Cleats

[ksmith]

I am in the process of rebedding the cleats on my 27 Tartan. There are wood pads under all of them.

If they are necessary what purpose do they serve? None of the other boats in the Marina have them. They seem to be more for looks and just seem like one more item to be revarnished from time to time.

If they are necessary should the holes be over sized, filled and redrilled to the correct size?

The cleats are all thru bolted and have good backing plates.

[Vasco]

If the wood pads are on deck (and not backing plates) they would be there so that the lines have a better run due to the increased height of the cleat.

If the deck is cored where the cleat is the best approach would be to fill and redrill.

[ksmith]

Ok had not thought about the height point.

So would it be a good idea to overdrill and refill the wood pads?

[ksmith]

Vasco

The wood pads are on the deck. And the hole thru the deck is oversized and will be refilled with Marine-Tex. Which lucky for me as it is on sale at WM.

[sandy daugherty]

If the pads aren't spongey, they don't need anything more than a fresh coat of varnish. If the deck is cored between the exterior glass and the backing plates, then the core should be hollowed out and filled if it isn't already. If there are no cracks or dimpling above the backing plates, you need do no more than remove and replace the old caulk. Pads are most often used to get the dock lines over a toe rail to reduce fretting.

[SilentOption]

An old engineer friend recommended I use pads on deck and backing plates below to spread the load where the cleats might be used for towing.