Why all the hate for monster towers?

[matt k]

I'm looking into a tower (right now I have a skylon, which works, but I'd like the addrd rigidity, and also the storage of a tower).

The 3 options on the table are:

A monster tower - cheap, but i'm not wild about how they look. And apparently people seem to really dislike them.

A boat-specific new dimension - I'd love to go this route, but $1800 is a lot of money to me, and then if I have it professionally installed (which I'd like to do, since I want to have the fiberglass reinforced), it'll be even more.

A DIY tower that is somewhere between supra-whacko's very well done DIY tower and a knock-off of the new dimension towers. This is seeming more and more likely, since I can bend and weld well enough, and 1.5" schedule 80 steel pipe is pretty cheap.

thoughts?

[wotan2525]

If you can go the DIY route, do it. In my experience though, they never are as nice or as stable as a professionally made tower. AND after the materials, time, powder coating, hardware and headaches -- you'll probably wish you had spent the $1800. AND finding nice feet has gotten fairly difficult.

I think Monster tower makes a very nice product. They support it really, really well. They are solid and inexpensive and every dealing I've ever had with the company has been exceptional. The looks? Not really for me. Though... I think that a Monster would look great on a Comp!

When I first started building my boat I was cheap on every accessory that I could be cheap on. Now that I'm doing things over for the 2nd (or in some case 3rd time) I'm going with what I should have done the first time. When I decide it's time for a new tower, I'll be ponying up for the New Dimension (or a custom made one.)

[haugy]

I just don't like how they look, and the fact that they have so many hinge/connection points.

I like New Dimensions because they are solid as a rock, look great with the boat, and have options with them. The tower added anchor light is awesome. And you can mount a factory Supra bimini to it, big plus.

Do not use poop pipe for a tower. It's not designed for that kind of load. I see guys building roll cages with it, and it will hold up to a light tip over. But a hard roll and it's toast. It's just not load bearing pipe. No matter how well you make the welds look. So I know it won't handle a localized load from a tow point. If you do, take video when you ride behind it so we can watch.

[riderite]

How about looking at a Menace Watersports / Star One Wake's tower.. Build racks OEM for Moomba, Supra, Chaparral, Sanger, Supreme, Calibria, and also build OEM towers for Supreme, Sanger and Calibria.. Look at the Series 2 tower its one of the most solid towers on the market today.. Take a look at the Malibu Crew forum and you will see the guys over there preach Menace / Star One built...

[haugy]

Looks just like a Monster tower to me. Except for the backwards one, yeah, no thanks.

[Mani]

I feel a disturbance in the force.

[wotan2525]

<threadjack>

Speaking of Menace/Star One (who I'm actually a fan of, too) I just ordered these cans: http://www.menacewatersports.com/shop-v1.0/ccdata/images/full4_0_6.jpg

Ahem.... speaker cans!

</threadjack.>

[Memmer99]

Nice Cans!

[michael hunter]

Keep the pics coming you are starting to convert me.

[oldman]

This is seeming more and more likely, since I can bend and weld well enough, and 1.5" schedule 80 steel pipe is pretty cheap.

thoughts?

Just wondering if anybody has a tower on a boat made of schedule 80 steel pipe?

[haugy]

Just wondering if anybody has a tower on a boat made of schedule 80 steel pipe?

I helped a friend make a roll cage for his rockcrawler out of Schedule 80 against my wishes. He seemed intent. So we gusetted the hell out of it, and made lots triangulation. I am 99% positive that if I tried to make a tower that looked like New Dimensions (angles and double tubes) that it would fail under load.

I'm 100% positive that if you did it to look like a Monster tower it would fail.

There's a reason you don't hear about them made out of Schedule 80. That thin wall steel is not designed for lateral loads and pulling. It's designed to withstand pressure and compression. I'm sure someone has done it, and I'm sure someone here could prove me wrong, but I really don't want to see it. The propensity for an accident and someone getting hurt is too high.

If you are going to do it, make sure it's more straight angle than anything. Schedule 80 does not do well when bent, and the compressed.

[supra wacko]

Hey Guys,

@ Matt Thanks for the great compliment for my Tower.
My tower build of 6 cm aluminium thickness 3mm is solid as a rock, and the total price was around 900 Euro (is +/-800 dollar) including the racks, lights, powdercoat and bimini.

For a comp I couldn't find a factory build tower that matches te shape I was looking for, so thats why I designed it myself. It took over a half year for thinking and and the drawings where made. Even during the build I also chanced some measuring, because It didn't match the shape/looks to the boat.

For a comp you als have to look for the height of the tower because most ar te low so you can't stand under it. Or speakercans are difficult to place under the tower.

