engine room ladder

Gary N

New Member
Oct 27, 2019
16
Montreal
Boat Info
380 AC
Garmin GPSMAP4212, Raypilot RP650
Mercury Ocean Runner RIB 10'. Tohatsu 20HP
Engines
CAT 3126TA
I measured the drop on my 2000 Searay 380 AC from the salon floor down to the engine room floor. It is 46 inches. I am forced to step on appendages of the #2 engine to get into and out of the engine room, as there is no ladder. Not good. A large part of the salon floor hinges up to service the engines, (which is a great feature) so there is no easy way to attach a ladder firmly to both the engine room floor and the salon floor, which rises when you lift it. So I am designing a two-step arrangement over the waste tank, using the engine bearers to support the steps, with no attachment to the salon floor. But before I do all this I wonder:

Does any one know whether these models had an engine room ladder option?

I also wonder if I am the only one who needs this, as I have not found any other posts on this. Or are all 380AC owners are very athletic?:)
 
I measured the drop on my 2000 Searay 380 AC from the salon floor down to the engine room floor. It is 46 inches. I am forced to step on appendages of the #2 engine to get into and out of the engine room, as there is no ladder. Not good. A large part of the salon floor hinges up to service the engines, (which is a great feature) so there is no easy way to attach a ladder firmly to both the engine room floor and the salon floor, which rises when you lift it. So I am designing a two-step arrangement over the waste tank, using the engine bearers to support the steps, with no attachment to the salon floor. But before I do all this I wonder:

Does any one know whether these models had an engine room ladder option?

I also wonder if I am the only one who needs this, as I have not found any other posts on this. Or are all 380AC owners are very athletic?:)

I'm planning on adding a ladder to my 400 this winter. The up/down on manifolds and starters tends to wear on the body for sure :) I've seem some slick diamond plate models integrated into the port motor before, connected to the inboard motor mount I believe. Those looked factory but maybe not.

I plan to DIY mine out of wood. Stain it to look decent and find a way to attach it to something on the inboard side of the motors but supporting an approach from port. I may run mine all the way across to where the batteries are stored (forward of my waste tank).

Share pics when you do yours! And I'll do the same...
 
Ok deal. I will also make mine from wood but with diamond plate steps for grip (and looks). I plan on two steps, that will give me a rise of about 15 inches per step.
 
Our boat has a steel ladder that attaches to the face of a bulkhead through a bracket for the top of each each leg. There is a pin that goes through each leg and bracket. These effectively allow the ladder to swing more than 90 degrees. So the bottom of the ladder has rubber feet that just rest on the hull. If I need to work on stuff behind the ladder, I can pull the pins and set the ladder on top of one of the engines. The ladder is only a few inches shorter than me and I'm 5-10, so its a pretty beefy set up.

H
 
HI Henry,

How many steps are on your ladder?
 
I have a factory step/ladder on my 1999 400DA and it is very nice. Attaches to port motor. I wonder why yours isn't the same? Maybe find a buddy with a newer 400 and check out the ladder.
 
Here is my ladder similar to what Henry is describing. I can raise mine up and I have a strap attached to the bilge cover to hold it up out of the way...or pull the pins and take it right out.

IMG_7342.JPG
 
If I had to guess the ladder was a $25,499 option when the boats were new. That's probably why they don't all have 'em :)
 
I'm planning on adding a ladder to my 400 this winter. The up/down on manifolds and starters tends to wear on the body for sure :) I've seem some slick diamond plate models integrated into the port motor before, connected to the inboard motor mount I believe. Those looked factory but maybe not.

I plan to DIY mine out of wood. Stain it to look decent and find a way to attach it to something on the inboard side of the motors but supporting an approach from port. I may run mine all the way across to where the batteries are stored (forward of my waste tank).

Share pics when you do yours! And I'll do the same...


Here is my effort. There are two steps only but it is quite functional. I hold onto the TV cabinet rail to steady myself as I step on the top step. The lower step is attached to the aluminium strap that spans the waste tank. I added a vertical support to stabilize the lower step, and I picked up the aft L bracket that stops the waste tank from sliding aft.
E506BA25-F729-4A3A-85F4-F688F687EDEF.jpeg


The top step can be removed for access to the port engine batteries etc with 6 screws. This leaves a large lower step that you can sit on. Didn't cost much.

regards
Gary
 
Henry, does it look like this?
View attachment 96467

Yes, very similar although I never wear socks on the boat. This ladder looks steeper than mine and there are some other differences. What model is it? The placement of the Racors look like a killer, easy to clean but they must be hard on the ankles. My engines are back more because the gen is on the port side against the forward bulkhead and there is maybe 18-24” between the gen and the engine pulley shroud.
 
Yes, very similar although I never wear socks on the boat. This ladder looks steeper than mine and there are some other differences. What model is it? The placement of the Racors look like a killer, easy to clean but they must be hard on the ankles. My engines are back more because the gen is on the port side against the forward bulkhead and there is maybe 18-24” between the gen and the engine pulley shroud.

LOL, I saw those Gold Toes also.
 
Yes, very similar although I never wear socks on the boat. This ladder looks steeper than mine and there are some other differences. What model is it? The placement of the Racors look like a killer, easy to clean but they must be hard on the ankles. My engines are back more because the gen is on the port side against the forward bulkhead and there is maybe 18-24” between the gen and the engine pulley shroud.

Its a 2008 Sabre 38 Hardtop Express. Found it on Yacht World.

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2008/sabre-salon-express-3720377/
 
Thanks for the link. Sabre really made major changes to accommodate the IPS design.
Yes, but I think it was more than that. I watched that Landing School webcast with head designer Kevin Burns. He noted that as a legacy sailboat builder, Sabre’s initial powerboat design was geared toward sailors switching to power boats. Sail boats tend to have small spaces up, and larger spaces below decks. Then they realized more people wanted to have larger spaces up and not feel like they were in a cave. So they switched to having the upper salons bigger. You can see this in the change from the 38 Hardtop Express built through 2008, to the current 38 Salon Express. The SE shifted the gathering up in a much bigger salon.
 
Sorry, I was referring to the engine and machinery layout differences that are significant. The engines on the 2008 boat in the listing are forward almost to the bulkhead separating the engine compartment from the living space. Most likely to provide the shallowest shaft to prop angle. The gen, aircon compressor units, house batteries and water heater are aft of the engines.

On our IPS boat, the engines are more aft and all of the items above are mounted ahead of the engines. While newer IPS boats have engine / pod configurations similar to sterndrive power packages with the pod attached directly to the engine, our boat uses jack shafts to connect the engines. The jack shafts are essentially level. The use of jack shafts suggests there is no apparent reason to make such a significant rearrangement of the ancillary equipment, connecting wiring and plumbing. They could have just used a longer jack shaft and left the existing machinery footprint in place.

You are right about the difference between our Hardtop and the Salon designss with the shift from down below space to up top space. I'm not sure whether I care for the Salon layouts. Although other than wooden rowboats, all of the boats I was exposed to growing up were sailboats. I guess the older sailboat-like interior design reflects what I recall as being what a big boat should look like.
 

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