Wood inside bow pulpit

[Bodick93]

FYI - I have seen these pulpits break from rot and attempting to free a stuck anchor

Uh, on Parkers? With bow rails?

 

[GoodChance]

Yup

 

[Macho]

Mine is solid but with the anchor, the Minn Kota & the 40-pound plate that the MK sits on it flexes too much in rough seas. I am thru-bolting a one-inch thick piece of anti-skid starboard on top of it this spring.

 

[Bodick93]

Mine is solid but with the anchor, the Minn Kota & the 40-pound plate that the MK sits on it flexes too much in rough seas. I am thru-bolting a one-inch thick piece of anti-skid starboard on top of it this spring.

Just floating this, as you have a lot invested in the current mounting method. Have you used the anchor since you put the TM on there? What if the anchor and plate came off and the TM mounted to the pulpit and deployed through the anchor hole? It would be a more centered weight, 50 pounds lighter. Downside, you would have to rig around it for anchoring. Just a thought.
I was going to use your mounting method eventually and really bummed to hear the pulpit is not beefy enough. 4" of laminate. Dang.

 

[Macho]

Just floating this, as you have a lot invested in the current mounting method. Have you used the anchor since you put the TM on there? What if the anchor and plate came off and the TM mounted to the pulpit and deployed through the anchor hole? It would be a more centered weight, 50 pounds lighter. Downside, you would have to rig around it for anchoring. Just a thought.
I was going to use your mounting method eventually and really bummed to hear the pulpit is not beefy enough. 4" of laminate. Dang.

 

[Macho]

View attachment 35542

 

[Macho]

It's plenty beefy especially if I stow the anchor elsewhere but I'm going to make doubly sure with the starboard on top.

 

[Macho]

Here is the aluminum plate.

 

[Bodick93]

Dang. That is exactly what I wanted to do also. With the benefit of hindsight, that is a long lever twisting on the pulpit.
Have you considered relocating the plate to the body of the boat? The pulpit it by far the nicest location, but you can't have it flexing like that long-term.

 

[Macho]

That plate was expensive & works great. Flex is minimal but still going to fix it.

 

[baker]

That plate was expensive & works great. Flex is minimal but still going to fix it.

I think you may be referring to a twisting action rather than flexing. Since the AL plate is not extended further back under the pulpit, it will always twist with that level arm like that. Adding starboard to the top probably will not help much, because starboard is not as stiff as you think it is. Are you planning to cover the entire length of the pulpit top with starboard? I'm scratching my head on this one. You should continue to ask the questions on here until you get the full understanding before spending the effort and money.

 

[Chilli]

Does anyone know what the limitations (in US weight) for the Parker pulpit on this boat in question is ?

 

[warthog5]

I think you may be referring to a twisting action rather than flexing. Since the AL plate is not extended further back under the pulpit, it will always twist with that level arm like that. Adding starboard to the top probably will not help much, because starboard is not as stiff as you think it is. Are you planning to cover the entire length of the pulpit top with starboard? I'm scratching my head on this one. You should continue to ask the questions on here until you get the full understanding before spending the effort and money.

Exactly my throughts.... Starboard is good for a antiscuffing....Not for stiffness.

 

[warthog5]

Does anyone know what the limitations (in US weight) for the Parker pulpit on this boat in question is ?

I've never seen anything on that subject.....The hardest thing on a pulpit is pulling a stuck anchor....all that force pulling down on it...2nd thing is ramming docks.

 

[JDesrosier]

I've never seen anything on that subject.....The hardest thing on a pulpit is pulling a stuck anchor....all that force pulling down on it...2nd thing is ramming docks.

I think aluminum ribs would be better and cheaper than starboard on top. But that's just me.

 

[PaulH / Emily S]

Mine is solid but with the anchor, the Minn Kota & the 40-pound plate that the MK sits on it flexes too much in rough seas. I am thru-bolting a one-inch thick piece of anti-skid starboard on top of it this spring.

I have a 1995 2520 that I bought in 2002, it had no pulpit. I ordered the "pulpit kit' from Parker which included the bow rail section to be installed. On boats with no pulpit, the cleats are mounted on the rail, which is actually a nice feature. To secure the pulpit, a large plate was used under deck and the pulpit was through bolted plus glued with 5200. Taking it off would be a chore. I bottom fish alot, my boat is rigged with a double anchor setup which required many penetrations into the pulpit, yes the core is wood. Two layers of 3/4" sound great, but plywood can flex when laid flat. I think most of the stiffnes is achieved via the substantially thick fiberglass edges which are integral with the top. It seems the wood is a plug, and then sealed with glass on the bottom. I have heard of pulpits breaking. If I hang an anchor, I will pull gently. If that doesn't work, get the line on a cleat, and do your hard pulling from there.

If I were to strenthgen my pulpit I would consider aluminum or stainless L rails, extending along the sides and extending back over the foredeck where I would add some thru bolts. Or consider a custom fabricated aluminum cap over the entire pulpit. Or bight the bullet, remove the whole thing and install a custom metal pulpit. The fiberglass work should be too bad since you would cover over the mess anyway. My 3 cents ...

 

[afitzray]

If you're going the extra mile to add additional support, I'm thinking the kind of thing you see on a sailboat might be worth considering:

Through bolt a plate on the exterior of the anchor locker and add a couple 1" supports to the bottom of the pulpit. You could probably use good bimini hardware to make it easy to source materials, but for the rods you might upgrade to something a little sturdier than what would be on a bimini.

 

[PaulH / Emily S]

If you're going the extra mile to add additional support, I'm thinking the kind of thing you see on a sailboat might be worth considering:
View attachment 35559
Through bolt a plate on the exterior of the anchor locker and add a couple 1" supports to the bottom of the pulpit. You could probably use good bimini hardware to make it easy to source materials, but for the rods you might upgrade to something a little sturdier than what would be on a bimini.

Since I don't trailer, I have considered using the bow ring for some supports as shown above. Why drill more holes and add hardware ? Might be the simplest / cleanest solution, similar to the photo above. Yup ...

 

[afitzray]

Since I don't trailer, I have considered using the bow ring for some supports as shown above. Why drill more holes and add hardware ? Might be the simplest / cleanest solution, similar to the photo above. Yup ...

I was thinking the same thing but couldn't figure how to utilize the bow ring to support a rod and hold it securely. I think I've also become a lot less concerned about holes as long as it's not wood cored. Although I guess you could use the same holes and sandwich some kind of plate between the fiberglass and the bow ring.

If twist is the main concern, my initial thought was to through bolt more on the port side since his TM mount extends out that way and get it closer to centered between mounts on the pulpit. I'm generally more of a function over form type of person, but adding asymmetrical supports would be tough to look at everyday.

 

[Macho]

I was thinking the same thing but couldn't figure how to utilize the bow ring to support a rod and hold it securely. I think I've also become a lot less concerned about holes as long as it's not wood cored. Although I guess you could use the same holes and sandwich some kind of plate between the fiberglass and the bow ring.

If twist is the main concern, my initial thought was to through bolt more on the port side since his TM mount extends out that way and get it closer to centered between mounts on the pulpit. I'm generally more of a function over form type of person, but adding asymmetrical supports would be tough to look at everyday.
View attachment 35560

No twist at all. That aluminum plate doesn't flex at all. Just the pulpit up & down 1/4 inch in heavy seas. The 1-inch starboard the entire length of the top will definitely fix it.