Front Fender

[blackrose]

Sorry if this has already been covered (excuse the pun)， but what's the benefit of the tyre cover exactly? My bow fender is 9 years old without any cover and its still fine. Is the tyre cover something traditionalists do as a sign that they're in the club?

Edited July 8, 2014 by blackrose

[YamYam]

Sorry if this has already been covered (excuse the pun)， but what's the benefit of the tyre cover exactly? My bow fender is 9 years old without any cover and its still fine. Is the tyre cover something traditionalists do as a sign that they're in the club?

 

You can tell that better If the owners have one trouser leg rolled up to the knee

[Naughty Cal]

I assume the tyre is acting as a fender for the fender?

[frangar]

I find a tyre over the fender vastly reduces the wear on the fender when I'm letting the boat ride up the top gates when going up in a narrow lock...cue all the people telling me I shouldn't be doing that etc etc.....well it's how I've always done it...it how working boats did it....it saves loads of wear and tear on gearboxes and revving engines or faffing about holding the boat still with bits of string.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[MtB]

Sorry if this has already been covered (excuse the pun)， but what's the benefit of the tyre cover exactly? My bow fender is 9 years old without any cover and its still fine. Is the tyre cover something traditionalists do as a sign that they're in the club?

 

But do you leave the baot in gear in a lock with the bow fender rubbing up (or down) the gate as you work the lock?

 

I've just wrecked my (admittedly already old) rope bow fender in a single trip around the four counties ring.

 

So I'm in the market too now for a similar tyre-protected bow fender...!

 

 

MtB

 

 

(Edit to change a wrong word)

Edited July 8, 2014 by Mike the Boilerman

[IanM]

Would old bucket elevator belt be an easier option that using a tyre?

[Mike Tee]

 

But do you leave the baot in gear in a lock with the bow fender rubbing up (or down) the gate as you work the lock?

 

I've just wrecked my (admittedly already old) rope bow fender in a single trip around the four counties ring.

 

So I'm in the market too now for a similar tyre-protected bow fender...!

 

 

MtB

 

 

(Edit to change a wrong word)

Free tyres from local Kart track, sharp knife, plasterboard screws (which for some reason pull two layers of rubber together like magnetic glue!).

 

[Naughty Cal]

Would old bucket elevator belt be an easier option that using a tyre?

Or just accepting that a fender is a fender and it will wear perhaps?

[IanM]

There is that too.

[blackrose]

 

But do you leave the baot in gear in a lock with the bow fender rubbing up (or down) the gate as you work the lock?

 

No, I guess that's why mines still ok after 9 years. I'm not anti-bow against lock gates as I'm happy for people to move their boats and work locks as they see fit (within reason of course)，just that personally I've never felt the need to do it that way. I'd rather use bits of string!

 

I once got my bow fender caught on a lock gate while going uphill about 15 years ago and that experience was enough to put me off. Another 20 seconds and it would have sunk the boat. As I say, each their own, but personally with a 57ft boat I see no need to have the bow or stern anywhere near either set of gates.

Edited July 8, 2014 by blackrose

[Guest]

Or just accepting that a fender is a fender and it will wear perhaps?

Why not protect it at 80 quid or more a throw? That is a bit like saying "steel hulls will rust, accept it and don't bother with anodes/blacking."

Edited July 8, 2014 by Guest

[blackrose]

Why not protect it at 80 quid or more a throw? That is a bit like saying "steel hulls will rust, accept it and don't bother with anodes/blacking."

Yes, or a bit like saying rubbing strakes will wear and protect the hull so don't bother protecting the hull with side fenders... I'm only winding you lot up a bit.

Edited July 8, 2014 by blackrose

[Naughty Cal]

Why not protect it at 80 quid or more a throw? That is a bit like saying "steel hulls will rust, accept it and don't bother with anodes/blacking."

£80 over how many years?

 

It really doesn't work out very much compared to other boating expenses.

 

What next? A fender for the fender fender?

[furnessvale]

Would old bucket elevator belt be an easier option that using a tyre?

