Flooring my hub

[JayDeHay]

I'm building a sled/floor for my hub shelter, and I'm looking for help and suggestions.

The frame is 1" square steel tube sitting on 2x4 runners, and is 59" long by 61" wide. I wanted to use a sheet of 1/2" 5x10 marine plywood for the deck, but I'm having a hard time finding a source.

I can get standard grade easily enough, will that suffice?

Also, anybody know a good source of cheap Catch Covers?

[redneckdan]

Nice build.

The biggest difference between a marine ply wood and a modern exterior rated ply wood is that marine ply is supose to be void free, key word is supose to. The glues used for lamination are rather similar. With a fir ply you will get weather checking, not really a huge deal. If that happens to bother you, MDO might be a good option for about twice the cost.

Use an exterior rated BCX, paint it with a couple coats of good oil based enamel and go fishing. Thin your first coat with Xylol to get good penetration, then build up with two more coats.

[JayDeHay]

Well I ordered the marine ply today, but I'm not a patient man when it comes to my projects so I picked up some OSB to get it on the lake tomorrow lol

[leechlake]

I'd do exactly what RedNeck says and I'm in the lumber business and could get the "marine" plywood easier than it probably was for you. Cancel the order on Monday don't waste the cash. Look up "glue sizing" also as a means to seal the edges of the plywood. People do that with MDF and MDO style sheet goods to seal the edges.

[JayDeHay]

I'd do exactly what RedNeck says and I'm in the lumber business and could get the "marine" plywood easier than it probably was for you. Cancel the order on Monday don't waste the cash. Look up "glue sizing" also as a means to seal the edges of the plywood. People do that with MDF and MDO style sheet goods to seal the edges.

Thanks for the offer, but ive ordered through my work so Im getting it at wholesale cost. We do lots of retail cabinetry and have semi-weekly shipments of MDF and particle board laminates.

[JayDeHay]

Oh and by the way, i got the Catch Covers at Pleasureland RV. They sell them for $19.99, but if you find their C List ad you get 10% off.

[JayDeHay]

Well her maiden voyage was mostly a success. I realized that with just enough wind, like say... 50+mph gusts, the bottom of the hub could shift enough to fall off the edge of the sled and leave a gap on the windward side to gust in. I remedied this temporarily by anchoring the wind-side corner to the ice. I'll be adding a rim to the sled to contain the shelter better.

Unfortunately, I was in such a hurry to get on the ice I neglected to get any pictures of it assembled. I'll be sure to get some tomorrow after I get the rim on.

I also need to get it weighed, the thing is a lot lighter than I expected to be pulled by hand. Once I got it moving, it was real easy to keep it going.