Looks STRONG!
Looks good!
As a Mechanical Engineer myself. I think it is probably overbuilt(a great thing!).
I don't think the Monster Towers, and other Universal towers have much more "engineering" in them than this one.
Great job!
about the boat being rare.... I don't think boats have the same value system and/or appreciation in price for rare models as cars do.... You didn't hurt the value of this boat at all. If some dude doesn't like it, there are three others that love it.
Could be worse... I'd say you did a good job. Wouldn't be my first choice, but neither would a Monster tower. I think the Monsters look terrible on just about everything. If I had to buy a tower, it would be from New Dimensions.
-Mike
2006 Supra Sunsport 20V
I commend you for your construction and I think it turned out great. I'd love to build a tower, if only I had everything I needed at my disposal.
From a structural standpoint, I'm a structural engineer and you are probably fine. When I look at it, the only thing I would check is the strength of the bolt at the top for the towing ball and the weld at this location. From the picture, the weld itself looked fine, I just hope its large enough(if a fillet weld) to be able to handle all of the eccentric loads that will be placed on it depending on where the rider is located and how hard he is pulling obviously. Please note that I am assuming the tower connections to the boat are fine.
If you gave me all the dimensions for the bolt, nut, and that top plate that it goes through, I could easily check that connection for you (Hard to tell from pictures, but if you used a larger bolt then you should be fine as long as long as it doesn't tear through that plate that it is in). For the weld, looking at the picture, it's looks like a beast of a fillet weld which leads me to think you are fine.
Awesome job though, enjoy.
Do you know how many engineers I know that "are good at welding"? Do you know how many cages I've seen fail? Do you know how many guys I've pulled out of crushed rigs because they thought their welding was good? Too many. I'm not talking about my welding, because I think mine sucks. And I'm aware of it. I've welded on all kinds of equipment, but most of the time, lives don't depend on it. So I don't take chances with it. I did 80% of my crawler. The things that mattered, cage, cage/frame mounts, etc I had done by guys that I know can build, and their reputation is based on proven results. So when you have someone's kids in your boat underneath your cage that you say is solid and it collapses on top of them or parts go flying, what will you say then?
Your pictures don't load so I can't see squat. The ones I first saw now aren't there. Try imagebam.com or something like that. But from what I can see, no way in hell I'd ride behind that. I've seen the load these towers take. You get a big boy on a wakeboard and having a hard time getting up, you will be amazed at the load created. This isn't a cage that is supposed to take a compression load, it's exactly the opposite. The load is now PULLING with forces you can't imagine to separate those welds. That's why I ask about your welding skills. Anyone can get steel to hold together.
You made it yourself, congrats. I applaud you for that. That's how some of the coolest ideas come about. But at the same time, I'm a die-hard. I care about these boats more than most of the classic cars I've worked on. I'm very passionate. And since they are few and far between, even more so with your 10th Anniversary edition, I get bothered when I see things like this. Yes, I think it looks goofy as hell. I think it ruins the look of the boat. And yes, it will hurt resale having a back-yard tower on it.
But as I've said to others, it's your boat, do what you want with it. But if you come to a public place and ask opinion, don't get upset when I tell you mine and you don't like it.
He's an adult. Do you want me to coddle him like a 5-yr old who just lost a soccer game, or do you want me to tell him the truth? I'm nobody to him, so my opinion shouldn't matter. He put a goofy looking tower on a boat, a rare boat to boot. That's like putting 28" donks(rapper wheels) on a Duesenberg.
Awesome job, the tower fits the era of the boat to a tee, excellent fab skills and more than strong enough! We boarded behind a Wellcraft 190 classic with a 7' sch 40 steel pipe and 2" trailer ball somewhat welded on to the top and held into place with some grk screws and 2x6 pressure treated boards, the pipe passed down through the ski locker lid into a cement block. It held for two summers of boarding 3 guys 2-3x's a week.
Tower on the jeep looks great too.
Nice work serving Haugy too. Glad to see he is a senior member, how about a demotion.
What are you, 12? Wow, trailer balls? And it was "somewhat welded"?
And "serving haugy"? Again, are you 12? All he stated is the he is an awesome welder. Hey guess what, I'm great at brain surgery, I'm the best in the country.....................want me to operate on you? You can trust me right? I just said I was the best at it..............
And the "senior member" shows how long I've been here in relation to the amount of posts. It's not a title.
Last edited by haugy; 05-30-2013 at 09:56 AM.
Alright guys, opinions have been expressed here and as it seems emotions are flying high as well. Please try and refrain from mud slinging and name calling going forward.
'86 Comp TS6M - Reborn 2016
Riding a HO Sports CX Ski
Think I'll stay out of this one.... maybe not. If you like the tower that's all that matters, but I totally understand Haugy's point. It's a rare boat and no one know these things better than him. I gonna defend him cause he's just stating his opinion. I'm not a huge fan of the tower but hey, not my style, not my boat. Good on you for building it though, I think it looks sturdy enough, but I'm no expert. I will say my bought tower has a lot of shake to it if I put my board racks up high no matter how much I've tightened it, so I can see why you wanted to build your own.
Once again open forum and if you put it out there not everyone's gonna like it. Haugy's given me my lumps, but I still respect his opinion. Love that white whale though.