I really dislike the complexity and location of tower booms. They are cumbersome to install and put the skier in the spray. I've mocked up a new main boom attachment point that places the boom lower and forward. In addition I was able to reduce the complexity by eliminating one of the arms. I would be interested to hear people's thoughts. The attachment plate is built from 1/4" stainless steel and the finished version will be contoured to the boat. Sooo what do you think?
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Wow, that is really well done. From a first look, the only issue I can imagine is if you crash the boom into a dock when going in reverse. To me, having the boom pushed forward accidentally seems to be the only vulnerability. Maybe try a vertical pin if you ever need to redesign? It is a low risk issue, just typing what comes to mind. Very impressive.
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Looks well done. I don't see docking being an issue as you generally do that on the driver side anyway. Yea, for tower booms, the attachment point works out much better on a traditional 4-point tower versus the two-point. I assume you'll be shimming the opposite tower leg as well? Is there enough room on the lower mount to swivel the boom up for easy installation of the outer piece while on the water?
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I like it! I am not sure what kind of pressures will be placed on the base plate you made, but one thing I like is that it appears you can pull the pin and just rotate the boom up and out of the way for temporary docking... Maybe make a way to secure it to the tower when in elevated position.
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Cost to manufacture labor/materials $150. Cost to manufacturer labor/material/liability insurance and attorney $550.
I think its great. Could the bracket be installed on a plate that runs the length of the tower base along with an even longer backing plate. That would help with yaw and help prevent stresses at the mounting point.
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- Jun 2014
- 119
- Montana
- 2019 SANTE 230 2017 SANTE 210 2011 SANTE 210 1991 454 BFN 1989 SN 2001 Ski Ray inboa
Thanks! I sincerely appreciate the feedback.
scott-lake-james-in, I hadn't considered using a vertical pin. In it's current design I can quickly adjust the boom vertically to adjust for skier height or preference. I wonder if a pivot of some sort would work?...
Tom_H, in it's current state I have not shimmed the other side however I agree, this should (and will) be done. The boom installs very quickly, probably quicker than a convention pylon mounted boom. And yes, I am able to bring the main boom vertical in order to insert the outer boom from the boat.
shag, unfortunately it does not swing up that easily. To do so the upper support boom needs to be unpinned and the cables need to be unclipped. Waaay easier than a standard tower boom but still cumbersome.
srock, I would guess that you are close on the $150 estimate. I do not intend to manufacture. If I end up with a design that works I'll post the CAD file and let people build there own. Like the suck-gate that many of us have built. A longer backing plate is a good idea. I'll incorporate that into version 2.
Thanks again
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Right, adjusting the height of the end of the boom is important, critical for teaching really. I guess I am thinking of the 29 years I drove our Supra TS6M with a boom on and off of it and running the boom into things on the lake. In the off chance I was in reverse and hit a dock or whatever, the Supra boom bracket would just rotate on the pylon a bit before it really started to push the boat around. Nothing got bent and it would push back into place. Sometimes when bare-footing, someone would not intend to get snapped off the boom or 5' line and the boom would bounce up and forward a bit. I don't think that is a big deal with your design either. More or less it is reversing into a dock that could bend the bracket. Note that there are lots of channels, tunnels and traffic on my lake. If you have more open water, I wouldn't even worry about it. Plus you can obviously fab a new part if you bend what you have. Regardless of what I wrote above, I can drive inboards with the best of them. : )
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- Aug 2017
- 9
- Lakewood CO
- 2013 SAN 210 Black stripper glitter on white 343 hp 2004 SAN 206 White on Orange 330 hp
Great work on the modification! The only thing I would comment on would be the location of the connection of the upper boom to the horizontal boom. Maybe move the lower collar on the upper support boom out the horizontal boom further to give as much vertical support when new footers pull down on the boom. Shoot for a 45 degree angle for the best support. Again great work!
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