I almost fell off the tongue of my trailer the other day and was wondering about a way to make a platform to stand on for it.  I thought about the ones sold at BPS and other places, but I was wondering if there might be a better mousetrap.  

my first ideas was to use treated plywood and make it with u-bolts

my second idea came from thinking about the inevitable consequences of my fat butt on wood.  I thought I could use aluminum angle and self tapping screws.  just put the angle so one face is on the vertical wall of the tongue, and the other is at the top.  put on some anti-skid tape and it should work.  Any thoughts?

pics of your setups would be welcomed.

After falling in the lake one time to many on cold spring and fall days I got myself an inexpensive pair of hip boats.  No more walking the plank for me.

TD

samurai361, I like your idea about the aluminum angle. 2"-3" angle probably. I use the anti-skid tape already just on the tongue but making it wider should be better. I have been on a trailer with those walk-ways like in the BPS catalog. Too weak for my confort.

kb here  i have on of those  fiberglass side  front tounge step off and ons but they are expensive for a ranger i dont know if i still have the  numbers on making one out of steel and bolting it to side of trailor   but if you are interested let me know and i will try to fine the drawing i made with all the numbers   kb

I used aluminum treadplate.

If you find some old use aluminum running boards from a pickup. take off the sides, drill a few holes in them and U-bolt them to the trailer. I did this on my 14footer, works great. they are about 7 inches wide and have antiskid on them already. Their aluminum, so they will not rot like wood. went to a U-pull-it junk yard and paid $5 for them.

I have a piece of vinyl decking material that is about 5 1/2" wide and 1 1/2" thick with a nice non-slip surface. It was left over from my backyard deck project. I thought I'd cut a length of it to fit my trailer and mount it with stainless steel U-bolts.  You can probably find this material at one of the big do-it-yourself stores.

I also used aluminum treadplate. Works great and was easy to cut and mount.I have more pieces that could be used for the same purpose. I haven't put any grip tape on mine. But then again I dont put my trailer in far enough to get my feet wet.

http://shop.easternmarine.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=catalog.catalog&categoryID=222

thanks for the ideas