King Starboard for ladder steps?

[SeaEric]

I need to fabricate some new step treads for an existing stainless steel ladder. The current steps are 21" wide by 7" and are likely plywood core with a pretty thin fiberglass shell. The ply is compromised so the steps are sagging in the center under even the smallest crew member. Rather than trying to replace the existing stiffening core material, I am planning to fabricate new treads in white King Starboard.

I'm wondering how thick the starboard needs to be to structurally support 200+ pounds in the 21 inch span of the step tread. My only experience previously with Starboard was in the 1/2" thickness, which has not very much integrity. Does anyone have any experience with the 1 inch thick Starboard material? Will it work as a ladder tread that is supported only at each side of a 21 inch span?

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Go one inch teak. Slip proof especially when wet. My OEM stern ladder which was shortened for a cockpit ladder had white nylon (?) steps that cracked around the bolts. I pulled them off and replaced with a teak ladder, then tossed the white ones to the ground and they shattered like glass... ws

 

[boatwright]

i would not use unsuportted starboard steps, they are not stiff enough . if you do, 1 inch would not be enough.IMO. premade teak steps can be had at west.

 

[Pascal]

Starboard is a lot stronger and stiffer than many people think... 1"'should work in your case but test one plank first...

But i wonder if teak or mahogany won't be cheaper...

 

[SeaEric]

This particular boat has no exterior teak. No need to introduce any. I mentioned this project to a friend who had a piece of 1" white StarBoard on hand. He GAVE it to me. No more calls, we have a winner~! My carpenter is fabricating the treads tomorrow. For the record, I will advise how this works out.

 

[Geoff58yf]

That should work well for you. Ive got 7 steps that are 1.5inch starboard and have 'decorative' routed grooves/treads on them. No flex at all and no cracking, no maintenance

 

[TopHattandTails]

Check out Plasteak. A lot of the Tiara guys are replacing teak swim platform slats and ladder treads with the stuff. Not too bad looking. Several colors to choose.

 

[Colwyn D]

Eric, I also have the starboard steps on the bridge ladder, 1" thick but they are mounted onto a 2" wide stainless flat bar welded between the ladder runners.

Colwyn.

 

[MagnaBill]

I have 1" King Starboard flybridge ladder steps unsupported. They bend I'm sorry to tell you. My stainless guy is now fitting beams under each one of them to eliminate the problem.

 

[34Hatt]

Oh yeah unsupported waste of time! there is no stiffness to that stuff!

If you're routing groove which you needto do on the top for non slip. Route a big notch on the underside and add some support that is how I did mine.

 

[Passages]

Late to the game but I'm surprised no one mentioned how slippery Starboard is when wet. I don't believe grooves will help much.

 

[SeaEric]

I am pleased to report that the 1" thick King StarBoard worked perfectly for this project. It supports plenty of weight in the 21" span. I think they key to this success is the fact that these treads are 7" deep. If they were thinner, like a bridge ladder might be, there would not be enough strength.

Thanks to all of you that shared your thoughts on this.

 

[newinlet]

I got new steps from Sams I went with black plastic (starboard) 7 years perfect