Swim Platform Brackets
Printed From: CorrectCraftFan.com
Category: Repairs and Maintenance
Forum Name: Boat Maintenance
Forum Discription: Discuss maintenance of your Correct Craft
URL: http://www.CorrectCraftFan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=34161
Printed Date: January-15-2025 at 9:58pm
Topic: Swim Platform Brackets
Posted By: winniskier
Subject: Swim Platform Brackets
Date Posted: July-16-2014 at 12:02am
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My boat sits on a mooring in a generally rough part of the Lake. The wave action causes constant flat slapping/landing on the water by the swim platform. The play in the brackets gets greater by the day due to the wear in the brackets. I replaced them about two years ago, but it did not stop the problem. Any thoughts about how to prevent the play in the brackets? ------------- Jim |
Replies:
Posted By: MrMcD
Date Posted: July-16-2014 at 4:58am
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I may be red neck on this but I would first coat my mounts on the boat with a light grease while dry off course and then apply a rubberized silicone inside the deck mount. Slip the swim platform back on and let is dry for 24 hours. The grease will keep the rubberized silicone from sticking to the boat mounts, it will stick firmly to the platform but should not stick to your boat mounts. I like "The Right Stuff" you can buy it at any parts store. It is much tougher than silicone and I think it may take up the movement and keep your swim platform from beating itself up. If you remove the platform after this application I do not know how well The Right Stuff will release. A can is around $18.00. This is just an idea, but might actually work for you. |
Posted By: winniskier
Date Posted: July-25-2014 at 7:43am
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The "The Right Stuff" solution is going to wait since the boat won't be dry for 24 hours for at least two months. I replaced the pins with bolts of a bigger diameter to take up the extra space in the holes. I shoved a small nylon washer into the top part just to take up space. This stopped all of the up/down slop. The bracket is now secure at the bottom and hinges there as the top moves slightly fore and aft. I'm good for now. ------------- Jim |
Posted By: winniskier
Date Posted: February-11-2015 at 9:51am
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The "fix" above did not last too long. I am mulling over the Right Stuff approach, but I am concerned that I might never be able to remove the platform again. More ideas would be appreciated. ------------- Jim |
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: February-11-2015 at 10:00am
| I'm not familiar with the design of your brackets, but if they're similar to Malibu's could you take some thin rubber and use it like a gasket to take up the slack? |
Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: February-11-2015 at 11:01am
Bruce, I feel you have a great idea but use a section of poly tubing. It's low coefficient of friction will stop the fretting unlike the "The Right Stuff" which I feel will be torn up in very little time. I'd also say it would be a real mess to apply. ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Riley wrote:Posted By: Hollywood
Date Posted: February-11-2015 at 11:30am
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What exactly is your mooring situation like? ------------- |
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: February-11-2015 at 12:27pm
| If it's like Sebago, 3'-5' waves when it blows up. The platform takes a beating. |
Posted By: Hollywood
Date Posted: February-11-2015 at 12:49pm
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Retro-mod it like the 78-90 design. That'll provide some relief. ------------- |
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: February-11-2015 at 1:05pm
| The first year we had the Skier we lost the platform. It had 3 aluminum removable brackets with cotter pins. The lake got really rough over night and in the morning the platform was gone. I couldn't believe the rough water had broken the cotter pins and removed the platform and figured someone stole it. We searched all over for the platform in case it had broken off, but couldn't find it. I ordered a new platform and bolted it to the brackets. Six years later the platform shows up on the beach in the same condition that it was in when we lost it. No idea whether someone stole it off the boat and decided to return it or if someone found it took it home and decided to return it. I guess it probably busted loose from the boat and someone found it on the beach and took it home. |
Posted By: winniskier
Date Posted: February-13-2015 at 7:38am
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The size of the waves is not the biggest issue, though they can be big as there is more than a mile of fetch in the direction of the prevailing winds. Even with small waves, the up and down of the stern constantly slaps the platform on the surface of the water, wears on the brackets, loosening them more and more over time. I have a similar story about losing the platform. I found mine on the rocks about 1/2 mile away after about 1 hour of searching. My guess is that the pins worked themselves out rather than broke. Even assuming poly strips are trimmed to create a snug fit, they would need to be secured in the gap. I could try gluing them on, but if I need to do that, why not use some type of hard epoxy and trimming it down to size? Also, there is a risk of strips or epoxy that are too much. I have nightmares of using too much on the first fitting and never being able to take off the platform again. And, I need to fill the gaps at both the top and bottom of the connection. When I used nuts and bolts in the pin holes, I was able to secure the bottom of the bracket, but that just created a swivel since it remained lose at the top. Something like nuts and bolts would be easier to use when I take the platform off for cleaning and storage. ------------- Jim |
Posted By: 63 Skier
Date Posted: February-17-2015 at 11:55pm
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Jim, I read this through and thought about it a bit more. If poly tubing like Pete suggests would fit in the gap, it could be held in place by the same cotter pins, they could go through holes in the tubing. I have some doubts that there is enough of a gap to fit the tubing. This doesn't fix the problem, but maybe keep it from getting worse ..... how about a pair of high quality, strong bungee cords, hook one under each corner of the platform and up to the lifting ring when you moor the boat. The tension will keep it from slapping and enlarging the bracket slots. Then there's the idea of drilling a pair of holes, top and bottom, in each bracket and through-bolting, should eliminate nearly all movement and if you use nylock nuts you won't have to make them real tight which would bend the slots out of shape and make it very hard to remove. ------------- '63 American Skier - '98 Sport Nautique |
Posted By: winniskier
Date Posted: September-09-2021 at 7:00am
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I need to remove the bolts holding the platform bracket to the stern of my 1997 Ski Nautique. Does anyone know if it is a lag bolt? I'd rather not have to remove the gas tank. ------------- Jim |
Posted By: winniskier
Date Posted: September-13-2021 at 6:33am
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Bump. I need to remove the bolts holding the platform bracket to the stern of my 1997 Ski Nautique. Does anyone know if they are lag bolts? I'd rather not have to remove the gas tank.
