diy pylon

jfanselow · Newbie Joined: 15 Oct 2006 Posts: 1 City: Auckland

Hey. Im making a 7 1/2 ft pylon. I have the pole sorted and rachet straps for the stays. Im planing on making a large ply base for the pole. My question is how much force will there be on the actual base? and do i need to fix it somehow to the deck to stop it sliding round or should it just stay still once the straps are tensioned? Cheers

skeets44 · Outlaw Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 119

You will need to give more information to get you answer. If you know someone that has a very basic knowledge in trig and geometry, draw them a sketch.

Info needed in addition to the height of the pylon which is given would be... distance from pylon to where the cables will attach to the boat, what elevation will they attach to the boat compared to the height of the pylon. Other info that can be assumed would be, length of tow rope and weight of wakeboarder. Best way to get around that is to size the base plate for the breaking strength of the rope.

hydeout22 · Criminal Joined: 30 Apr 2006 Posts: 98 City: Toronto

I built an eight foot high pylon for my tow boat. It goes through the front hatch window and sits in the front cargo hold. I fit 2 peices of 3/4" plywood in there cut to fit into the V and it was a flat section so the peices fit perfectly. They were a Triangle, about 3' at the base and each side was about 3'. I used PL glue and screwed them together and then dropped them in. Then I screwed the base post of my tower to them. This consisted of an 1/8" steel plate which had a 16" sleeve welded to it that accepts the pole. I just slide in the pole into this, and then attach the 3 straps uptop. The front strap goes right to the top of the pole and the side ones are about 4" from the top of the pole. I installed the 2 side strap tieoffs on the side of the boat on the gunnels using 3"x6" 1/4" steel backing to keep it from pulling through the boat. The front strap went over the bow through a holding bracket I made and attaches to the front hook that is used when the boat is on the trailer. I also replaced the backer on that hook with the largest I could fit in there. For Straps I used I think, a 6000 lb rated one for the nose with breaking point of around 8000 lbs from what I can remember and the sides were smaller at around 3600 lb load and 5600 lb breaking point. Some people said that there will be stretch and that you have to use steel cable with turnbuckels. I have to admit, yes there is stretch. It is noted that if I am pulling my guts out and then fall, the pole bounces about 1/8" at the top but its a lot easier and safer removing the soft straps than dealing with steel cables every time I want to install and remove it. Also less scratching of the boat deck with the fabric cables.

I am currently putting a website together which has all information for people starting out including DIY pylon, DIY wakeskate, weighting your boat, boat speed, rope information, lots of links to stores, and pictures and anything else I can think of putting on there. Hey, its winter in Toronto, Canada and I am bored out of my mind, what else can I do, and there isn't even snow this winter.

Just my 2cents worth

hermy1291 · Posted: Jul 16, 2007 12:03 pm Post subject:

I made you like the one you are making. I screwed 2 pieces of wood together cuting a hole big enough for the pole to sit in. I have a cable to the front and rachet straps to the back. The board stays put vary nicely and has never slid around in the boat.

DiyGuy · Soul Rider Joined: 26 Dec 2003 Posts: 460

DiyGuy · Soul Rider Joined: 26 Dec 2003 Posts: 460

dirtysparks · Wakeboarder.Commie Joined: 07 Jul 2004 Posts: 2428

Here's one I did a few years ago...looks like the pics got screwy somewhere along the way, the malibu and skatebord pics aren't mine.

http://forums.wakeboarder.com/viewtopic.php?t=31787&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I used this for about a month before I got sick of all the straps and crap in the way and bought a tower.