tower vs. extended pylon

[marlinempress]

I'm wondering what the physical advantages are of a tower over a well-built extended pylon. Besides the obvious ones of looks and freeing up space. How do the physics compare (flex, strength, etc.)

[khoekz16]

i would say that a tower is actually weaker than a pylon when the rider is directly behind the boat (getting up for example). but, as you know, wakeboarding heavily involves cutting and pulling and using leverage against the boat to increase your speed - and then using the wake as a ramp. when this force is created from an angle to the boat, this is when the tower gains a huge advantage. It is not uncommon for a ext. pylon to have a good amount of sway in it when the rider cuts hard. The key here is that a tower has plenty of strength when you are directly behind the boat - so that point is pretty much useless.

the monster tower has virtually no sway and no flex.

also, a tower adds value to a boat compared to a pylon (for your money). You could spend $400-500 on a pylon, or build one, and it will add very little value to your boat, but, if you add a $1000 monster, it will likely add to the value and sellability significantly.

another thing is that a tower can hold all accessories at once: speakers, lights, vid camera, wakeboard racks, bimini etc. a pylon can only hold two in most cases, and that usually looks bad.

The only negative against towers, besides the price compared to pylons, is installation. It involves drilling holes in your boat and using backing plates. a tower inproperly installed and cause stress fractures in a boat by the mounts and can (have not seen this happen before) actually break the fiberglass to the point of the tower coming loose or breaking completely free (i have heard of this happening to my cousins friend, who mainly used his tower to tow 2-3 tubers - an unlikely situation - one that a pylon could never withstand).

overall, the tower is much stronger and worth the extra money. good luck with your decision.

[wesgardner]

Hey marlinempress,

Virtually no difference if both are well built....the varible is height. The pylon I built for my old boat was ALL cable stayed and had NO sway to speak of (other than the boat heeling and that will happen regardless of whether you're riding off a pylon or tower). It's design allowed me to drill NO holes and rig the thing (and unrig) in about 5 minutes. It cost me under $100. You can look on Bill's (owner of Monster Tower) diy site (diytower.com) for "how to" stuff and to plug Bill's company, you'll be happy with a Monster Tower, his customer service is second to none and is quite well documented here on the forum.

khoekz16, has pretty much nailed it as far as storage and accessories...both important factors when considering a permanent solution (I knew when I built my pylon that I'd be selling the boat)


Wes

[Fishmaster]

Pylons are great and really affordable, especially when most your riding is with sacs for weight and only a few people in the boat. The cables become cumbersome especially when you get more people and gear in the boat and need to work around the cable. If you want a pylon watch eBay, as people add towers or upgrade to boats with towers they sell their pylons on eBay and their are some great deals there.