So If you have the skills and knowledge you can build yourself a good tower.

I think Monstertower and other factory build towers looks really awful to most skiboats keep them to a Bayliner or other I/O boat.

If you are interested in the drawings I could send it to you. (p.m. me)

Greetzzzzzzzzz

Supra Wacko

[matt k]

Interesting thoughts on sch. 80 pipe. I have no problem using something stronger, I just thought the sch. 80 would be plenty. 2" schedule 80 pipe is 2.3" OD with a .22" wall (about 5.8cm with a 5.6mm wall), which depending on the kind of aluminum supra wacko used, should be at least as strong, if not much stronger (and also WAY heavier :p ).

If not, what should I build with? I can get A513 - TYPE 5 STEEL TUBE DOM for relatively reasonable prices, in a wide variety of wall thicknesses. I'd love an aluminum tower, but bending it is more challenging, and I can't weld it very well with my equipment, so it's far more likely that i'd end up using steel.

How much stronger is DOM steel than equivalent sized (and wall thickness) steel pipe? Maybe a lot... I'll have to dig thru some of my racing catalogs and see how much it'd cost to build the whole thing out of roll-bar or cage steel.


edit: hm, a quick google says that jegs sells 5 feet of 1-5/8 x .134" mild steel roll bar tubing for 30 bucks a pop, which isn't terrible.

Supra wacko, about how many feet of tubing did you end up using?


also, the big thing about the new dimensions towers that I like is the 6 mounting feet instead of 4:
http://www.newdimensiontowers.com/galleries/supra/images/1984-1988_Comp_TS6m.jpg

so that's a feature that I'm definitely going to try to incorporate.

[jet]

Supra wacko. I want to see pics of your boat?? Jet

[supra wacko]

@ Matt I used 3 x 6 mtr lengths of 60mm diameter 5 mm thick alumium. And is all welded with the strong simple TIG without watercooling. It was getting really hot sometimes but the equipment kept it. only sand the alu before you weld it works(floods) better that way.
( and the drawing and the pics are they arrived)

@ jet see the next link

https://forum.supraboats.com/showthread.php?t=4002

Greetzzz

[matt k]

Thanks a ton for the drawings, very helpful! It looks like my racecar friends use 1.750OD x .095W DOM steel for rollbars and cages (although I think SCCA may have just upped the requirement to 2"OD), so I'm thinking that if it's good enough for cages, it should be more than good enough for a tower...

Looks like I'll probably burn up close to $300 in steel, plus fasteners and consumables. The biggest thing I'm currently worried about is where and how to reinforce the deck where it attaches. I might have my mechanic's fiberglass guy do that part, or something like that.

Supra wacko, what did you use for the attachment points where the permanent part of the tower meets the removable part?

[jet]

Nice job man..nice job. Jet

[ludacris]

Big Air Pylons
5305 Robert Lee Road
Duncan, OK 73533
(580) 252-5314
[email protected]
THESE GUYS HAVE NICE QUALITY TOWERS AND ACCESSORIES...THEY WERE VERY NICE, AND THERE SERVICE TO ME WAS OUTSTANDING...GOOD LUCK....

[supra wacko]

I used 3 parts 10mm thick allumium a in a U shape and welded at the permanent 2 of those plates and left 11 mm in between so the 3 is the hinge from the collapsable part drilled a hole through the 3 parts and placed a bold and some rings and mutter. to attach it to each other.

Sorry for my bad english I hope you can understand it.

Hope the pics will be good for you.

Greetzzzz

[matt k]

no, that completely makes sense, and seems like a great idea. I wonder, if I do the same thing with steel, if the paint will wear off at the bearing surfaces and I'll get rust problems.

Thanks for all the help, your advice (having done it already) is super helpful.

[haugy]

no, that completely makes sense, and seems like a great idea. I wonder, if I do the same thing with steel, if the paint will wear off at the bearing surfaces and I'll get rust problems.

Thanks for all the help, your advice (having done it already) is super helpful.

Teflon paint might help wear and rust prevention.

[Tackleberry]

In reference to Monster Tower... XTP and Monster are one in the same now and if I'm not mistaken, XTP manufactured all of the towers for Skiers Choice at one point. They're pretty solid towers IMO.

[supra wacko]

You can place nylon rings in between than the rust is almost to zero.
And not tighten the nuts to fast. I dont collapse my tower much.

Greetzzzz

[matt k]

You can place nylon rings in between than the rust is almost to zero.
And not tighten the nuts to fast. I dont collapse my tower much.

Greetzzzz
man, you are full of great answers. A nylon or teflon washer in between is a perfect solution for that issue.