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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

factory cradle pads

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blanik
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Canada
210 Posts

Initially Posted - 09/12/2013 : 14:23:44

Hi, i'm in the process of refurbishing the pads on my cradle, over the years they've been neglected, some vinyl carpet has been tacked over but it was all crumbling down, so i stripped everything to bare wood and sealed it, now i need to put back some padding on it, i've opted for gluing a 3/8" closed cell foam plus gluing a new clear vinyl carpet (to avoid humidity being trapped between the hull and pads, read some reports of osmosis under the pads)

so my question is does anyone knows what was the original thickness of the padding on de factory pads? i don's want to force the hull one way or the other while resting on the hard during the winter...

1984 C25 FK/SR #4593
Lake Champlain

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Ape-X
Admiral

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USA
662 Posts

Response Posted - 09/13/2013 : 04:25:00

I have the factory cradle drawing: 12X12" pad made from 3/4" plywood. "Padded" shows no dimensions. Interestingly, all four pads are the same, 23" from underside of plywood to end of the support post, 9-3/4" from end of post to center of the 1/2" bolt hole.

To take up the gap from flat pads, I created some wedges on the sides of the pads to allow MORE contact for each pad. I made some of the wedges too tall, and come spring, the plywood flexed to meet the hull, no deformation of the hull.

Edited by - Ape-X on 09/23/2013 14:44:02

glivs
Admiral

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USA
836 Posts

Response Posted - 09/13/2013 : 13:40:52

Hopefully Frank (Pastmember) will chime in. IFRC he used a work area floor mat purchased from a building supply store to cover the pads. Looked interesting.

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blanik
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Canada
210 Posts

Response Posted - 09/13/2013 : 13:48:15

that's what i bought, closed cell foam floor mat, there was a felt coat on it but i removed it to put a vinyl coating... i'm just wondering about the recommended thickness of the padding, half an inch would probably make a difference on the repartition of the charge between the keel and the four pads :-/

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dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 09/13/2013 : 19:24:35

The work area (anti-fatigue) floor mat you are referring to is the rubber type, set up in 12" x 12" molded-in squares with 64 holes in each square. I remember Frank (or someone) using that stuff as a cushioning material under the carpet on his trailer pads. I'm not sure it's necessary. After buying our trailer, I just replaced the carpeting on the pads with new carpet. Should be sufficient.

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GaryB
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4303 Posts

Response Posted - 09/14/2013 : 07:13:14

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by dmpilc
 The work area (anti-fatigue) floor mat you are referring to is the rubber type, set up in 12" x 12" molded-in squares with 64 holes in each square. I remember Frank (or someone) using that stuff as a cushioning material under the carpet on his trailer pads. I'm not sure it's necessary. After buying our trailer, I just replaced the carpeting on the pads with new carpet. Should be sufficient.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
The purpose of the mat was to add a slight amount of cushioning and also to let the water drain away from the hull under the mat so you don't end up with wet carpet against the hull for weeks to months at a time. It allows the carpet to dry our in a few hours (or here in the Texas heat, a few minutes).

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DanM
Captain

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USA
256 Posts

Response Posted - 09/23/2013 : 13:43:30

Maybe you are trying to over-engineer this thing.
Most of the cradle pads I see are flat plywood with some sort of synthetic carpet scraps. Much of it does not last a season and is replaced. There is no attempt to contour pads to fit the hulls of any design. Maybe that is best to avoid trapping moisture and mold agents.

My concern was the yard crew maybe using staples through the carpeting, but I have not seen it in my marina. That might affect the hull finish.

My marina will fill paint the area behind the pads upon spring launching, if you leave a partial can on the cradle. (we mostly use VC-17)

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