D.I.Y. pylon

bammer24 · Newbie Joined: 22 Apr 2005 Posts: 14 City: Akron, OH

i just bought my dad's 1978 19" I/O sea ray. (damn thing is 5 years older then me) anyway. i never did care for the way it pulled when boarding so i talked to my dad and he said that they have some strong stainless steel tubing at his work and he'll build me a pylon. my two questions is how high should i make the pylon and what could i use to anchor the pylon to the front of the boat? i don't really want to add a tower b/c i think it would just look rediculously funky. any feedback would be nice, thanks

btw i'm pretty much copyin' what this looks like, but in my own jethro-rig-way http://www.boatus-store.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=20002&langId=-1&catalogId=20002&productId=73613&catalogId=20002&classNum=11060&subdeptNum=390&storeNum=23

wakessories · Soul Rider Joined: 09 Feb 2005 Posts: 283

6-7 feet.

1/4" steel cable with a tow strap over the nose... Make sure to get the cable with the clear plastic sleeve over it...

Here are some good pics of a decent universal pylon.
http://www.2ndwake.com/htm/wakeboard_pylon_pictures.htm

I would also advise creating a three point system when you're building your own, that way when you're outside the wake it's not giving as much and it will be more boat friendly. When I say three point, I mean one cable to the nose and two cables to the rear, similar to any tower you see around town that has a three point cable system that holds tons and tons of radio equipment.

BTW - I'm not liable for any of this information, building your own pylon can be risky due to the cables and all the stress on them. This is strictly my opinion if I were to make one. Smile

Good luck

wesgardner · Posted: Apr 29, 2005 8:18 am Post subject:

Hey bammer24,

Go to diyTower.com...Bill was kind enough to put my "how to" up on his site, it pretty much covers the entire building process with NO holes to drill in the boat - all for about $80....

I used 3/16" coated plastic coated cable because that's the size nico-press tool Home Depot has....

Check it out...oh, you can look in my gallery for some pics of the pylon

Wes

bammer24 · Newbie Joined: 22 Apr 2005 Posts: 14 City: Akron, OH

thanks for the info
wakessories, yea i'm without a doubt using the 3-point with 1 strap and 2 other support poles i just wasn't sure how tall it should be al how to do the front point strap. i have a better idea now, thanks

Fishmaster · Posted: Apr 30, 2005 6:19 pm Post subject:

Watch eBay as well, a used pylon these days often go pretty cheap, and bigairpylons.com has gotten good feedback on their pylon, at under $300 new. Lot's of people have made their own as well for under $100

CHiLi DaWg · Posted: May 01, 2005 5:47 pm Post subject:

bammer24, my friend built one real cheap. For the front support cable, he used a coated 3/16 or 1/4 cable to a ratchet strap which went thru the bow eye. It worked nice. I hate ratchet straps myself (because they kick my a$$ every time I try to figure them out Laughing

) but he was ok with it.

Krown77 · Outlaw Joined: 07 May 2005 Posts: 112 City: Haliburton

i dont have a tower and we just bought a 45 tousand dollar crownline and my dad wont let me mutilate it yet. Sad

wakebabe · Newbie Joined: 06 Jun 2005 Posts: 36

"bammer24, my friend built one real cheap. For the front support cable, he used a coated 3/16 or 1/4 cable to a ratchet strap which went thru the bow eye. It worked nice. I hate ratchet straps myself (because they kick my a$$ every time I try to figure them out Laughing ) but he was ok with it."

hey that answered what i came here for! i completed (except for the bow strap) my own 10 foot pylon, i may cut it down to 8 foot but...its a pretty powerful boat!

wkbrdr · Posted: Jun 07, 2005 2:31 pm Post subject:

is that andre agasi

wakebabe · Newbie Joined: 06 Jun 2005 Posts: 36

itch · Posted: Jun 07, 2005 7:26 pm Post subject:

Question?
V drive pylons how tall can it be without a bow strap?
Can I just get a 2.5 aluminum pole and put a toe on top?
itch

wesgardner · Posted: Jun 08, 2005 3:39 am Post subject:

Hey wakebabe,

If you have no existing pylon, then yes, three point....check my gallery for my home-made pylon, cost about $80 to build and uses ALL cable except for a very short strap at the bow - this virtually eliminates stretch. I designed mine so I didn't have to drill any holes in the boat - the back clips attached to the two stern cleats, and the forward one went thru the bow eye. Set up time is about 5 minutes. My "how to" is posted over on Bill's (of Monster Tower fame) diyTower.com web site....

itch, I think it will depend on the wall thickness of the pipe you use...I wouldn't go very high at all without some sort of strap/cable. Unfortunately, if/when these things fail, folks could get hurt, so please, be careful with what you design and build...look in my gallery, it may be ugly, but it will not fail....

Good ridin'

Wes

Powaman · Outlaw Joined: 04 Jul 2004 Posts: 170 City: escanaba

Ya i definetly would not make it very tall without a bow strap. Just think of a wrench with a pipe on it. Bolts hard to get out with regular rachet. Put a pipe on the end and it makes it very easy. Sam theory here. Thats way to much leverage all put onto the factory pylon.