Grill Pedestal Install

I received an early Father's Day present, which is a Magma Catalina Grill. I have searched all over the boat for a place to mount it on a 2007 260DA. Needless to say it will probably have to go on the starboard side of the swim deck. I have the camper enclosures which using the rod is out of the question. I have used the search feature on the site and didn't find what I was looking for. I had a couple of questions on putting the pedestal mount on the swim deck.

1.) Obviously through the deck bolting would be best. How thick is the swim deck? The boat is slipped and will have to be hauled out. I drop enough stuff when I am on solid ground.

2.) Can it be screwed to the swim deck and sealed?

3.) Do I need to use 5200 or 4200?

I am scared to death to drill that first hole in the boat:smt100! Tried the bigger boat route to fit the grill, but that didn't work.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


I just installed mine last weekend......piece of cake.

1) Not only the best option but the only option IMO. I drilled the holes and mounted the pedestal while in the water in about 25 mintues. I used 1/4-20 x 1.5" ss flathead screws with nylock nuts and fender washers. Looks great and no tools lost.

2) I wouldn't.

3) Your choice but I went with 4200.

Also, be sure that the pedestal when mounted will match the contour or curve of the swim ladder hatch cover as it rests against it. My Magma Catalina sits only about 6" above the ladder hatch when mounted which made me a little worried but the pedestal never got even warm at the highest setting on the BBQ. No issues there.

Ok.....it was a pain to reach the farthest two bolts under the swim platform but it can be done. Bring some extra hardware and tie that wrench off!
 
Just thought I'd throw another story in.

As I have stated before, while talking with Scott Samuelson, the owner at Swim Platforms, Inc. about a platform for my '89 340da, we discovered that I own Scotts old boat. He bought it new when he was a Sea Ray employee.

So when he made the platform for us, they molded in an extra piece of wood as he said he was sending me a table, BBQ and mounts and he wanted me to mount it all to the the platform and see how it worked out.

However, I just couldn't bring myself to drill holes in that beautiful platform. So I made a base for the table and used it in the cockpit. See below.

HPIM0603.jpg


But when I heard Todd explain where he put his mount I knew that would work for me as well. There is extra beef molded into the ladder mounting area in SPI's platforms and I drilled and sealed with 5200. I don't have kids on board that want to swim and if I did, my Mother always told us we had to wait an hour to swim after we ate or we would get cramps. Anyway, here is how it came out. The BBQ is one of the Stow'n'Go ones. Maybe not as durable as the Magnas but it works great.

HPIM0660.jpg


And when we stern in at a marina, I can put the table there on the post and its great for snacks, blender, etc.
 
I don't have a swim ladder hatch. The ladder slides up underneath the port side of the swim deck and latches. I ran down to the boat yesterday and was looking at it again. The swim deck is molded to the hull and appears to be an air space between the top and bottom part of the swim deck. I will probably have to try to reach it from inside the engine room.:smt089

Hopefully I will have more time tommorrow, the Admiral says "You need to have that grill on there by July 4th" :smt014
 
I don't have a swim ladder hatch. The ladder slides up underneath the port side of the swim deck and latches. I ran down to the boat yesterday and was looking at it again. The swim deck is molded to the hull and appears to be an air space between the top and bottom part of the swim deck. I will probably have to try to reach it from inside the engine room.:smt089

Hopefully I will have more time tommorrow, the Admiral says "You need to have that grill on there by July 4th" :smt014

Take some pictures. What are you trying to reach from the engine bay?
 
Take some pictures. What are you trying to reach from the engine bay?


Without the extended swim platform, mounting the pedestal mount to the molded-in swim step does require access from within the engine compartment to get to the underside of the swim step. It's the same area I need to access once in a while ot tighten the bolts that hold the extended swim platform to the boat. The space is less than a couple of inches high, so it's not real easy to get into it, let alone trying to fit relatively small nuts on the bolts for the pedestal mount. Good luck!
 
et alone trying to fit relatively small nuts on the bolts for the pedestal mount.
It helps to put a bit of grease or caulk on the bolt in order to get the fender washer, lock washer and nut to stick long enough to get it threaded. Oh and buy extras so you don't have to untangle yourself from contorting into the small space to retrieve the ones you WILL drop into the bilge.

Then plan on going back in there to tighten, or at least check on them in a week or so.
 
I got it figured out while I was taking the pics, imagine that.
Here is the pic of the swim deck as a whole:
Picofswimdeck.jpg
 
Maybe I will get the pic posting figured out,:smt013 sorry for the multipul posts.

The next ones are inside the engine compartment looking back towards the swim deck, proposed location, and where it will end up being stored.
Closerviewunderneath.jpg
 
This is where it will end up being mounted. Looks like it should be straight forward with just a small amount of contorting. I will probably make a backer plate for the underside also. I will get this pic thing figured out and post pics of the install. Once again my apologies for the multiple posts,
Proposedlocationofmount.jpg
 
This is where it will end up being mounted. Looks like it should be straight forward with just a small amount of contorting. I will probably make a backer plate for the underside also. I will get this pic thing figured out and post pics of the install. Once again my apologies for the multiple posts,
Proposedlocationofmount.jpg


Don't worry about the multiple posts. That looks good but you may want to move it towards the center slightly, even if just a couple inches. This would give you a little more room stepping aboard from the dock or adjacent boat. Where you have it now doesn't appear to give you much room. Otherwise it looks pretty good.
 
I mounted a similar grill pedestal mount the other week on the swim platform of my 290. Before I mounted it, I sanded off the gloss with sandpaper, primed it, and painted it white to better match the platform. Just wish I could have gotten an off-white instead of the usual spray can white. I did use a satin finish.

I had the boat out today and noticed that water collected in the mount. My suggestion would be to cut a little opening along the edge to allow water to drain out. Or you could place a washer under each screw hole to slightly raise the mount off the deck. I don't want to drill a drain hole as I'm not comfortable relying on 5400 to seal the core properly. Could go the epoxy plug route but that is a lot of work just to have a drain hole.

Happy grilling! :smt001
 
Some questioned earlier in the thread about using the swim ladder while the grill is up.
I was surprised to see the grill was cool to the touch in about 15 minutes, maybe less. Was back in the water before I knew it.:thumbsup:
 
Here is a shot of me trying out the new install on Sunday. It was so hot I almost didn't need to turn on the gas to cook!
 
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