Deck hardware-mounted on wood plate-Why?

[rhr1956]

I see a lot of winches and clutches etc. installed on a piece of wood before being attached to the fiberglass deck. I'm not getting it. Why do it this way? Seems to me it just adds to the list of items to maintain.

[barnakiel]

I think there may be a couple of different reasons. E.g.:
- aesthetics,
- positioning (e.g. getting the right line entry angle for a winch),
- avoiding holes in the deck,

etc..

b.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Compression and to spread the load - if bolted straight down the Gelcoat / GRP would crack, apart from cosmetics that would mean the winch no longer 100% bolted down.

Will be (should be!) a backing plate under as well for the same reasons.

FWIW I was trying to think of something to replace my wood (I hate varnishing on deck! - can live with doing that inside as don't need doing much.......but outside it's a constant PITA)............if you come up with a low (zero!) maintainence alternative I am all ears!

[tager]

White paint.

[rhr1956]

I was asking because I'm about to re-route my halyards to the cockpit. I think I will install the new hardware directly to the cabin top. I don't see the need to add a piece of wood. With proper backing plates everything should work fine.

[Orrjames]

We are installing davits at this moment, and have very old teak on the back deck of the transom. I decided to cut out the teak where the mounting brackets go, and will use
1." thick pieces of Starboard for a buffer. With another 1". piece for a backing plate. The Starboard is a very dense white plastic that never needs a thought after installation, easily machinable, and looks great. A bit pricey but well worth it. I bought ours from a marine outfitter, it's easy to find.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

FWIW I was trying to think of something to replace my wood (I hate varnishing on deck! - can live with doing that inside as don't need doing much.......but outside it's a constant PITA)............if you come up with a low (zero!) maintainence alternative I am all ears!

Sure, you can cast them using epoxy resin mixed with high density filler ( = ground bones )

You have to create a mold from the current bases, put something hollow in the middle to make it lighter and save epoxy and take care that it doesn't overheat. I normally do layers of 10mm and then watch temperature; cast next layer when temp starts dropping.

cheers,
Nick.