aftermarket wedge system

[jet]

The floating wedge scares me a little more and Im not sure I understand why that works better. locked down its at 100% effective at that angle right? And if floating, that would allow the water (or force) to push it to a postion where it wouldnt be as effective?? Also the scary part would be if the wedge is at a 3 or 4:00 position that would be more outward stress put on the back end of the boat rather than in a 5-5:30 position pulling in the downward position..right??

[stinky_1]

I had some theories on it, but dont know for sure. Ill see if I can explain it later when I am not at work and have more time.

[chrisk]

Yeah this is a very interesting/scary topic. I'd love the idea of not filling my boat with ballast EVERY time I go out, but those pics on wakeworld scare the crap out of me.

I'll be watching Stinky! Maybe you'll have another customer

[stinky_1]

so, I think that the word "floating" is a bit miss leading. When they say that I used to picture it floating at the water line somewhere. But I no longer believe that is the case. I think floating simply means that it is not fixed into position.

If the blade is shaped correctly it should have a tendency to pull straight down relative to the water (not the hull). This would be critical for doing activities that require the hull to be at different angles. For example, your bow will be much higher in the air while surfing than wakeboarding. So, if you have the blade fixed at a certain angle it will ONLY work right for one of those 2 activities, but not both. The reason being that while the bow is up in the air, your blade will be trying to push the bow back down, not pull the rear end into the water.

if you were able to have that blade "float" and auto correct its angle so it always has maximum down force, then you can surf or wakeboard without having to mess with the plate.

I do not believe that the plate will be straight back and pulling straight out on your hull. I think as it is slicing through the water its tendancy will be for it to come forward, and as the boat pulls away from it you end up in the neutral position which should be some where around maximum angle for the thing to work.

the question then comes up, is this simply a regular wedge that has not had the pin put in? I looked at the pre floating wedge as well as the floating one. I cant see any significant difference in it. So, I would be willing to try it with the pin out and see what happens. Obviously I would do it from a very very slow start speed and have my platform off so I could see what it was up to.

Either way, If I have enough locating holes in the bracket I should be able to make it work for both surfing and wakeboarding. But you should not be able to have it in the same position to get he best wake on both normally.

Hopefully that sort of makes sense, and not just a crazy guys ramblings.

[chrisk]

I understand what you're saying, however I don't think the physics of it makes sense at all. I just can't picture the wedge, basically on a hinge, staying in optimal position. The whole theory about auto-correcting doesn't make sense because the blade doesn't know what angle we want as wakeboarders, it doesn't know that we want it to be creating downforce. It will "think" that the optimal angle for it, a piece of steel moving forward through water, will be completely flat with barely any resistance and equal pressure on both the bottom and top. What creates the downforce, is us wakeboarders predetermining what the angle of the blade will be when our boat is moving, thus creating the higher pressure on top and the lower pressure on the bottom. It's just like if you were building an airplane, you wouldn't put the wings on a swivel and trust that they're going to find the optimal angle for YOUR flying. I think there must be more to the "floating" wedge than just letting it do its thing.

[stinky_1]

I know where you are going, and its something I still struggle with. This is why I am going for the fixed position with a pin holding it in place.

I dont think there is much to get "wrong" on a fixed one. As long as it has a bit of backwards lean to it, it will be pulling the boat down.

I am guessing there was a bit more engineering involved when they made their floating wedge.

Also, the airplane is close for an analogy, but you need to realize that we use the wings to steer the airplane. On the boat we can adjust the bow height based on the throttle position. The "wing" in this case is passive and will do whatever it does to get through that water with the least amount of resistance. if it was beveled correctly you would make it naturally ride lower or higher in the water.

On the airplane we are using the wing to do ALL of the lift as well as steer. In the boat we just want it to pull the back into the water. So I am not even certain that the entire picture can be looked at from the same angle.

please dont get me wrong, I am not trying to say you are wrong and I am right. I have no idea if I am right. I dont see any other means to force the wedge into position when I looked. So I have to try and bend my reality to match what I think that wedge "should" be doing to do what I think it should.

Anyone else with insight is more than welcome to jump in here as well

[stinky_1]

here is a quick youtube vid showing the "manual auto wedge".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF54Y...layer_embedded

The manual part just means you have to still go to the rear and pull the pin. then it does the rest.

[jet]

Thats what I was trying to say, but didnt have the degree (self taught) to back it up! lol. I am also self taught in the sex department and look at me now. Ima ladez man! LMAO. Here you can see the 3-5 degree?? angle of the wedge in the water. Its a cool view. Wish they would have kept it there longer.

[stinky_1]

pssst Jet, there is a pause button on the left bottom corner of the vid. You can push that and hold the wedge in that position forever if you wish

I wish I could see it from different angles. They play a bit with your mind on this one. The angle of the bracket swoops back away from the boat, but the wedge itself is only sitting a few degrees off from the angle of the boat. Its just attached at an angle on the brackets to do that. And maybe that is how they make the thing pull itself down in the water?

In fact, I bet that "is" how its happening. Its not pulling straight back, it will pull to the leading edge of the support, which will make it want to come forward on it. Which is why it ends up being flat in the water no matter how the boat hull is?

Guess I will have to play with that idea in the design. If it doesnt work I can always pin it into position still anyway. So it wont change much. I wanted it to stick out a bit anyway, so having the support angle back like that will help me.

[angus2112]

i am also working on this putting stringers my comp and going to redo the transom to handle the wedge check this link out
https://picasaweb.google.com/myfourd...ingWedgeFor87#