Bimini top question

[iggyw1]

I am thinking about buying a used (one time) bimini top for my boat, but it is currently too wide for my boat. It has stainless steel tubes. I was just wondering if I can take the fabric off and cut a 4" section from the center of the three bows and put them back together with a sleeve over them which will be covered with the fabric?? The sleeve could possibly be PVC pipe? Also, can I just slip the fabric off of the tubes or do I need to take the stitching apart to get the fabric off? Thanks!

 

[Scott Danforth]

PVC would be nowhere strong enough. Plus by shortening the bows, the fabric won't fit right.

 

[GA_Boater]

Most biminis already have a coupling in the center, otherwise shipping the things is outrageously expensive. So you could trim 2" off of the center of each tube and rejoin with the coupler. The tubes fit inside a sewn on sleeve, no need to cut any fabric. But like Scott said, the fit may leave something to be desired.

 

[GA_Boater]

Forgot to say - The center coupler is what makes the width adjustable, usually between 4 and 6 inches. If you look at universal biminis, they always have a width of say, 79-84" wide.

 

[Grandad]

Hi Iggy. You can use a readily available larger size stainless steel tube to re-join bows if you find it necessary to cut them. In the picture below you can see a close-up crop of a larger picture I took of the bimini top structure that I built from scratch. The picture shows the point where I used 1" stainless tube to extend a horizontal 7/8" stainless strut secured to my tower. The fit will be slightly sloppy, so I'd recommend that you use a joiner that's at least a foot long so that any misalignment will not show. - Grandad

 

[Frank Acampora]

Four inches is only two inches on each side. Don't bother with cutting and piecing the tubing. Simply bent it in to fit the pivots while you install it.. There is plenty of flex in the tubing that it will give easily.

Occam's Razor: The simplest solution is often the correct one.

 

[willamettejeff]

Four inches is only two inches on each side. Don't bother with cutting and piecing the tubing. Simply bent it in to fit the pivots while you install it.. There is plenty of flex in the tubing that it will give easily.

Occam's Razor: The simplest solution is often the correct one.

As Frank said, just flex the tubes inward to the mounts. This will provide tension on the bows that will greatly lessen side to side wiggling of your Bimini top.