A tyre is better because, once cut and turned inside out, it naturally adopts that rounded shape that moulds itself to the fender.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

[blackrose]

£80 over how many years?

 

In Mike the Boilerman's case it sounds like just a few weeks. See his post above.

[FadeToScarlet]

£80 over how many years?

It really doesn't work out very much compared to other boating expenses.

What next? A fender for the fender fender?

£80 over two years is better than £80 over one. Less than that for me, though, because I make my own.

 

It makes a lot of sense to put on something to protect it if possible.

[Naughty Cal]

£80 over two years is better than £80 over one. Less than that for me, though, because I make my own.

 

It makes a lot of sense to put on something to protect it if possible.

Why?

 

It's a fender, it's designed to fend and in doing so will wear over time. How quickly it wears will depend on how often it's used of course, but surely that's what it's there for!

[FadeToScarlet]

Why?

It's a fender, it's designed to fend and in doing so will wear over time. How quickly it wears will depend on how often it's used of course, but surely that's what it's there for!

If it's a rope fender, and it's rubbing up the gates, it will wear quickly and probably need recovering every year, which is a faff, or replacing. Spending 30 minutes to cover it so it doesn't get ripped up will repay in the long run.

 

It's the same argument as saying "I won't use the fair leads on my boat, I'll just let the rope rub on stuff and replace them every year"

[mark99]

Any chance of a photo of your new fender, I've just ordered one.

 

 

Hi Junior,

 

As I'm not in a hurry to receive it (the old one has got life in it) I've not made arrangements to pick it up yet.

[PhilR]

Sorry if this has already been covered (excuse the pun)， but what's the benefit of the tyre cover exactly? My bow fender is 9 years old without any cover and its still fine. Is the tyre cover something traditionalists do as a sign that they're in the club?

 

Apart from extending the life of a bow fender, a tyre covering is less likely to get snagged on protruding nut and bolts.

[MtB]

Looking for an identical fender to my existing one as below. NB what type are the tyres.

 

 

Given this is your existing fender and after reading the thread, I'm wondering how on earth you managed to wear it out with that fender fender wrapped around it!

 

MtB

[Guest]

£80 over how many years?

 

It really doesn't work out very much compared to other boating expenses.

 

What next? A fender for the fender fender?

If a Nb is used properly, that front fender takes some hammer. Wrapping a (free) tyre around it makes the fender last infinitely longer, and makes the locking experience safer as the boat rides up the front gate more smoothly. It is an old trick that has been used successfully by many canal boaters over many years, working and leisure alike. Think of it as a sacrificial anode for an expensive fender.

As an aside, many traditional NB fenders have a car tyre inside them.

Why?

 

It's a fender, it's designed to fend and in doing so will wear over time. How quickly it wears will depend on how often it's used of course, but surely that's what it's there for!

But would you want to replace it every year when a free tyre (and a little work) will make it last many years?

[MtB]

As an aside, many traditional NB fenders have a car tyre inside them.

 

I don't think so. Using a core made from a car tyre is a cheap modern short-cut to making a fender.

 

As I understand it traditional fenders have fully knotted rope cores.

 

MtB

[Guest]

 

I don't think so. Using a core made from a car tyre is a cheap modern short-cut to making a fender.

 

As I understand it traditional fenders have fully knotted rope cores.

 

MtB

I did say many, not all..

By the same token, many DON'T have a tyre inside, as you suggest.

Or perhaps my use of the word traditional bothers you. I mean traditional in the sense of a rope fender, as opposed to something one would pump up with a bike pump like on our Dawncraft.

Edited July 8, 2014 by Guest

[junior]

 

 

Hi Junior,

 

As I'm not in a hurry to receive it (the old one has got life in it) I've not made arrangements to pick it up yet.

Where are you cruising? Perhaps we could arrange joint collection as I've just ordered mine. I can't pick mine up for 3 weeks as I'm abroad, but once I do I will be up and down to London regularly (in the car).

 

Likewise if you collect first, could you get mine?