Rail Fittings and Ladder Step Mounting Questions

[Eggbert]

Although new to this forum, I’ve already noticed how helpful and knowledgeable the members are. Will flattery get me anywhere? I hope so, as I need some advice.

The original owner of my boat appeared not to order the optional SS rail fittings. Or maybe he did. At any rate, the bow rail all uses nice SS fittings, however the ladder/bridge rail does not. I think they are some sort of chrome plated zink… the kind that deteriorates around salt water.

In my case, a Tee fitting cracked on the ladder. You can see the ones I mean in the picture below…. One each side of the cabin wall lamp. It hasn’t failed yet, but it’s only a matter of time.



Without thinking things through, I went and bought two new SS Tee’s. Oops! How do I get them on? The railing not only has bends so the fitting won’t slide on, but also teak steps in the way.

I have since discovered “hinged Tee” fittings, and even though they aren’t the most aesthetically pleasing (quite bulky at the hinge side), I am prepared to use them.

Another method would be to cut off the old fitting and then cut the railing, slide on a new non-hinged Tee, weld the rail back together, grind it smooth, and cover the joint by sliding the Tee back up to cover it. Although I have a MIG welder, I’m not set up for SS nor have I any experience welding it, plus welding thin-wall tubing doesn’t always go as planned.

Yet another method would be to cut the tube, slide on the new unhinged Tee, and pin it to the tube on both sides of the cut. It would probably work, but I suspect would lose a lot of rigidity, wear with use, get sloppy, and eventually fail.

I think I’m stuck with the Hinged Tee’s (the SeaDog line seems a little less bulky than the one I put in the picture above, so maybe it will look OK). Does anyone have any thoughts on the matter?

Now, as I’m posting about this, a related matter had come to mind. For some reason (no doubt a docking accident) the previous owner removed the stern ladder. You can see the type of ladder on another boat like mine in the picture.

My question is, how do they mount the steps? For the ladder, I could easily use two stanchion feet upside down, bolted through the pipe rail, and screwed up into the teak step. However I’m curious about it as that’s not the way the bridge ladder steps are mounted. I suspect a SS pin is inserted from the hidden edge of the step, through the rail and further into the teak, but not all the way through. I suppose if I ever break a bridge ladder step, I’ll find out, but does anyone know?

Thank-you for your time.

[km1125]

I have nearly identical steps on my boat. On broke a few years ago, so I "manufactured" a replacement. On mine, the screw enters from the back side, and is screwed though the railing and into the other side of the step. Then there's a teak plug over the screw.

[Eggbert]

Thank-you KM for your reply. Sounds close to what I imagined, but I was thinking it might have been pins vs. screws. Looks nasty if I ever have to replace one; both the rail curve to get the wood past and the simple matter of getting the screws out with the treads so close to the cabin wall.

Darned bridge ladder. The port rail extends up and all the way around the bridge where it joins the starboard ladder rail with a 90deg fitting. No joy there, so steps would have to come off the bottom. Anyhow, that's not a problem "yet". LOL.

[km1125]

Doublecheck the joints for the bridge ladder. Mine is spliced at one of the rail fittings so you can remove the section that has the steps. That makes it easy to get to the back side and the screws. Then, once the new step is in place, you reattach to the bridge railing and bulkhead. Same thing with your platform ladder.... take the whole thing off so it's easy to get to the screws then remount it when done.