Tower installation position

[brplut40]

I have a 1993 Sea Ray 200 Bow Rider. It is a 20' boat and I already purchased the DIY Wake Pro Universal Swoop Tower. I am going to install the tower soon, but had a few questions firsts. The directions state the rear mount must be positioned behind the rear of the windshield in order to collapse the tower. I may just have a really long windshield, but the rear of the windshield is roughly 5.5ft from the rear of the boat. The directions say to space the feet 38-44 inches apart based on how much you want it to slope. I am worried that the tower will be mounted to far back on the boat. I know the ski pylon must be centered left to right, but is there any advice for how far front or back the tower should be mounted? I just want to make sure that the tower and boat are not stressed due to being too far back on the boat.

My second question is if anyone has this tower, exactly how does it fold down? The directions say to loosen the rear bolts and remove the front bolts. If this is all you do, wouldn't the front legs stick up in the air when the tower is folded down?

 

[kyle f]

Re: Tower installation position

You want to try to center the pylon on the lenght of the boat from tip to tail. Or, as close as possible. This gives you the most stability when the rider is pulling on it to keep from pulling the boat off a straight line.

The stresses in the legs will actually be a bit higher a this poing because the boat will not be as incline to move and this must absorb the force, but that is th epoint of gettign the tow point in the center of the boat. Same reason slalom ski boats have thier pole in the middle of the boat.

Make sure to re-inforce the mounting points.

 

[brian_mcwhirter]

Re: Tower installation position

I just bought the same tower and installed it last weekend. Haven't had a chance to use it yet, but I'm itching. . .

Anyway, I don't think it makes a huge difference how far back the tower is mounted. I would think, the further forward it is, the easier the boat will plane because of the angle of tension on the rope (that's my 9th grade physics kicking in). On the same hand, with it further back, you may get a slightly larger wake which is what you're looking for anyway, right?

As far as folding, it's pretty cleverly designed so that when you take the two allen screws out of the top piece (the one with the tow point), the front legs fold down, so it actually folds very flat, very fast.

Have fun!

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Tower installation position

**deleted**

 

[kyle f]

Re: Tower installation position

Bla, sometimes I forget I/O Vs. Inboard.

Above post is correct. Your Draft will affect your best position as not all of your hull will be in the Water, plus you don't have any stabilizing fins under your hull. You need to determine where you Chine breaks out of the water and have you to point middle (if possible) between that line and the tail of your out drive.