Flyhigh Monkey Bar?

Buergday · Guest

Anyone have one of these - or riden behind a boat that does? I was thinking of buying one, but I'm wondering if the cable will be in the way of people riding in the bow. I can pick one up for $399 - is it worth it?

If you do have one, how high is the towpoint? Is it easy to fold down/remove? I want details! Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!

JAL · Newbie Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Posts: 2

I own a monkeybar. The tow point is 5 feet from where you mount the brackets on the side of you boat. It is easy to take down. Just a bunch of pull pins. The cable will be in the way for people to go into an open bow but not real bad. The biggest problem I have with it is there is no support stopping the bar from going forward toward the nose of your boat. So when you have boards mounted up there in board racks and start hitting waves the whole bar can start rocking forward and backward pretty good. This real puts stress on the place where you mounted the brackets to your boat. Hope this helps with your decision. Don't get me wrong, I still like the monkeybar for the price.

MackDaddyWake1 · Posted: Feb 04, 2003 1:31 pm Post subject:

Boss is coming out with an adjustable tower that will sell for around 750. I'd spend the extra dime, and go this route. 2" pipe and everything

noneya · Addict Joined: 13 Jan 2003 Posts: 796 City: Roxboro, NC

twice the price isnt really an extra dime...why not just go for the custom swoop not that much more.

Buergday · Guest

JAL-
Does it rattle at all? I was thinking that if I wanted to, later on down the line I'd have a welding shop weld on some aluminum supports - and get rid of the cables. It'd look kinda like the picture below. Do you think it could work?

skobi1 · Addict Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 639 City: eugene, or

The barewest mini tower is just like the monkey bar but has the two solid supports like the pic above. I dont know the price

Buergday · Guest

The Barewest mini tower is $799. The Monkey Bar is $399 (EBAY). Seems like welding the supports on yourself would save $$$$$

Buergday · Guest

Here's a pic of the Monkey Bar. If I were to weld solid supports on there, should they be extending toward the bow or stern?

Fieryfood_Dude · Newbie Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Posts: 3

Heya dude, I got mine. If you buy go ahead & get the board rack. Pic attached.

skobi1 · Addict Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 639 City: eugene, or

I would put them towards the front to keep them out of the way.

Wakeside1 · Posted: Feb 04, 2003 8:53 pm Post subject:

You should also check out the new Wake Designs Whirly Bar Pro. I think it is worth the money to get rid of the cable if you can afford it. The Whirly Bar Pro Series looks much nicer than the Monkey Bar. Sells for $964.95 (before award points). Another option is the Skylon Swoop Sports Tower at $799.95 (also no cable).

http://www.wakeside.com/miva/merchant.mv?page=W/PROD//wd_whirly_bar

Mike
Wakeside.com

skobi1 · Addict Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 639 City: eugene, or

Buerg, I know its extra money but I wouold really consider what mike has to say. I've dealt with him in the past and have been very satisfied with the service at Wakeside and AWS. They are stand up guys and will treat you right. Cool

riverfreak · Posted: Feb 05, 2003 5:42 am Post subject:

I have the joystick rollbar, it doesn't move at all, solid mounts, I hate the cable to the bow, it gets in the way sometimes.....I want a tower, but holy crap I paid $1.79 for a gal of gas last night, not sure I should invest in a 2k tower.....I may need that dough for gas.....

Buergday · Guest

Fieryfood-
What do you think of the product? Is it worth the $$? Do the cables ever piss you off? I just need to get my towpoint higher - I could care less how it looks. I'm not about to blow 1-2k on a tower - sh*t, my boat's probably only worth 6k. Besides, I'd like to be able to take it off and put it on my new boat if I ever get one. I guess my main question is - is the thing solid enough so that if one of my friends decides to swing from it in a fit of drunken stupidity, is it going to collapse and mame the other people in the boat? The whole cable thing makes me nervous, but it seems like an economical way to get the towpoint higher. And like I said before, I'd probably get some solid supports welded on after a while and get rid of the cable.

salmon_tacos · Posted: Feb 05, 2003 10:41 am Post subject:

I too would look at the solid stay towers. Putting forward pressure on the Monkey Bar will put A LOT of stress on the mounts. Look at all the leverage!

The other consideration is: how easy is it to take down? I don't know if this is an issue for you but it is for me. I got this tower (Skyjac Mini Tower) new on Ebay last year for around $700. I think the usual price is $999. I mainly got it because it collapses with just two knobs...no pins, allen keys, etc.

You can find similar towers from Joystick, Skylon, BareWest, Wake Designs. and maybe others.

In my opinion, towers are soooo much nicer than pylons (space, convenience, height). The cable-stayed towers would just make me too nervous without the support both ways. Plus the cable would get in the way just like with a pylon.

JAL · Newbie Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Posts: 2

Yea, I think you could probably weld those support beams on the bar if you wanted. I resorted to modifying mine because of the rocking condition I told you about. I left the cable for the actual pull strength but took old supports off a universal pylon I had no use for and mounted them to the bar facing forward. If you weld on these braces, Definately face them to the front. The bar rattled a good amount until I put these braces on because of the foward rocking ability. Now it doesn't rattle very much at all. As you can tell, I had a big issue with no support to keep the bar from going forward.

Fieryfood_Dude · Newbie Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Posts: 3

The monkey bar is a good buy & worth the jack to me. I'm cool with the cable. I think some people who post here would have a prob complimenting their own mother. Sounds to me sales people are lurking around these forums. I've have no probs with the bar doing it's job without vibration or rattle. Even when in rough water, the board rack & bar perform well. My experience is positive. However, I wouldn't swing from it or attempt anything it wasn't designed for. On top of that no spider cracks in the gel coat.

