Right now I am in the phase of making a tower for my old boat. I just need measurements from others who own a tower. <BR> <BR>The tower I am making is going to be 7 feet high. The width of the bases at the front of the boat has to be 64" and the bases towards the back of the boat are going to be 58". <BR>Now what I need is how far apart are the front and back bases from each other? Check the picture below to know what I mean. <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/70902.jpg" alt="Tower I am making"> <BR> <BR>Thanks! <BR>Randy Blackwell

Also, I am making it out of 2" and 1.5" galvanized steel.

i have built two towers, your boat will tell you where to put the mounts. this is actually where you should start. start at the mounts and work up. look for flat spots. curving your base plate is hard. make sure you put plywood backers with alot of glue or bondo behind your mounts. good luck

oh, btw, are you shure you can weld galvy steel . I use regular steel it is cheap and very easy to weld

<a href="http://www.flipsell.com/Phase3/home/DispVehicle.asp?VehicleID=4413" target="_blank">http://www.flipsell.com/Phase3/home/DispVehicle.asp?VehicleID=4413</a> here is a pic of one i made two years ago

I just finished my custom tower yesterday, heres a pic of it. <BR> <BR><a href="http://www2.freepichosting.com/Images/46716/1.jpg" target="_blank">http://www2.freepichosting.com/Images/46716/1.jpg</a>

Wow! those are nice towers! Good job! <BR> <BR>I just assumed that I could weld galv steel, I will find out though. The base is my biggest worry. I was planning on having the steel come down on an angle (as shown in the above picture) and then welding a small piece of steel to the end of that, vertically. After I do that I need to find something that will allow my tower to slide into, which will be the hardest part of the whole process. <BR> <BR>By the way, how much did this cost you to make? And, did you weld it on your own or did you pay someone to do it for you? I have to pay someone (which is why I am keeping it a simple design). <BR> <BR>Thanks again.

<a href="http://www.inboardtalk.com" target="_blank">www.inboardtalk.com</a> <BR> <BR>check out his dimensions, it almost looks like a Flight control tower

Ok thanks.

be careful welding galvanized. the fumes are much worse. <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.sperkoengineering.com/html/articles/WeldingGalvanized.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.sperkoengineering.com/html/articles/WeldingGalvanized.pdf</a> <BR> <BR>

I am also in process of making my own tower, and krug yours look awsome dude. The thing that concerns me the most are the mountings on the boat, i am afraid that i will somehow damage the hull. Krug do you have any drawings left on how you built yours? I am thinking of making it in raw steel as a prototype to test it out. I dont want to weld galvanized, but i can get it galvanized afterwords and raw steel is half the price. And when i get a good working prototype for my boat then i will make it aluminium. <BR> <BR>Lets try to share info guys, i have read the documents on DIY tower which is very good but more info is never bad, right? <BR> <BR>/JOnny

Yeah, im not welding galvanized. Thanks for telling me about it. I did a bit of research and apparently deposits form which can lead to cracking. I am just going to build it out of raw steel and paint it or something. I just dont know where to buy raw steel. I might ask some guys at the junk yard if they have any, because i can spruce it up myself. When I get my layout I will post the pictures and such.

Ron, <BR> <BR>Not fair, your tower looks better than any factory tower out there (OK, including ours) That's a double big wow!!! Someone put many ours, lots of love and some decent $$$ into that, very impressive craftsmanship. If someone else made it I hope you tipped him. <BR> <BR>Randy, <BR> <BR>Your boat will define that more than anything. Anything over about 40" and under 60" should be fine. The longer the dimension the lower the stress is in the front legs. <BR> <BR>Bill

Guys I work with metal for a living, along with other things but I'll tell you this. Dont make it out of galvanized nor steel. Steel will be heavy as hell and rust, not to mention you will have to probably stick or mig weld it which looks like crap. <BR> <BR>Stick with aluminum or stainless. Also when welding galvanized you have to use a type of rod called silicon bronze which is very weak. Then plan on rust on the welds unless you paint it and keep it painted. Aluminum is very cheap but harder to weld, and its light and doesnt rust. <BR> <BR>I designed that tower, but didnt not build it all because I dont have the capabilitys to bend tubing and thats the only reason. The aluminum we used is 1 5/8s OD for the tower and 1 3/8s for the support bars and Top. <BR> <BR>Bill, thanks a lot for the compliments, we put a lot of hard thinking and work into it. <BR> <BR>Last but not least, if you dont have a clue about metal work, I strongly suggest buying a tower prefabbed if you can. It will look much nicer and be easier to install. <BR> <BR>Believe it or not, I ALMOST ordered a monster tower last week before I built this because I have never built one before. Bill you probably got emails from me about mounting because I dont have access to my gunnelwells and you told me to call you. Anyway, good luck and ill help anyone I can if you need it.

Ron, <BR> <BR>I don't believe this would be adequate enough because the backing plate is required to spread the load out on the fiberglass, especially for the front mounts. We recommend you add a deck plate to get access to the underside of the hull to mount the backing plate. You can see these at <a href="http://www.WestMarine.com" target="_blank">www.WestMarine.com</a> and search for "deck plate". They are under $20 each. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>Bill Bierbower <BR>Chief Executive Monster <BR>Monster Tower, LLC <BR>1025A Nine North Drive <BR>Alpharetta, GA 30004 <BR><a href="mailto:Bill@MonsterTower.com">Bill@MonsterTo wer.com</a> <BR><a href="http://www.MonsterTower.com" target="_blank">www.MonsterTower.com</a> <BR> <BR>Phone: 877-77Tower or 770-410-3451 <BR>Fax: 877-232-6538 <BR> <BR>-----Original Message----- <BR>From: ron [mailto:<a href="mailto:kuyken@attbi.com">kuyken@attbi.com</a>] <BR>Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2003 1:31 AM <BR>To: <a href="mailto:sales@monstertower.com">sales@monster tower.com</a> <BR>Subject: question on your towers <BR> <BR> <BR>I'm thinking about putting your tower on my center console boat but have a question. Anyway to mount it with OUT the backing plate? I have no access to my gunnels but I do know the fiberglass there is over and inch thick from putting in rod holders. Would lag bolts hold it good enough? Any type of toggle bolt maybe? Let me know, thanks. <BR> <BR>Ron <BR> <BR> <BR>Yup, it was you bill, thanks for the tips on how to mount it them.

No problem Ron, glad to be of help, now just dont start making those towers comercially avaialble <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/wink.gif" border=0>

I was wondering, since I am making my tower out of steel, do I need big diameter piping (2") or could i just settle for something like 1.5" ? <BR> <BR>Im not worried about weight, if anything it will help the wake and I dont care about rust because I can use my compressor to keep painting it. I just want something to get me up. <BR> <BR>

By the way, could the tower in the first pic at the top be mounted the other way, with the support poles facing the stern instead of the bow?

Sure can Randy, I think that's how Skylon does their Mini Tower (<a href="http://www.SkylonSports.com" target="_blank">www.SkylonSports.com</a>) <BR> <BR>Bill

Thanks Bill! I am hopefully going to get one fabricated today. I still might make it out of aluminum, depending on the cost difference. Thanks again.