Plastic Mast Steps

[bobsadler]

has anyone tried these nylon/glassfiber folding masts steps and, if yes, how do you find them?

Folding mast steps

[bobsadler]

also here Mast Step — Plastic Fittings — Pro-Boat Marine Equipment

[Sunspot Baby]

Bob, the silence is deafening. They look interesting and I too wonder how well the hold up.

I have a step in a similar design but the material is aluminum.

George

[bobsadler]

yes, they seem like a great idea. the design is clever, they have a good load rating, they're light and not subject to corrosion. i came across them on the www by accident when i was looking for the aluminum type. i wonder if many people know they exist.

[Celestialsailor]

Every plastic piece I have ever seen on a boat will in time, degrade from UV exposure. I would hate to be aloft fixing an anchor light or something and have one let go.

[maxingout]

I used similar designed aluminum mast steps for 14 years without a problem on Exit Only. They are as good as the day they went on the mast.

I would not be comfortable saying the same thing about nylon/fiberglass ones after fourteen years of use. They degrade in the sunlight and you don't know what their residual strength actually is years later when you need to climb the mast to make repairs, or to climb to the spreaders while navigating in coral.

I would also be concerned about the screws gradually cutting through the nylon/glassfiber mast steps over time. I would want to have washers on each screw to distribute the stress over a larger area to keep the screw from cutting into nylon/glassfiber.

[Fard12]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Every plastic piece I have ever seen on a boat will in time, degrade from UV exposure. I would hate to be aloft fixing an anchor light or something and have one let go.

Never go up the mast with out a chair under your bum! Mast steps or no mast steps.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Fard12

Never go up the mast with out a chair under your bum! Mast steps or no mast steps.

Well if that is the case...Why have mast steps?

[seafox]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Well if that is the case...Why have mast steps?

So you can help the poor bastard who has to winch you up by taking some of the load.

[Nicholson58]

Agree:
take the load off - for your wife on the crank.
must wear a seat or at least a harness.
old plastic and sunlight have an intersection point with your mass.

I think the plastic steps might work in some places inside such as getting into the forward V berth or out of the forward hatch. (no sun). There are some inconvenient high places in our cabin where I may add a couple.

[Unicorn Dreams]

Use an ATN Mast Climber.

Don't have to worry about steps plastic steps breaking.

[Serrano]

We have four of them on the lower part of our mast, as have big square-top main and need to climb up and down to it every time we hoist and lower to attach/detach headboard. They are therefore used much more often than mast steps would normally be. No problems, no signs of wear around the bolts or anywhere else. But they are plastic (and cheap). So i wouldn't keep them for 20 years - replace before then.

[SaucySailoress]

We have two (aluminium, I believe), which we keep in the winch drawer - and one of these days perhaps HWMO will mount them. Ever since we changed from luff tape to lugs on the mainsail I have been unable to flake the main - I'm simply not tall enough!! On the bright side, as long as we don't have mast steps, I don't have to flake the main!!!