Building a new swim platform

[Deuceornothing]

I have built a new swim platform out of white oak. I believe I have been able to seal it with enough clear satin that it won't take on water. At least I pray it doesn't. It has 8 coats on it. Point of my story is I can't get the screws out of the bottom of the supports where the angled pipes meet the hull. The 2 in the middle came out just fine and they are wood screws. The outside supports as there is 4 of them total, will not come out of the boat. I assume they are wood screws as well because the heads look the same. If i go into the engine room where the screws would come through the hull it is below the floor. All the screws do are spin and I can't get them to come out even with applying pressure behind the screw. Anyone ever have anything like this? I was thinking I would just cut the heads off and silicone around the rest and drill new holes.

I will post up pictures of the new platform. It looks sweet in my garage measuring at 10ft wide tapering down to 8 ft wide 3ft 6 inches from the boat. The original platform was only 22 inches deep :smt009 Plenty of room now :grin:

 

[moparlvr4406]

I would be interested to see how it holds up to the water
oak is a good hardwood but not terribly dense.
I have been questioning my choice of mahogany for my bow pulpit.
guess we'll both see what happens :huh:

 

[Deuceornothing]

From what I was told at the lumber yard mahogany is the same as oak as far as taking on water. I just couldn't afford to make this thing out of teak. I also plan to pull it off every winter and reapply stain to it.

 

[kilroy]

They make boats and wine casks out of white oak because it won't leak/pass water like red oak. It's actually quite dense, with a specific gravity of .68 whereas red oak is about .62.

 

[Henry Boyd]

There are two issues with using oak. The first being it will turn black if it gets wet. The second being that it will warp at the slightest bit of dampness. There is no comparison with mahogany. I'd recommend re-purposing your swim platform and starting over with mahogany.

Here is a picture of a semi-trailer that had roof damage and rain water was allowed to sit on the white oak floor. This fleet operator seals the top side with an epoxy and the under side with with a phenolic sealer and under coat.

Henry

 

[KC_Sundancer]

Your platform is a bit different than the semi-trailer floor as it has room to expand if it needs to.
Did you use a marine grade clear satin?
If not that will definitely be an issue with keeping the water and weather out.
When installing the brackets I would bolt completely through with large diameter washers and nylock nuts on the inside of the boat, sealing with 3M 4200 or something equivalent.
look forward to pictures :thumbsup:

 

[speakrdude]

AND.....attach them bolts on the inside to a bonding wire....

 

[390x]

I would have probably sealed it with epoxy, or polyester resin, but there are a lot of naysayers out there, and I don't want to be one of them. Good luck, we'll see what happens.

 

[KC_Sundancer]

I would have probably sealed it with epoxy, or polyester resin, but there are a lot of naysayers out there, and I don't want to be one of them. Good luck, we'll see what happens.

With a highly used surface, as you say epoxy would have been a good choice.
I questioned the marine grade because from personal experience on a white oak pulpit installed by the PO, non-marine grade poly started to break down after the first year.
Wood looked good and was easily sanded and refinished, never had any warping or discoloring issues.
It has since been replaced with teak and a gloss Epifanes finish.

Should look really nice and the larger size will be great.

 

[alwhite00]

Looking forward to pictures.

LK

 

[andyr]

Your screws are turning most likely because the holes are enlarged or the screw is broken. Try to get something under the screw head like a knife blade while turning with no inward pressure on the screw head from the screw driver. If you an get two of the screws out, you can pull on the strut to provide a lifting force. The struts provided are prone to cracking at the flange joint. I replaced with stainless struts custom made by a friend.

I used oak in the dingy. Didn't hold up. Tended to split. Was not confined. It did get a lot of saltwater. Your experience may be different.

 

[CAGE RATTLER]

If you can get a bite on the screw head with vise grips, you should be able to pull while turning to get them out.

 

[1956olds]

sometimes a small pick can be slid behind the stand off and the tip will act as a thread,may be a two man job.

 

[Deuceornothing]

Well I was able to find the nuts on the inside of the hull so I got them off. I will post up some pics when I get her bolted on this weekend. I did use a minwax spar urathane that was recommended for temperature changes,uv and water. The platform does sit out of the water about 4 inches. I believe I will be ok and I'm willing to take the chance to save money over teak.

It measures 10 ft wide tapering down to 8 ft wide 42 inches from the stern. So it is twice the size of the old one.

 

[KC_Sundancer]

Glad you got it apart, it should hold up fine with what you used, especially if you're in the more northern climates.
I'm looking forward to the pictures.

 

[Deuceornothing]

Well I uploaded a few pic's today.

The old platform.

In the process of building it

The finished product before I rounded the corners

Before stain

New supports to hold her up

Ready and waiting for the brackets and platform

I will post the finished pic's after I get it installed this weekend.

 

[KC_Sundancer]

Very nice work, that will look great on there :thumbsup:

 

[JVM225]

That looks great! I wish I had that kind of skill with wood.