Drifter Marine Dog Boarding Boat Ladder

I like how easy it is to use, it just slides on to the side of our boat & our fog loves it. She’s 45 lbs a medium size & has no problem getting in the boat. Love it!

The plastic coating on the transom arms is thin and wears through quickly if your boat has a metal/aluminum transom. The same problem occurs on the plastic cups on the end of the transom arms. Result - scratched transom top and inside of boat. The webbing is abrasive IF your dog uses the ramp multiple times. In our case, our labrador who is coming to the ramp, dropping the bumper, then off for another retrieve has rub/rash spots on the inside of her front and rear legs from the area where the webbing attaches to the aluminum frame. Also, one of the hinge arms continues to bend resulting in pulling the ramp, getting a firm grip on the transom arm, and bending the hinge arm back into place. Our lab is only 65 pounds so these are not fat dog issues. While the design makes sense for taller gunwale and transom fishing boats, I would not recommend this ramp based on our experience over the last 2 years of use.

Works excellent!!

The ladder most definitely doesn't work with all boats. We have a Bayliner Element 2016 which is a fairly small 16 foot bowrider. The ladder barely reached the water when we tried setting it up. It definitely wouldn't have worked for our dog. I emailed the company and they graciously accepted the return and said that they plan to have another ladder out soon for boats with thicker side walls. Long story short - if you have an aluminum fishing boat, this ladder is probably perfect for you. If you've got a fiberglass style bowrider or similar, maybe wait for Drifter Marine to come out with the bigger ladder or go with a ladder that attaches to your swim ladder. Good luck!

The product arrived in good condition. The size of the actual ramp is 16 inches wide and 34 inches long. The mesh on the ramp is made of strong rubber mesh.

I've tried all manner of options for using this and ultimately this is a waste of money and technically time in fiddling with this. - this does not attach to anything well or at all (pool, steps, dock, ladder, boat) - this does not hold up well in chlorinated water (deposits on the metal brackets) - this is just plain awkward and unwieldy Spend your money elsewhere or be prepared to customize this significantly to support your needs.

Product description said nada about pools. So gave it a try. Used floating board from prior dog ramp under new to give float. Works really, really well.

It didn’t work for what I needed it to do