------------- Jim |
Posted By: wayoutthere
Date Posted: September-13-2021 at 6:58am
Swim platform isn't likely to be lagged, there would be hundreds of "my platform lags : rusted/ snapped/pulled out/ won't tighten anymore threads all over the internets" Good chance you'll see 2 nuts just above floor level for every bracket, the bottom would just be screwed even if the brackets were installed before the foam and floor which is unlikely.
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Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: September-13-2021 at 7:18am
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Jim, It was common for CC to use lags and not through bolting. Many hulls were shipped with the platforms detached to save space. Then the dealer would install them without having to remove the gas tank for the install. Give yours a try and see if they are lags. ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: scootdogydog
Date Posted: September-13-2021 at 8:31am
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I'm pretty sure you'll find that the upper ones are through bolted, and you will need to remove the tank, whereas the bottom one is a lag. ------------- http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=7183" rel="nofollow - 1999 Python 1980 Ski Tique 1968 Mustang WIP |
Posted By: KENO
Date Posted: September-13-2021 at 9:03am
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Winniskier I figure that if you were to send wetskier2000 a PM, he might be able to tell you what his 97 SN had for mounting bolts. He had a tree fall on his transom and platform and had to take the tank out for repairs so he would have had a good unobstructed view of the nuts if it was through bolted and probably checked the mounting of the brackets to be sure they weren't loose since his platform was destroyed.. Here's a link to his thread about the repairs, but no good picture of the transom itself. http://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=49432&PN=1&title=1997-ski-nautique-fiberglass-resin" rel="nofollow - link Maybe he's got pictures showing his top nuts that he didn't post.  And whatever you end up doing, update this thread.................... for the next guy |
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: September-13-2021 at 10:11am
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Hopefully, by 1997 they were through bolted. I replaced the brackets on our Malibu Sportster 2 years ago as they wore out from being on a mooring on a big lake. I could not get the original brackets. The company that makes them for Nautique custom made me a pair at no extra charge. One thing they did that was different than on the Nautiques was to make the pins very tight so that there is no movement at all. I have to tap the pins in with a hammer and remove them with a punch. So far they have not loosened up. I had to remove the gas tank. While it was out I replaced the exhaust hose, fuel line, vent line, fuel feed line and blower.
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Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: September-13-2021 at 10:52am
Were they mounting the platforms so high on the transom by 1997 that the bottom of the bracket would be above floor height? Or so narrow that they’d be inside the main stringers? If not, I suspect the bottom bolts will be lagged just like scoot said. The top bolts are usually high enough to clear the floor… but just barely. |
Posted By: scootdogydog
Date Posted: September-13-2021 at 12:03pm
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If you look at the picture, you can see the t-nuts just barely above the floor, so there is no way that the bottom are through bolted. I replaced my brackets ~6 years ago 
------------- http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=7183" rel="nofollow - 1999 Python 1980 Ski Tique 1968 Mustang WIP |
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: September-13-2021 at 2:07pm
| I'd cut a section of the floor out to access the area below and through bolt them. |
Posted By: Hollywood
Date Posted: September-13-2021 at 2:37pm
| I wouldn’t. |
Posted By: TRBenj
Date Posted: September-13-2021 at 3:28pm
Me neither. Would just create a low spot for water to collect. The lower bracket fastener isn’t doing much work anyways- assuming you’re using the platform as intended (putting weight on top of it rather than pushing upwards from below). It was common to see a single small (#10?) screw on the lower end for many years. I’d just use some good sealant. |