Sorry missed that part - yes on each side is the battery and fast fill valve compartment - plenty of room to do the install. Will put those pictures up later this week - forgot

Nick - excited to check it out this week..... after riding the Malibu last week I'm sold on the gate.... Looks like some mods are needed - but props to someone actually trying to do something.... haters are going to hate / but it takes someone to say - sure I'll put new holes in my transom.... and be one of the first to try it out.... this is the start to a lot of aftermarket hacks....

That looks great! I'm glad to hear that it makes the pocket a lot longer. I'm sure it just needs a little tweeking to get it just perfect.

Keep us posted!

Nicolas, I think you're a bad ass for having the balls to even attempt this and also think the fact that you're being honest, explicit, and informative about those results makes it even more awesome and helpful. This is really ground breaking to take the risk of either damaging or devaluing your hull just to try to make this happen. I would encourage and thank you for your future blatant honesty and especially pictures/videos documenting your balsy experiment. Kudos to you.

Ok -thx for the flowers but drilling holes is easy - Frank's gel coat repair is more impressive despite the bad circumstances ...
So anyway - more testing as said earlier this weekend - in particular by not extending the gate all the way. It hit me afterwards that I also had a lot of drag with the 'old' tabs and had to counter steer a lot - so maybe less = more? But also looked at the Axis pictures yesterday and making the gate taller and longer will be almost a given - will make template with card box to get the correct shape and have it cut - so all I gotta do is mounting the larger ones :D ... Guess I'm lazy but that should be up for Labor Day weekend

Just like the DYI Surfgate evolution, the wood tower guys have advanced too:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-z...818_134901.jpg

Wow, that is a sweet boat! Thanks for posting!

Man, I'd think you'd have to be able to pull that tower over with a hard cut.

^ not if norm from hometime made it :)
it's made with a butt-joint and some biscuits just for holding power...

I can't imagine how bad someone would be hurt by a wood tower collapsing on them.

Sorry for the hijack Nicolas, the actuated epic gate is a nice accomplishment. My DIY surfgate is still in the stone ages. Keep up the good work!

Nick,

When you get this wave, your project will be complete! :D Or will it be bigger and longer? :eek:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7409/9...fced17fa06.jpg

Frank - not sure where you mounted the camera - how far away from the transom are you? And I think I easily get this on the right - so the same side you're on ... funny thing is at first I'm looking at this picture and like ... that's my old board - is that me???

we were out last night a bit with friends and played a bit but was lucky to get home - thought I had enough fuel ... it seems like I should quit thinking and just fill it up :banghead: wifey didn't think it was funny and she also saw the bill on the counter ... :eek:

Anyway - talked to Marina - gotta work a bit today but will get the template done prolly tomorrow and then we're going to epic gate 2.0 :D

they already got a call from another boat shop because a guy must have stopped by to pick up parts and was checking it out.

Here are the missing pics from the inside of the transom - the left side is kinda busy ;)

hmm - and a wire is not attached to the battery ... wonder what that is for ... so far things are running fine???

Nick,

What changes are you going to make for Epic Gate 2.0?
Great looking install..

12-15'; it was a very large and solid wake. I can get the same on the left side with another 250 on the left. This is a straight-line wake. No, it's my new old board; I bought it about a week or 2 after I picked up the boat, $125 new on eBay. I actually like this board better than the Inland Surfer. I'm thinking of picking up a Phase 5 Danielo Diamond, but I might wait to see if the price comes down this winter, assuming I can find one.

I have been cruising the web looking for Lenco 150059 (102) actuators. Best price I found so far is $179 each. However, I don't know what switches are really needed and if a controller is also required. Prices vary from $100 - $400 depending on options, plus the wire extensions with plugs. Same for the hinges. Even the simple SS plates/hinges are fairly expensive for what you get.

Your loose wire looks like the second battery ground. You probably want to get that on before one of the other smaller grounds connections gets burned up when the power demand on the second battery is high.

ok - here is the part list I needed - some was already on the boat:

• Lenco actuator XD 102 - 15060-001 (the 15059-001 may do it too but I had the XDs already)
• Lexan sheet (don't use a polycarbonat) or king starboard - size 18x24 gives you enough to play with as the gate needs to be higher near the transom than in the back
• Carling switches - at least that's what matched my boat
• trim tab gauges
• hinges (the ones I used I found on ebay - they don't need to be that long but I would still use 3 per gate

There might be a controller somewhere hooked into the thing as they retract automatically when the power switch is turned off - I haven't found it yet but I assume it is somewhere but I doubt you need it. I will post the measurements later to where and at what angle the gate is mounted - so that will give you some ideas to play/start with.

