bunk access

[davelinde]

For peace of mind we wanted a safety bar on the bed. Our 9 y/o daughter is old enough to sleep up there safely, but she is a restless sleeper and we have seen her with a foot (or two) and part of her leg hanging over the side (she sleeps with her head at the far end).

I just fabricated an 8" high by 16" wide bar using 3/4 pipe and a couple of flanges. Looks OK and seems to do the trick. Placed just to the right of the ladder.

It also helps you get into and out of the bunk on the ladder... which is my next point. As already noted those round steps hurt your feet. We are getting by for now with them wrapped in pipe insulation (and duct tape), but they've got to go. Yesterday the ladder collapsed under the weight of my son (120#) with two rungs just popping out. They are held in place with a small recess and staples, no glue. I re-assembled the ladder with screws for all the rungs... again, to get by for now. But when I can get back to a router and some clamps the whole thing is coming apart and being re-built with flat steps - glued and screwed in place.

 

[bigredtruck]

I am going to inspect our ladder a little better this weekend. I climb up there at least once a trip to gather 'stuff' and don't wnat it collapsing under me!!

 

[WYWendinger]

That's what we plan to do is put up a railing - there's just nothing to hang on to and I'm not a giant but I was too afraid to get in the bunk area because I didn't feel there was enough clearance to get back on the ladder without bowing my body a lot (aka limbo time).

Good resolution to a problem and thanks for bringin it Dave!

 

[davelinde]

just noticed I'd posted about this.

Finally got around to fixing it - came out fine. Used 3/4" x 3" pine for treads. Cut slots in the existing rails to take the new treads. About an hour of work or so once I got it laid out.

 

[pineguy]

Just finished fixing this problem too. Since I run a sign shop we have a CNC Router Table and I decided I would make a complete new ladder for our 3850. Made the stringers wider and about an inch longer, the treads are now 3.5" deep and all made from solid maple. The stringers are all dado'd and the treads are glued and screwed to the stringers.

I then had our lumber supplier custom mix some stain to match the cherry color of the interior and then topped it with 2 coats of lacquer. They turned out pretty good and fit nicely into the stock holder when not in use.

That is one thing we did not like about the trailer when we first looked at them, but all brands have bad access to bunks and lofts. We figured this was something we could fix so we overlooked this problem in our puchasing decision. Just can't believe manufacturers would put something so 'cheesy' (for a lack of a better word ;-)). This is a real safety issue. Our 10 year old son plans to sleep up there, could not imagine using the stock ladder in the daytime let alone in the middle of night. The stock ladder is slippery and the 1" dowel hurts the feet really bad.

 

[dbhutchins]

I didn't realize this problem existed: our 3210 with the sliding glass double garage door has a removable steel ladder with flat steps. Plenty tough to handle my 210 lb, and even has non-skid on the treads. For those more technically challenged who also have this issue: you might contact Heartland and see if you can just buy the steel ladder.