GatorGlide coating

[jorgepease]

Airboaters use this stuff to coat the bottoms, then they proceed to abuse the heck out of them by running across grass, stumps, dirt and gravel roads etc ... when it needs touching up they slap another coat on with very little prep.

It has a teflon like finish that makes it super slick and while it's used on metal boats mostly, the adhesion is supposed to be even better on glass

it's relatively inexpensive and low or no voc and the application is as easy as it gets ... but I can not find too many instances where people have used it for their trailerable boats?

I am at about the painting stage for my new flats boat build and think I want to give it a try. Since I wont be powering down any dirt roads I would think it would last more than a season but just wanted to check for opinions.

My boat won't be stored in the water, I have davits and store her on blocks. At most she would be in salt water for 3 days.

 

[Tungsten]

I would test run your boat first as this coating maybe a ***** to remove for repairs.

 

[jorgepease]

I haven't painted her yet ) this would be the first coat of anything on the bottom. However according to what info I have been able to gather, this coating wears and can be sanded off unlike bed liner type coatings.

What attracts me is the ease and safety of application and re-application. It puzzles me that this would not be used for all trailer boats!?

 

[ondarvr]

What do you believe the benefits will be for your application?

 

[Mr Efficiency]

If you are hoping this will help the boat slip through the water ( as opposed to over reeds, weeds etc) you are going to be disappointed, imo. Were there any such coating that worked for reducing water friction, it would have been very big news.

 

[PAR]

GatorGlide is simply a rebadged modi-acrylic, with some junk added to make folks think it's something special. It's one of the newest generation, tough water bornes, but it doesn't make a boat any faster and isn't as tough as the polyurethanes or polyureas (truck bed liners). You'll note there's no MSDS or technical data PDF's on their web site and for a good reason.

 

[jorgepease]

Thanks for your answers, yeah I hear the polyueras are the toughest but seemed a lot harder to apply.

I don't need the slick attributes for speed, my boat is not intended to go fast nor do I need abrasion resistance -in most cases- though I might have to pole over grass from time to time so the slickness is appreciated.

I really like that I don't have to worry as much about deadly fumes and that it is very easy to apply and re-apply. I have davits in my back yard so every few years it's a snap to hoist and paint.

I joined a mud boat forum to hear direct from the guys that abuse the hell out of this stuff and apparently they feel it's tough. If it's tough enough for them, then it's got to be tough enough for me.

it's applied in thin coats, 4 for a total of 8 mils, at $200 per gallon it's not the cheapest solution.

I purchased a gallon of orange primer and 2 of slate G2 so I will be able to tell when I am getting thin.

 

[Westfield 11]

What about graphite powder mixed into some epoxy? That's slick and hard, also easy to repair too.

 

[jorgepease]

I read about somebody doing that, seems like that would be a very hard coating but the epoxy has no UV protection so if you go up the sides, you end up having to paint it anyway. I don't think it would be as easy to fix from what I have read.

When I asked the air boaters about the GatorGlide, I was told they had never seen it chalk or blister, it must be UV resistant

... If you look at their hulls, it wears out as if you have been sanding on it, other thicker bed liner type products, they claim chips off in chunks. I guess that is why it's popular for that type of application. Im curious to see how long it lasts for me.

In my case, the skeg and prop will ground out way before my hull does. The test will be to see how it does immersed for three days and poling across grass that is up to the surface. Being able to cut across channels can save me lots of miles, gas and time!!

 

[Frog1]

GatorGlide is simply a rebadged modi-acrylic, with some junk added to make folks think it's something special. It's one of the newest generation, tough water bornes, but it doesn't make a boat any faster and isn't as tough as the polyurethanes or polyureas (truck bed liners). You'll note there's no MSDS or technical data PDF's on their web site and for a good reason.

respectfully you have no idea what you are talking about as far as GatorGlide. It is a waterborne epoxy. It is way slicker the poly or bedliners lol. If you want a MSDS or TDS just request one.