Handicap Accessible Boat.

We have a user here on the site (Ramrod1 – Pete Linsner) who sent me a question about sealing up a side ramp to a jon boat. I was very interested in seeing the modification and requested to see a picture. (See Below)

Pete mentioned that he has tried rubber window seals, but they did not last or do the job well. Anyone here have any ideas for sealing up this hatch? Is there a product out there that would do this job better than window seals? Any help would be appreciated.

On a side note I think this is one cool modification. Never seen one like it. Pete writes that he regularly takes handicapped folks fishing and has many other fishing items rigged for just about any handicap. Way to go Pete!

Next.

One more.

Jon, I’m not smart enough to have the answer but I wonder if the guys at the PVA (paralized veterans of America) would have done this before. Might be a good resource for this gentleman to check out.

I have a very good friend who has a machine shop on the north side of the cities. He does everything with all different metals and is very talented. I can offer you his number. He is a great guy and I think that he would be intrigued to tackle this type of task. Let me know if you want his name and number. He is also very reasonable.

My recommendation (if I can put my ideas into words) is to make a edge seal plate that goes around the outside of the door. This plate, would probably have to be 2″ wide, for strength and sealing capability. Then, instead of using home window seals, get a car window seal. This rubber is softer, yet stronger. Place this seal on the edge plate, so when the door is closed, the plate (with the seal) is your water tight seal (make sense).

As for the bottom (I hate to tell people to do it over), where the hinge is, but here, you will also need to have the seal. Therefore, the hinge needs to be lower, not flush with the access. With this, you have room to run a one piece seal from side-to bottom-to side.

Now, this will make it difficult for wheel chair entry, because there is now a 2 inch rise, from the door hinge to the bottom of the entry. To overcome this (since the door is not a flat piece of metal, you will need to make a 2 inch thick door (not a solid door, make it hollow). The inner part of the door will need an extened bottom, so when the door is opened, it comes flush with the bottom access of the boat door opening.

Now to secure this door, to make it tight (and strong since you took out a structure section), you should have 4 studs on the door. These studs need to go into 4 plates on the boat, where you can take a “crank” nut. As the door closes, your screw your four crank nuts tight, sealing the door tight from water.

If I can be of further assistance, PM me and I will give you my number. I’ve worked with metal stuctures and used to me a Manufacturing Engineer that worked alot with designing gizmos and gadgets, as well as I have a great connection with a metal fabrication guru (as I mentioned above).

Good luck and don’t hesitate to ask!!!!!!!

Nice looking boat. I install a whirlpool bath tub a few years ago that had a water tight door on the front. Not sure how they sealed the tub from leaking but it came to mind when reading about this.

Heres a pic of how “War Eagle” boats does it.
http://www.wareagleboats.com/accessories_features/detail.asp?id=1
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It looks like he used angle iron or something suitably strong for the mating surfaces. How many fasteners are holding it in place when it’s closed, and how are they spaced around the door? Are the fasteners mounted on the ‘indside’ (toward the center of the door) of the seal, or the outside?

If he’s just using two fasteners at the top, then nonuniformity of the mounting surfaces and any error or slop in the hinge or the hull are going to leak. If that’s the case, I would suggest adding more to get uniform compression of the seal.