Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

[bigblock454]

Greetings to all. This is my first thread, so go easy on me. This is my 1966 (I think) Traveler, 17' runabout. I've had it for about 10yrs, but have only had it running for the last 5yrs. She's a good little boat, and a pretty capable fish/crabber (Marylanders). I got my first taste of "Rockfishing" early this year, and want to make her a little more adept to trolling. For that, I'm going to fab a tower to run my planer boards out on, as well as provide me and guests with plenty of shade and protection from the elements. Hope someone gets something out of this little project. I'm a passenger railroad engineer now, but in my former occupation, I was a welder/fabricator/hvac/mech... well, I think you get it. I love fabrication! If I can be of any help to anyone, don't hesitate to ask. Here she is:

 

[bigblock454]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

This is sorta what I have in mind for the top. THIS IS NOT MY BOAT (wish it was )!!

 

[bigblock454]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

After weighing all options and looking for the best way to do this economically. I decided to use 1 1/4 EMT (conduit) from HD. I have a decent mig welder, but don't feel like taking the plunge to set it up for alum yet, so for about $100 I get this!

I wanted to see how easy it would be to bend this stuff with SOME kind of control, so I decided to try out my "custom" pipe bender! I'm pretty happy with the results. We can work with this.

Next, I fabricated a "scaffolding" using 2x4's. This will hold the various pieces of the tower in place while welding, measuring, nursing burns, etc. It doesn't have to be perfect, as I'll be leveling, shimming, and adjusting as I progress.

 

[bigblock454]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

My Millermatic 180... Nice little migwelder for the home hobbyist. Many bottles of gas, and plenty of wire spools and I haven't had a lick of trouble with it (knock on simulated wood)!

 

[bigblock454]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

One of the benefits of using the EMT is the pre-bent 90* sweeps! I don't have a bender (yet), so they were very handy and worked well. Here I welded up the upper "hoop" that will be the top of my tower. Accurate measuring of the front and side bars, as well as good eye will keep everything straight and true.

 

[bigblock454]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

Time to really get things moving along! Did I mention it's about one million degrees (fahrenheit) plus or minus 10 degrees, and all the humidity to go along with it... I'm drenched, and realizing quickly how out of shape I am! I wanted to get the "hoop" up there to start figuring out where I want to put the "legs" and what angles to set them. You guy's seem to like pictures, so here comes a few:

 

[bigblock454]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

Tomorrow, we'll weld in a couple of crossbars in the main "hoop". Need to get some sleep now. Cheers.

Norm II

 

[sprintst]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

Looking good.

I'm sure you'll get a good number of people follwing along with your progress.

 

[micks110]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

Looks awesome Norm! Glad to see you are up and running! What type of material do you plan to use for the top?

 

[83mulligan]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

I'm following. Neat project!

 

[bigblock454]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

Putting the hoop up "in place" helped me visualize what I got going on here. I want to have some "overhang" in the front to help keep sun out of our faces, and a considerable amount more toward the rear, for some nice shade, as well as a place to mount the fishing rigs. Also while up there, I get to really figure a good place to place the support legs. Pics coming... Thanks Mick, great to hear from you! Almost can't wait 'till seasons end, to start the REAL project! Which of coarse is doing exactly what you've done with your gorgeous little "A/T". Thank you as well sprintst and 83mulligan!! Let's continue!!

Norm II

 

[bigblock454]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

Back down on the ground, I figured about where I want the cross bars. Just kind of eyeballed it, measured, then made marks on both of the side rails to keep everything lined up.

 

[bigblock454]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

Next, I have to cut some "fishmouths" in the crossbars, to get a nice snug fit. I did that using my drill press. I chucked up a regular ol' hole saw (use slow speeds and lots of oil to keep things lubed and cool), and a drill press clamp from HF mounted on my "X - Y" table. You really don't need the X -Y table, but it sure is nice to move things to the 'enth degree without un-clamping and re-clamping everytime. Here's a few pics to show you what I'm using, and the results:

Here you can see how it all looks prior to cutting the "fishmouth"... the yellow stand (HF) is a "must have" for keeping the pipe supported while cutting.

...and viola!!

 

[Mark42]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

Wow! This is a cool project. I'm liking the fabrication.

BTW, you can rent a simple EMT pipe bender from rental stores. From the classic manual bender to a hydraulic bender. Pretty cheap, especially if you pre-cut and plan all the bends, then do them all together in one afternoon.

 

[bigblock454]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

Welding in crossbars:

I used a ratchet strap to pull everything snug while welding

 

[bigblock454]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

Now you have to use just a little imagination as this is the only pic I took of this assembly on my custom "bender" (daughter was busy watching spongebob). What I did was: Starting with the middle two crossbars, I performed what I like to call a calibrated "bounce" in the middle of the bar, with legs slightly spread to help the curve flow better (kinda glad I didn't get a picture of that, actually). Then, when it came to the outer two bars, I used assistance of my friend to sit on the opposite side, while I was "bouncing", to keep from making the morning newspaper! I also used a 6' piece of pvc tubing to use as a "crutch" or just something to hang onto while trying to maintain balance. Did I provide enough for your imagination?? You can barely see where I drew a center line on the bars. Can't be too careful when it comes to the measurements. Time spent here will payoff with clean, deliberate looking lines later.

 

[insanity]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

What do you plan on covering it with?

 

[bigblock454]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

Satisfied with the overall shape and curves, I threw (ok dragged) it back up to see how she looked, and to get those "creative juices" going again! Tip: When I was bending in the previous step, I actually over bent just slightly, then flipped the assy over and flattend it out a little. This actually "softened" the curves, as well as made it easy to get them all even... shhhh (our secret).

Not too shabby for an amateur ehh??

Also should mention that all is easily adjusted to as near perfect as I can get it. It's looking a bit high, so looks like I'll be sawing some wood off of my scaffolding to get it about 4" lower. I get inside and check dimensions often.

 

[ftl900]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

Looking great so far!! I've been daydreaming about building something like that, altho I have 2 or 3 other projects in line first... like, uh... getting the boat to run consistently.

Right now I'm doing a carb swap, my old Q-Jet for a Holley 4bbl. But I'm one more that's following along, and yes, we LIKE pictures!

 

[bigblock454]

Re: Making a top/tower for my Traveler...

Thanks Mark42. I've been thinking of checking on that. These bends are pretty easy and slight, making it possible to use the methods shown. But I hope to add smaller piping with more intricate bends for gusseting and astetics later on, and that may come in handy.

insanity - Good question! I'm not 100% sure yet, but leaning heavily (no pun intended) toward fiberglass with maybe a foam core, for lightness and durability. But may go with cavas/nylon/fabric at first just to get some quick shade. We'll have to see how fast we progress.

Thanks for looking!