# I am going to build a poling platform...



## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

1) why make it so narrow? Make it the width of the boat
2) I would use 1.5"
3) ???

Don't worry so much about the turnbuckle yet, you need to figure out how it is going to fit to the boat.

I know you know how to build and glue, so I wouldbuild the platform the width of the boat. Use 1.5" od tubing to make it. Then I would use 1.5" ID piece and permanently mount to th boat so the legs can slide into and use hitch pins to keep it there. Undo the pins and lift it off.

Your motor has a wide left to right and the wider the better.

Go back and find the thread that someone made one out of bamboo. It should give you some ideas.


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

DuckNut said:


> 1) why make it so narrow? Make it the width of the boat
> 2) I would use 1.5"
> 3) ???
> 
> ...


Thanks DN.

My transom is 40" across the top. The narrow width of the footprint is because the push pole in the holder takes up at least 3" along the gunnel. I learned that you really want some space on the inside of the bow and stern pole holders after threading the pole in to the holders around my duck blind. I guess I can remove that stern holder and thread the pole inside the platform's legs. I will definitely increase the width of both the footprint and the platform to the greatest extent possible, but my hull will get frisky if I stand on the extreme edge of a 40" wide platform 28" above the deck... ...and Lord knows I will try it if I have the space. With these snakey little hulls, it is often good to be confined to the center where you belong; I also know it is nice to have every inch possible when you are trying not to fall off the platform.

I was afraid the 1.5" OD pipe would be the consensus. I have a 1.25" OD pushpole that is too floppy for my taste and I really want to repurpose it. Oh well.

I thought about a crosspin mount system. I just hate listening to things rattling while I run (could use bolts with lock nuts instead of pins to remedy that) and I was trying to keep the deck as clear as possible when I pulled the platforms (I will actually almost never take the platforms off other than to install the blind, so I am just complicating things). Skipping that turnbuckle would simplify things a ton.

Nate


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Here is one for reference only made from a pick up bed extender...scroll to bottom

http://www.customgheenoe.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19372


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

If you glass the bottoms of the tubes to say a 3x1 then you can through bolt it to the deck, this will make it really clean looking when it's removed, all that will remain in a few 1/4" holes. Before you start, have you stood on anything tall (bucket, stool....) back there yet? I'm sure you are better then me, but at 40" wide I'm not sure I could balance that high up.


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## CurtisWright (May 9, 2012)

Use a cooler until you can afford to pay someone for the aluminum work. You can save money if you just have them build the frame and you make the platform.


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## CurtisWright (May 9, 2012)

Your going to spend a few hundred dollars building an inferior setup. Just wait and save.


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

firecat1981 said:


> If you glass the bottoms of the tubes to say a 3x1 then you can through bolt it to the deck, this will make it really clean looking when it's removed, all that will remain in a few 1/4" holes. Before you start, have you stood on anything tall (bucket, stool....) back there yet? I'm sure you are better then me, but at 40" wide I'm not sure I could balance that high up.


I've thought about bolting through the deck, but the legs of the poling platform are over a sealed flotation chamber and I can't get to the bolts from the bottom. Otherwise, heck yeah.

I have stood on top of the motor and it wasn't bad at all. Hopefully, the platform won't actually need to be 28" tall.

Nate


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

Pay someone to make something? Inferior setup? A few hundred dollars? I don't think he is talking about carbon fiber tubes, just fiberglass. I think you could use the 1.25" if you already have enough of it, it may be flexible at 16ft, but at 28" with cross bars it shouldn't flex much. You could add a small piece at a 45 going up to the deck to help with rigidity.


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## yobata (Jul 14, 2015)

WhiteDog70810 said:


> I've thought about bolting through the deck, but the legs of the poling platform are over a sealed flotation chamber and I can't get to the bolts from the bottom. Otherwise, heck yeah.
> 
> I have stood on top of the motor and it wasn't bad at all. Hopefully, the platform won't actually need to be 28" tall.
> 
> Nate



There are thru bolt anchoring systems that you don't need to have access from the bottom to fasten. Here is one example in stainless http://www.walmart.com/ip/32741222?...44418895&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=79522727175&veh=sem


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

CurtisWright said:


> Use a cooler until you can afford to pay someone for the aluminum work. You can save money if you just have them build the frame and you make the platform.


CW,

I think you are absolutely correct and your advice is the most sensible thing to do. 

...but I'm not gonna follow it. It would muck up my boat's feng shui to bolt a nice custom cantilevered aluminum poling platform on it. 

A poling platform is nothing more than a glorified bench that is priced like an altar. If I can't make a simple, strong, non-ghetto-*******-fabulous lookin' bench by this stage, it is time to take up stamp collecting.

Nate


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

WhiteDog70810 said:


> ...but I'm not gonna follow it. It would muck up my boat's feng shui to bolt a nice custom cantilevered aluminum poling platform on it.
> 
> A poling platform is nothing more than a glorified bench that is priced like an altar. If I can't make a simple, strong, non-ghetto-*******-fabulous lookin' bench by this stage, it is time to take up stamp collecting.


Respect Sir! I look forward to seeing what you come up with. I was thinking about using laminated strips to make curved legs for my next boat.


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## CurtisWright (May 9, 2012)

WhiteDog70810 said:


> CW,
> 
> I think you are absolutely correct and your advice is the most sensible thing to do.
> 
> ...



Strong argument. Looking forward to the build.


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## yobata (Jul 14, 2015)

While searching CL I found this monster of a poling platform... it is 60" high!!
https://orlando.craigslist.org/bpo/5482058267.html


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

oh my! Nate that's the one! Lol.


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

yobata said:


> While searching CL I found this monster of a poling platform... it is 60" high!!
> https://orlando.craigslist.org/bpo/5482058267.html


Oh yeah baby!


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