bigpoppakdog
Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2008
- Messages
- 437
Like I indicated earlier, I planned on making a wakeboard pylon. I finished it and have a video that will be available on www.youtube.com/bigpoppakdog by tomorrow morning. Heres a summary now on supplies and stuff.
1. 10 ft galvanized pole. 2 in diameter. Cut it off at 7 ft.
2. Green treated deck post for the base.
3. 50 ft 3/16 nylon coated steel rope.
5. 3 spring hooks. Heavy duty. Large size.
6. 4 quick links to secure nylon rope.
7. 18 rope clips for 3/16 rope. 1 rope clip that is larger. You'll see later on video.
8. 1 heavy duty tow strap. Cut ends off with bolt cutter.
9. 3 I bolts. 2 washers for each one, two bolts for each one.
You'll need a circle/hole drill bit to cut a hole into the deck post. You'll need to chisel out pieces to get about 3/4 of the way through the post. Don't go all the way through since you don't want a steel pole directly on your boat floor.
Procedure on install
1. find location you want the pole. Set your base there.
2. Cut pole to 7 ft and drill 3 holes for your I bolts. Give yourself some space between each hole.
3. Attach I bolts. I put ski attachment on top, then front attachment, then back attachment as the bottom one.
4. With some help, have someone place pole into the hole you drilled and then hold the pole in place while you take measurements to your cleats and to the front where you will attach the rope to your tow strap. Keep in mind, that it is better to make your back attachments to your cleats a little short, as you will ratchet the front tight and you can move your base to make sure the pole is straight vertical in your boat when it is all done. Be sure to take in account you will have hooks/clips attaching to the cleat, and the I bolt.
5. Cut your rope, strip the nylon off and make loops on the ends of the back two pieces. Use 3 rope clips on each end.
6. Attach the ropes to the cleats using spring hooks, and attach the other ends to the I bolts using quick links.
7. I used one solid piece of rope for the front, though I suppose you could cut it into two pieces. I used a rope clip to create a loop at the halfway point of my solid piece of rope. I used a spring hoop to attach this to the I bolt. Create loops on each end, just like you did before on the back ropes.
8. With the hooks cut off of your tow strap, you can now feed one end through the front of your boat ring(trailer hook) and connect each end to the nylon rope using quick links.
9. Now ratchet the tow strap until tight. you might have to cut off some of the tow strap because it won't ratchet tight enough with all the excess.
***note: My first pylon I built, I didn't use nylon rope, I used tow straps. This also worked, but wasn't as asthetic as the nylon rope.
I will try to have that video up tonight yet. I hope this video helps people realize that it is not hard to make one and it won't cost you hundreds of dollars either.
1. 10 ft galvanized pole. 2 in diameter. Cut it off at 7 ft.
2. Green treated deck post for the base.
3. 50 ft 3/16 nylon coated steel rope.
5. 3 spring hooks. Heavy duty. Large size.
6. 4 quick links to secure nylon rope.
7. 18 rope clips for 3/16 rope. 1 rope clip that is larger. You'll see later on video.
8. 1 heavy duty tow strap. Cut ends off with bolt cutter.
9. 3 I bolts. 2 washers for each one, two bolts for each one.
You'll need a circle/hole drill bit to cut a hole into the deck post. You'll need to chisel out pieces to get about 3/4 of the way through the post. Don't go all the way through since you don't want a steel pole directly on your boat floor.
Procedure on install
1. find location you want the pole. Set your base there.
2. Cut pole to 7 ft and drill 3 holes for your I bolts. Give yourself some space between each hole.
3. Attach I bolts. I put ski attachment on top, then front attachment, then back attachment as the bottom one.
4. With some help, have someone place pole into the hole you drilled and then hold the pole in place while you take measurements to your cleats and to the front where you will attach the rope to your tow strap. Keep in mind, that it is better to make your back attachments to your cleats a little short, as you will ratchet the front tight and you can move your base to make sure the pole is straight vertical in your boat when it is all done. Be sure to take in account you will have hooks/clips attaching to the cleat, and the I bolt.
5. Cut your rope, strip the nylon off and make loops on the ends of the back two pieces. Use 3 rope clips on each end.
6. Attach the ropes to the cleats using spring hooks, and attach the other ends to the I bolts using quick links.
7. I used one solid piece of rope for the front, though I suppose you could cut it into two pieces. I used a rope clip to create a loop at the halfway point of my solid piece of rope. I used a spring hoop to attach this to the I bolt. Create loops on each end, just like you did before on the back ropes.
8. With the hooks cut off of your tow strap, you can now feed one end through the front of your boat ring(trailer hook) and connect each end to the nylon rope using quick links.
9. Now ratchet the tow strap until tight. you might have to cut off some of the tow strap because it won't ratchet tight enough with all the excess.
***note: My first pylon I built, I didn't use nylon rope, I used tow straps. This also worked, but wasn't as asthetic as the nylon rope.
I will try to have that video up tonight yet. I hope this video helps people realize that it is not hard to make one and it won't cost you hundreds of dollars either.
