small stern platform
i did this on a saturday. sorry for the poor pics, i generally only take pics for billing and reference. this boat had been backed into a seawall. pipe frame was out of whack on the horizontal plane. first i cut out the old supports and removed the welds then brought it in to plane as best i could. then i indexed off the stern for the first cross member. there are actually two. there is a 1 1/2 by 1 1/2 by 3/16ths t bar welded in place and on top of that is piece of ladder rung extrusion also welded in place. each piece had to be cut to fit, both the T bar and the the rung extrusion which is a two inch channel with one inch legs . 125 thk.
working from a raft is a challenge, welding from a raft is a bigger challenge. no place for tig welding; spool gun only. used two spools of 5356 wire. this platform looks rough but it is very sturdy and will carry two men easily. there is a cross member in the center running perpendicular that i tied into the brace and the stern. the trick was to keep everything evenly spaced and in the same plane.
each time i made a cut i had to climb out of the raft, up the stern, across to another boat, from the bow of that boat it was about a five foot stretch over water to the deck where my miter saw was. i was seriously worn out after ten hours. that is setup, breakdown and cleanup.
that was actually fairly quick and the company reps were happy that i was able to do the repair with the boat in the water, rather than having to take it to a yard and have it pulled.
you have to listen to what the customer wants. don't give them art when they want utility and vice versa.
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