towing with tower down
 

does anyone else wish that you could tow your boat with the tower down all wrapped up in a trailerable/towable cover?

Too much time pole polishing in the garage! I couldn't resist.

It has been brought up many times before. Some towers fold better than others. There are some really interesting bags to protect speakers and towers. The Samson Razor on my Epic folds down with one person in less than a minute. It gets low enough to get out of the wind and the bugs! I'm guessing there are some other towers that do the same.

I used to have a 2002 Xstar and towed with the tower down all the time. My tower folded towards the front of the boat. I made a board out of a 2x4 and covered it with soft material so it could rest on the top of the fiberglass on each side without messing it up. I also put a towel between the fiberglass and 2x4 just as an added precaution. The 2x4 had a small block with a U shape mounted on top so the tower would fit right into the U. I then took a boat dock rope and made sure it was tied snug down to the handles in the front of the boat. Never had any issues and never had to clean any bugs off the tower in 10 years!

Seems like a lot of work vs just taking a wet rag and wiping the tower down when you get to where you're going. I have covers for my speakers and racks, not hard to take 1 min to wipe the tower. Probably less time to do that then to prep and set up the scenario above

Tow with mine down all the time - especially on longer trips. Don't tie it down to anything. But, I do tie a bumper onto the pylon on the tower which then rests between the tower and the rear seat.

You can if you have the new power tower on the MC. Not a fan of that tower but that is one of the benefits.

If you're worried about bugs and grime, take some 2" blue masking tape and mask off the forward side of the tower/speakers/racks/etc. I did this for a 2k mile tow from the Bay Area to Texas and it worked great. Took 2 minutes to pull all of it off and toss it in the trash can.

I like the masking tape idea better than the shrink wrap. The biggy is the racks. I tow my epic with the tower down on longer trips just because of the stresses I think it puts on the gel coat, however, I have yet to see any cracks in the gel around the tower since 07.

You can do it with the G23. The cover is made to work with both the tower up and down...pretty slick.

The new Mastercraft ZFT-4 can be towed up or down. It's an awesome tower, so solid. One of my favorite things about the 2012's.

The new Nautiques the tower folds behind the windshield and the cover goes over it . No bugs and speakers are out of sight.

it takes me maybe 3 minutes to do this, 5 at most so it wasnt too bad. also, the 2 or 3 times i towed with the tower up and tried to wipe bugs off, a lot of them were falling in the boat as i wiped it off. That 3-5 minutes ended up being the 2nd best thing I ever did on the boat. The best was building a 12 tall garage at the lakehouse and no more towing or putting the tower down!

I wrap the tower and speakers in clear packing wrap, the same stuff you use to wrap boxes on pallets, u can buy it in 6 or 8 in wide, I wrap it, you can't see it and I just usea small knife to cut open an end and rip it off, clean clear and cheap and fast

The 2012 X25 with power tower is intedted to tow with the tower in the down position. The factory cover covers the tower and keeps it clean and away from hail, rain, bugs ect. Love it!Attachment 24503