Buergday · Guest

Thanks Fieryfood
I knew that it couldn't be as bad as everyone was making it out to be. If it were a piece of crap why would it be such a top seller for the past couple of years? I spoke with a bunch of dealers who said that they think its a great product. I even called up Barefoot International (the manufacturer) and spoke with Mike Siepel and his assistant about it. They were really cool about answering all of my questions. I'm pretty confident that it'll be worth my money. I think alot of the people in these forums only care about image. You see all of these 14 yr olds talking about "their" brand new x-star with a $2k stereo, fancy tower, sacs and light bars. Hell, most of them are kids, riding behind their parents $40K tournament boat. I'm fresh out of college, and lucky to even have bought a boat in the first place - much less a tower. Thanks for your input guys! This forum is the perfect place to get the consumers scoop on products. A lot of shops will tell you anything you want to hear just to get you to buy their sh*t. It's hard to know who to listen to - other than those who actually own the product.
Thanks again!

Wakeside1 · Posted: Feb 07, 2003 4:59 pm Post subject:

Just because Wakeside is an authorized dealer of various towers and pylons, does not mean that we don't know what we talking about or that we are biased. John and I talk with hundreds of wakeboarders and boat owners and we are continuously attempting to solve their problems and strive for 100% satisfied customers.

I also realize that some people have very limited bugets. However, you wouldn't believe how many are buying inexpensive towers to replace the pylon that they bought the year before. That is why I said it makes sense to try and stretch as far as possible so that you don't waste money on a pylon that will soon be upgraded. Many also get tired of the cable.

First choice - Inexpensive tower like the Skylon Swoop Sport Tower, Wake Designs Whirley Bar Pro Series Tower, or the BareWest Mini Tower.

Second choice - Fly High Monkey Bar or the Wake Designs Whirley Bar (with cable). Not quite a tower but better than a pylon.

Last choice - Extened Pylon.

Generally wakeboarders are much happier if they can get into a inexpensive tower.

I didn't leave my post to "make a sale". I genuinely care about helping - even if it is free advice.

Mike Hellweg
Wakeside.com

drifter136 · Posted: Feb 10, 2003 8:53 am Post subject:

Buergday,

I just ordered a Monkey Bar and plan to do the same thing by adding my own support bars...Going to Lowes sometime soon to get an idea of what the modification will cost. It should come out looking similar to the Joystick Roll-cage or Barewest Mini-Tower, but cheaper. I ordered mine off e-bay, probably from the same site you're talking about....I think they have another one on again...Mine should be here in a few days. Later!

Buergday · Guest

Hey Mike-
I wasn't attacking you personally man. I do appreciate your input. I know that you guys at Wakeside know your sh*t, and that you weren't just trying to make a sale. I respect your opinions and I'm glad that you're here to help everyone out with their questions. My last post actually had nothing to do with your suggestions. I was referring to the salespeople that I spoke with at various boat shops that I've called in the last week or so.

Drifter-
Thanks for you input too. I ordered mine from Wake & Skate in TN. I'm sure it's the same guy that you got yours from. I spoke with him a few times too. He's a real cool guy and is willing to answer any questions regarding the product. He's also got some great deals on skate shoes on bay - check 'em out! I've been pricing various ways of converting the Monkey Bar into a solid tower. Of course it voids the warranty, but I think I'll probably do it anyway after a while. I found a great site that sells mounts for towers (the link is below). I figure that I'll buy a few lengths of aluminum or stainless tube, have a local welder weld the mounts onto one side and weld the other side to the Monkey Bar. Presto - a tower! And for about $500!!

I also constructed a sweet board rack this past weekend for less than $30 in materials. I'll post a picture and some intructions in a few days. It turned out really nice looking too - strong as hell, coated in black rubber and easily mounted to a vertical or horizontal bar - or to a handrail on the boat. Screw spending $200 - $300 on a piece of cast aluminum! Those racks may be a little more flashy than the one I made, but they do the same thing. By the time the weather turns and I'm ready to hit the lake again, I'll have a tower with board racks and 4 lights - all for under $600! Laughing

Buergday · Guest

Oops - here's the link...

http://www.morseindustries.com/products.cfm?productkey=1147&productgroupkey=21&categoryid=3

Buergday · Guest

Spoke to a dealer who sells the mounts (see link above) - they're only about $25 each! Seems like a good deal to me.

RUSSIAN · Posted: Feb 13, 2003 12:00 pm Post subject:

Buergday, I would put those mounts on before using the tower, I have heard of people dying because the cable snapped while someone was riding and crushed the passengers in the back of the boat. I don't know if this story is true or not but it's scary to think that could happen. Just food for thought

Buergday · Guest

Sounds like a sweetlawsuit opportunity! Very Happy

drifter136 · Posted: Feb 25, 2003 7:50 pm Post subject:

Buergday,

Yeah, it was Wake & Skate that I ordered it from. It came today and I'm pleased with it. I've still been trying to figure out different ways for mounting support arms. I do like the mounts from the website you posted. Mounting the arms to the Monkey Bar is the part that is troubling me. I don't really want to weld them directly to the tower, because I need it to still be collapsable. Have you come up with any other ideas?

Buergday · Guest

Yeah, I did come up with something. First, you weld the support beam onto the monkeybar so.... you know what, here's a diagram - it's too hard to explain in words......I hope it makes sense.

Buergday · Guest

I mounted mine to the boat last weekend. No support beams yet. I plan to do it in the summertime if the cables are pissing me off. I did mount lights and a homemade boardrack (see "The $35 board rack!" thread) to it though. Everything looks/works great!

drifter136 · Posted: Feb 26, 2003 2:23 pm Post subject:

Looks, pretty good. Do you have pics of the Monkey Bar on your boat? I might do the same, as far as waiting to see how it works with just the cable. We'll see how it goes this summer.