Amarine Made 4 Step Stainless Steel Telescoping Boat Ladder Swim Step

Very sturdy- you might need to go get some hardware (screws, bolts and loctite) but the ladder itself is going to do us wonders

Finally a ladder perfect for when the boat is on the trailer or in the water. I’ve put one on every boat I’ve owned, super strong and the price can’t be beat.

Bought this for my Catalina 22 sailboat transom.Ladder is quite heavy and has a well made appearance. The stainless is bright and shiny giving the appearance of a more expensive ladder. How well the finish will hold up long term remains to be seen. Welds are neat and professional. Steps are covered with a plastic covering that is flat on top and has a modest embedded tread pattern. Easier on your feet than those round rungs. They hurt!The brackets for bolting fast are a solid feeling 1/16" thick stainless. Brackets are really set up for "over the top mounting" in my view. In my case the ladder will hang on the brackets. I did not like the hole positioning for the hanging use. Holes are too close to the bottom of the bracket so I drilled an additional hole higher up and will mount it there. The provided holes don't provide enough support towards the top.No hardware is provided. You must buy your own stainless bolts. Four are required. Brackets are pre-drilled with two holes as 5/16 ths inch.Initially the collapse feature seems a bit sticky. Will salt water make it worse?? Don't know ... Maybe it will loosen up in time.If you are doing a transom mount as I am, the provided brackets provide almost no "toe room" on a near vertical transom. I am installing 3/4" Starboard spacers under my brackets to create just a bit of stand off from the transom. Thicker might be required but 3/4 is what I have on hand. Inch or even inch and a quarter would probably be better. Consider if your transom is vertical, angled in or angled back.In the hanging mode the ladder is free to clunk and swing. Some sort of stop or bumper may have to be made. The brackets could also be squeezed some. If you have a stern rail you could tie it up but it might not be pretty. I'll be making a bumper as necessary.This is a very nice ladder over all from outward appearances. You'll have to make it work for you as I have.UPDATE: After mounting the ladder on my Catalina 22 I have found that the ladder tends to swing in towards the transom with weight on it. This happens with the boat on the trailer. The result is a reduction in "toe room" despite the addition of the 3/4" spacers. Something will need to be added to stop the ladder from swinging in against the transom. How it will act with the boat floating I'm not sure.

Good things:Holes matched, no drillingFolded back into the recess designed into the boat like the original 3 step ladder.Not so good but fixable"The ladder angled out too far, would have put extreme stress on it when climbing up or down. Stuck out from the transom. Does not hang vertical when mounts are secured on a flat horizontal surface.Solution:Removed the mounting hardware and ground the curved part that stops the ladder from going farther down.Somewhat aggravating is the fourth, bottom step does not drop, needs assistance. I put some lithium grease on it. Perhaps it will free up.Overall I'm satisfied because the extra step will make getting on and off our swim platform so much easier.It actually is supported by the trim tab which is the same as the 3 step.

Was looking for a strong 4 step ladder to mount on the transom of our Hewescraft 180 Sportsman. The boat doesn't have a swim platform. It also has a transducer that needs to be avoided, so we had to get a bit creative to mount this ladder which is intended to be mounted on or under a swim platform. Since there are lips on the ladder hinges, a 1/4" spacer was needed - we used two 1/8" thick x 2" wide aluminum bar stock. 2.5 inch stainless bolts with lock nuts were used on the top mounting holes - along with an aluminum bar strip for added strength. For the bottom mounting holes, stainless sheet metal bolts were used (larger than what comes with the ladder). Mounting the top of the hinge flush with the top of the transom clears the transducer open or closed. Now we don't have to worry if someone goes overboard (we tried a gunwale removable ladder which was ineffective). Hopefully this is helpful. Cheers!

This was purchased to upgrade a 3 step ladder on my Bayliner 175. At 52 years old (and not being in the best shape), folding myself practically in half to get out of the water onto my stock ladder was very difficult. It took the fun out of getting in the water. This ladder has solved my problem. I was an easy install as the screw holes matched the stock screw holes exactly. It was a little difficult to reach into the engine compartment to tighten the bolts, but ultimately it took under 30 minutes to install the new ladder. The extra step makes boarding much easier and even my kids appreciate it. Also worth noting, I am a heavy guy and I am confident that this ladder is very solid. One small issue that may bother some - on my Bayliner, the stock ladder, when closed, fits into a recessed area on the stern of the boat. The new ladder is a bit longer and it does not fit into the recessed area. It rests, therefore, a few inches above the stern deck. It doesn't bother me as, even when standing on the stern, one would not normally stand on the ladder whether recessed or not, but if you want a perfectly stock look, this might not be suitable.