Ladder dimensions or manufacturer
06-25-2008, 04:33 PM
#11
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Its in!
Ok, finally getting around to reporting back on this. Its in and looks and works great, but it was a bit of work.
I measured everything I thought would be questionable fit wise, but of course, two things came up to make it interesting.
First, the ladder fits in the same place just fine, in fact, when telescoped in, it actually fits a little better. Until you try and close the lid. And no, its not the molded steps that cause you issues, its the dimension of the pipe. Its a good deal bigger around that the old one at the brackets, so the lid wouldn't quite close. I was able to grind a bit out of the lid, and a bit out of the platform at the mounting brackets until the lid closed, and then went back and "painted" over that with Marine-Tex and all is fine there.
One thing that also has changed is the size of the actual mounting brackets. The old ones were about a 1/2" longer, so for everything to line up, the holes for the bolts had to be about a 1/2" closed to the edge. And of course its thicker there, but also hollow. All in all I would suspect the glass is about the same thickness, but there was a 1/2" gap in the middle. I was already nervous moving so close to the edge, but the gap really bothered me. I mean I'm sure its fine, since that's where they are being mounted now, but I also didn't know if they are re-enforcing that area now. Anyhow, nervous nelly that I am, I took a big syringe that you use for injecting spices into turkeys, and drilled out the end and used that to pump Marine-Tex into the holes I drilled. I taped up the bottom, and repeatedly pushed stuff in until I saw it reach the adjacent hole. I then moved to that one and did the same. I figure I have about six inches of the linear gap filled at each bracket. (I also used the same method to fill the holes for the old brackets)
A couple of days later I drilled out the mounting holes again and used the old brackets as a back mounting plate and voila! A new ladder! Its MUCH easier to use than the old two step, and a heck of a lot easier on your feet.
I measured everything I thought would be questionable fit wise, but of course, two things came up to make it interesting.
First, the ladder fits in the same place just fine, in fact, when telescoped in, it actually fits a little better. Until you try and close the lid. And no, its not the molded steps that cause you issues, its the dimension of the pipe. Its a good deal bigger around that the old one at the brackets, so the lid wouldn't quite close. I was able to grind a bit out of the lid, and a bit out of the platform at the mounting brackets until the lid closed, and then went back and "painted" over that with Marine-Tex and all is fine there.
One thing that also has changed is the size of the actual mounting brackets. The old ones were about a 1/2" longer, so for everything to line up, the holes for the bolts had to be about a 1/2" closed to the edge. And of course its thicker there, but also hollow. All in all I would suspect the glass is about the same thickness, but there was a 1/2" gap in the middle. I was already nervous moving so close to the edge, but the gap really bothered me. I mean I'm sure its fine, since that's where they are being mounted now, but I also didn't know if they are re-enforcing that area now. Anyhow, nervous nelly that I am, I took a big syringe that you use for injecting spices into turkeys, and drilled out the end and used that to pump Marine-Tex into the holes I drilled. I taped up the bottom, and repeatedly pushed stuff in until I saw it reach the adjacent hole. I then moved to that one and did the same. I figure I have about six inches of the linear gap filled at each bracket. (I also used the same method to fill the holes for the old brackets)
A couple of days later I drilled out the mounting holes again and used the old brackets as a back mounting plate and voila! A new ladder! Its MUCH easier to use than the old two step, and a heck of a lot easier on your feet.
