer garage built with my new home. It is a 3 car wide, and 2 of the stalls are 47' deep. This lets me park my boat connected to my truck in the garage with the door closed. Boat is a 19 foot Ranger and truck is a dodge RAM 2500. For several years, I kept my boat covered outside, and believe me, even with a cover, the sun will do some bad stuff to your boat.

Effect of the wind has more to do with freeboard (how much of the boat is above the waterline) than weight - if it sticks up higher, more surface for the wind to push on.

A longer boat will always be a rougher ride. Unless the longer one is a tri-hull & shorter one is a V. T/M thrust is more related to weight. 40lbs might be fine on aluminum, but on really windy days with a glass boat, you'll likely wish for more.