Custom tower just installed

[TitanTn]

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/tower_front.jpg

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/tower_back.jpg

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/tower_right.jpg

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/tower_right_front.jpg

[michael hunter]

Sweet looks like my New Dimensions with different mounting feet.

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn127/suprahunter/SupraPicture034.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn127/suprahunter/SupraPicture037.jpg

[TitanTn]

Yep. Your tower is one that I used for inspiration.

[Loadup]

Did you do that this weekend, we rode around looking for you but without tower. The tower looks great by the way.

[michael hunter]

Yep. Your tower is one that I used for inspiration.

Inspiration? Did you make that tower?

[TitanTn]

Inspiration? Did you make that tower?

I "designed" it. It's completely custom designed and built. So I basically took your tower and Haugy's and made something a little in-between. It took several meetings between me and Marine Tower Systems to get the design nailed down. And I', very pleased that they delivered on that design. It's really nice having the option to make a one-off, but it's also a little scary because you don't know EXACTLY what you're going to get.

[Mani]

It looks great. Congrats.

[jasonba1]

looks awesome glad the guys at mts took care of you

[haugy]

Like mine? :D Are you looking at the same tower? ha ha ha

Looks good man, congrats. Although I was hoping you'd try the swoop design so I could see how it would look on a Salty.

[TitanTn]

Like mine? :D Are you looking at the same tower? ha ha ha

Looks good man, congrats. Although I was hoping you'd try the swoop design so I could see how it would look on a Salty.

I just had a hard time thinking that a swoop tower would work on mine. I thought it was a little too new of a style for my 25 year old boat. So I took the more upright design from Michael's boat and angled it back just slightly more. It's not a swoop, and it's not AS straight up as Michael's.

[Salty87]

looks great, you done real good. it folds to the front? my tower doesn't fold so i'm a little envious.

i may have overlooked this but how does MTS compare on price? i realize it's basically custom and that's not usually too cheap.

[TitanTn]

looks great, you done real good. it folds to the front? my tower doesn't fold so i'm a little envious.

i may have overlooked this but how does MTS compare on price? i realize it's basically custom and that's not usually too cheap.

Thanks Salty. Yes, it folds to the front which is obviously very convenient. That's the nice part of having a custom tower built. It's your specific specifications.

I think their web site says something like $2,300, but when I emailed them, they immediately said the price is $1,700. That's the price I paid. Well worth it to have a tower designed to my desires, and to have it installed by professionals.

[csuggs]

Titan - I'm glad MTS worked out for you. You're tower looks awesome - goes well with the boat!

[TitanTn]

Titan - I'm glad MTS worked out for you. You're tower looks awesome - goes well with the boat!

Thanks! It was your suggestion that directed me there. I'm aching to get out and try the tower, but we've had a little cold spell hit this area. I'm hoping this weekend is nice.

One thing is that MTS said these older boats weren't made with towers in mind and the fiberglass along the gunnel is not as thick as what they do now. They suggested that I get someone to spray some fiberglass under the gunnel and cover the mounting plates. Did you have this done? Have you heard of anything like this before?

[csuggs]

No. When Viper had the cap off the boat I asked them to add reinforcement for the tower. So they installed wooden blocks to the underside of the cap and glassed them in. Only problem is there was a communication breakdown between Viper and MTS so when MTS drilled for the tower mounts, they missed the reinforcement blocks. When I got the boat back to Viper from the tower shop, I had them install more blocks. Not as good as our original intention, but it seems to work.

[sybrmike]

Yes, you should reinforce the gunnel under the tower feet on these older boats. I'da thought the MTS boys would have done this for you during the install?

Spraying some chopper gun after the fact isn't the best way to go - chopper guns are used to build up material, but don't offer much strength, plus it'll be a real mess if you ever need to access/remove the mounts from underneath if they're covered in chopped glass.

Don't know how your MTS mounts, but most towers come with small aluminum backer plates that are about the size of the tower feet. Conventional wisdom is to fab some additional oversized backer plates out of plywood or hefty aluminum stock to be sandwiched between the small tower backing plates and gunnel to help spread the load. The oversized backers should be shaped and bedded in so there are no hard spots or stress points contacting the underside of the gunnel.

Lots of different ways to do it, but for example - I started by cutting ~4"x10" pieces of 3/4" PT plywood (max size that would fit in the areas under my tower feet), then beveled/angled the edges for a good fit without hard spots. I attached the pieces to the underside of the hull (like bedding stringers) with a mixture of epoxy resin & chopped glass (or can use an adhesive like 5200, liquid nails, etc.). I then went overkill and glassed the backers to the underside of the gunnel. With the extra thickness, I did have to cut longer mounting studs for the tower feet.

Don't know if you can make out the details, but here's a pic from the underside of a front mount. Studs bolt thru the factory square aluminum backer plate, glassed in oversized plywood backer, then gunnel, and into the tower foot on top.

Sorry so long winded, but hope this helps - don't want that pretty new tower to spider crack your deck.

[Ptownkid]

Agreed, glassing over the hardware would be a very bad idea!

[Okie Boarder]

I mounted some 4" x 10" plywood under mine, as well. It is definitely very strong and I can literally shake the whole boat when I try to shake the tower. I will say I'm seeing a lot of tower movement this year now that I have wakeboard racks and boards in them. I've been watching it when we on on a little rougher water and it seems like the movement is transferring all the way down to the flat areas of the gunwales. It's a bit unnerving to see it flexing like that, but I would assume with the suppport underneath it should be able to handle it.

[TitanTn]

Yeah, I didn't like the chopper idea. Messy and I think it'd take a lot of material to end up adding any strength.

MTS supposedly built large backing plates. I'm going to start digging in and get a look at them. I don't think I can reasonably glass in additional supports like Mike has done, but maybe something can be done to make bigger/stronger plates. Or maybe it's good as they've done it and their warning was a way of absolving liability.

[Patrick56]

Doesn't look too much different than the Rad-A-Cage on my 03' SSV. Mine has just a little more "lean" to it than the 99-01 Launch. I think everything changed in 04'. Nice work Titan.

[TitanTn]

Nice looking boat and tower Patrick. It really looks sharp.

[dshaff24]

Id say you couldn't of defined a better tower for that boat.. Looks like its factory

[renamaureen]

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/tower_front.jpg

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/tower_back.jpg

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/tower_right.jpg

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/tower_right_front.jpg
Wow! Your boat looks amazing with its new tower.. I hope I can see more photos here.