New tower install w/ bimini

[SquamInboards]

So I finally finished my monster mt2 tower install on my boat. I've been chipping away at it, 20 minutes at a time here and there, for the better part of the last month. I put a light on the top and also got the cargo rack bimini, which was really half the reason for the tower in the first place. With a new baby he's gotta have shade and the fly high made a regular bimini impossible. Plus I kinda always wanted a tower.

I mounted the bimini really low, for more shade mostly. And I didn't see any need to be able to walk under it since I don't have a bowrider. I can still sit on the gunwale of the driver's seat and I can see both over and under the bimini from there. I angled it forward slightly (it can be adjusted up more actually) so it's not cocked back while under way. Plus with it being so low, you can get under it easier with the stern end lifted up in the top position. In the pics it's in the lowest position.

I made up some 10" long aluminum backing plates to supplement the 2.5" ones they sent with the tower. Running the wire for the light was a huge pain, but now I never have to mess with my stern light pole again.

I took the boat out on a windy day and there was really no rattle at all from any part of the tower or the bimini, I was very pleased. The bimini can actually swing a little, which is a little weird but I think it keeps it from rattling actually. Overall I'm very pleased with how it came out, and I was out for almost an hour at noon time yesterday, no clouds at all and we didn't have to cover the baby in sunscreen (or ourselves) which was really nice.


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[suprasam]

That looks good! Although the scar on my head from this past weekend will only prove I HATE low bimini tops lol. I have a completly shaved head......and man did that hurt coming up short! I was on a buddies Yamaha AR210, so a bit different than your boat though. Since you don't have a bowrider you shouldn't have that issue as much.

[Zim]

You'll enjoy the bimini... it's great having some shade relief. The bimini hasn't been my issue so far with banging my head... it's been the 4 speakers that hang about forhead height for me. Those suckers hurt!

[SquamInboards]

Yeah I actually think with the bimini mounted so low, it would be hard to hit my head on it. It's worse when it's close to head height, I think. My biggest concern is when it rains, I really hope it doesn't pond on the bimini so you have to clear it all off before taking the other cover off. My friend with a 2011 Super Air Nautique doesn't always use his main cover, so when you step into the boat after rain, the bimini DUMPS water all over everywhere, it's awful. Obviously using the main cover would allow you to dump water onto the cover, but it shouldn't pond in the first place if you ask me!

OH and Monster tower told me that the "medium" size (there is only small and medium, no large) wouldn't really fit under the MT2 tower. If you want to use their mounting system, yes this is true. However, I got a little creative and it fits just fine, being as low as it is. But if you wanted to go much higher, it absolutely wouldn't fit. The small is only 48" wide, though, and I thought on a boat with 7' 11" beam, that was just stupid. I'm glad I went with medium, but they were more or less correct that it doesn't really fit the way they intended it to be mounted.

[jzelt]

Spray bottle with water, bucket to put water in to splash and some float toys for it, and that baby will grow up to be happy. We also do a wet bandana on his head to keep him cool.

[SquamInboards]

Spray bottle with water, bucket to put water in to splash and some float toys for it, and that baby will grow up to be happy. We also do a wet bandana on his head to keep him cool.


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That's a happy kid, at the wheel 9 months. He did go for the throttle but didn't move the lever at all. I was honestly expecting him to reach over and floor it haha. I had a firm grip on the wheel in case he did.

[haugy]

That looks good. Can you take some closer pictures of your setup? I bet there are more people here who could use the idea.

I'm still confused when you say it moves. Like it swings back and forth like a porch swing? Or swings when you want it to?

[SquamInboards]

That looks good. Can you take some closer pictures of your setup? I bet there are more people here who could use the idea.

I'm still confused when you say it moves. Like it swings back and forth like a porch swing? Or swings when you want it to?

I'll get some closer pics next time I'm at the boat.

It swings, because I used the same mounts in the front as are intended for the rear, which use ball & socket joints at each end of the pipe. The rear mounts have a push-button adjuster, and for that to work at different angles, the ends need to be able to pivot. They also use those so that it's more universal in terms of mounting options. The fronts are supposed to be mounted at the front crossbar of the bimini, so it could pivot, but only on one axis. Basically it rotates around the front crossbar, and the rear is supported by the hanging supports. In my case the crossbar doesn't line up with the tower legs so I had to find another way to make it work.

[SquamInboards]

Finally, pictures of the "finished" product. I say "finished" because I want to find some hand-knob equipped bolts for the bow mounts, rather than having to use an allen wrench every time. I already dropped one in the lake, and attached a floaty thing to my other one so it doesn't happen again. Anyway with the mounts set up the way they are now, the bimini is very rugged and doesn't move at all, at least not more than the factory setup. I can adjust the rear height a little, which I wanted so that it's sort of level while actually driving, rather than cocked back and funneling wind into the boat, more than it already does. What you can't do is quickly take it off. You have to back out those bolts on the bow legs, which is kind of a pain. I'm working on a solution that won't cost me another $50 - $100.

In the first picture you can see the bolt backed out most of the way, just for demonstration purposes. Lining up those holes was a... yeah I gave up and just made the holes a little extra big. I got the clamp-style mounts from Monster for about $60 I think. They're a little overkill, but they're nicely made and solid aluminum.

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Aside from being too low for normal adults to sit on the engine cover, it's the perfect height for maximum shade in the front seats, and I can still sit on the gunwale and see under it as well as over it easily. With a bowrider, it would suck to climb under to get up front, but with the closed bow that's irrelevant. Anyway if someone wants more detailed pics, I'd be happy to take some, but you can get the basic idea.

[Blackntan90]

Looks real nice, Very clean install.

[SquamInboards]

Thanks, I've been pleased so far. Saturday by the time we were able to get out on the lake, it was raining. But with the bimini, my wife and I were out for 2.5 hours and didn't get wet. It rained on and off gently the whole time, and of course there was no one else on the lake at all. Brilliant! I had the cover on the rest of the boat, so it stayed dry too. I had to hang a towel to keep the drips off my right shoulder but that was it.

Also, yesterday it was pretty choppy and there were no rattles at all from the tower or bimini, at any speed.