From your list of parts, yes, you do have a controller box for the retract and it is probably under the dash or the side rail. I initially didn't realize you already had the XD actuators. Malibu's Surf Gate uses the 102 (15059-001) actuator. From a review and explanation on TransWorld, they said the force needed was 300 lbs, so either actuator should work; however, the end point attachment on the XD will be stronger, depending on attachment hardware. I called Lenco today and the rep I spoke with didn't really know much about the technical specs between the 2 actuators nor that one of them was used for Malibu's Surf Gate. I see hinges are full SS piano style on some of the gates while others are 2 per side, depending on the application.

Keep us posted.
_______

Price to play: About $1,000 plus installation.

Lenco actuators (4.25"): $180-230/each
Lenco switches and controllers $100-300 (depending on tab indicators)
Diverter Sheets/tabs: $120 and up
Hinges: $100
Misc Hardware: $100

This guys wins!

http://www.onlyinboards.com/App_Them...to/212848.jpeg

http://www.onlyinboards.com/Details.aspx?ID=39696

I made a ghetto gate for 30 bucks and an hour of my time. No drilling just gravity & a strap to hold it. Sure its ugly as hell but it works & works very well. I also now know all the angles I need & will make a cool teak gate with manual deploy over the winter. But seriously, if you want the benefits of a gate right now just google the ghetto gate & make one! Best mod I've done to the boat.

I googled it. All I got was a bunch a pic's of gates in different ghettos. Do you have a link?

^^^hahahahaha

Search
Ghetto gate surf
Lots of different topics
I was surprised how light weight some of them are made. I would have thought the water force would have been fairly strong

My bad, ghetto surf gate. Heres one, I made one just like it but with plexi glass & trex, works great. Ugly as hell, but works great

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/...etto-gate-v10/

Yeah there is isn't a ton of force. You have to make the gate portion itself a lot bigger since those 2x4s sit so high above the swim platform. But a simply strap & some shims to adjust its angle & it works so damn good. Its like a fat girl, great to ride but sucks to be seen...

OK Nick, I bought all the parts and went with the XD actuators. They should be at the border in a week. Now I need the new tab size. It will be interesting to see how the old swim deck works with it. I am thinking 13"x23" to start, but I was wondering how much taper to put on the lower side? Epic-tab #2 should be on the water in a few weeks.

Had some great surf sessions this past weekend. There was an 80 lb kid that was probably 25' or more back from the boat! We had about 2500# plus 9 peeps in the boat. Of course as the rider weight increased, the distance reduced significantly.

How about some pictures of the surf wake from the EPIC owner??

Frank, not sure how you mount them to be able to make them that tall - the current setup 9" x 22". My 'new' setup will be 11.5" at the transom, 8" at the other end and 28" long. I can't go higher than 11.5" at the transom - otherwise I hit the hook for the tie-downs. The other issue with them being taller is the spray behind the boat. I was out last night boarding and checked visually when the water stops hitting the gates and how far they're away from the water coming up @21mph - and there isn't much room - maybe 2 inches max? I have taken a gopro video at that speed holding the camera underneath the platform - you can see that there is some room between water and gate but not a lot. You can minimize the impact on the gate if you don't fold them in as much but I would be careful regardless. However I would make them longer if I were you - not sure what you use as material. Having a hard time to find someone locally who can cut the Makrolon sheet other than square :( ... so may order some king starboard to do the test gate for version 2.0 in that material first before doing it with Lexan/Makrolon.

Pictures ... hmm ... got videos so far but haven't gotten around to shorten them to the appriopriate length and load them up to vimeo - will try to get to this later today. One thing upfront: The other thread of the MB vertical gate and his wake is pretty amazing - I don't think I'm near that if I stick to stock ballast - it just isn't happening. So far I have tried a few things but the easiest is to just get a bunch of people and try it out this way - I hate to fill bags with a pump after my tanks are full in 45 seconds :banghead: and I have only a 540lbs at the moment to play with ...

Did you try out the new tabs yet?

I am in the process of installing mine. The polycarbonate lamination is finally setting up but, I am wondering if they are too heavy at 1" thick, each tab weighs 10 lbs. Right now the tabs are 12.5" x 22" tapering to and 11.5". I'll start a new thread on mine with some pics after the weekend.