Thought I'd throw some pics out there from our rail project this weekend. We managed to slap this thing together in one day with three of us working on it. Gave it a test float in Albert Lea after we finished the frame, it was slightly unbalanced, but should be easily corrected with anchors and/or water in the barrels. Can't wait to visit the ER after we get out on this thing. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/439439.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/439440.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/439441.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/439442.jpg" alt="Upload">

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Sweet man! Post some more pics when your hitting it.

If that ever gets to the west metro (ie. Medicine Lake) Let me know. Ha. Nice work bro.

did you have plans for that thing? I am interested in doing something similar if it works out for you!

very cool. Are your barrels 10 gal? building a kicker and curious about bouyancy of 8 of them. thx. <BR> <BR>also, any idea how much it weighs?

Ryan- Do you ride quite a bit on Medicine? I've been out there a few times with a buddy of mine who has an older runabout, it always seems really busy. Lots of wakeboats though, seems like a pretty good scene. <BR> <BR>Gordon- We really didn't have much for plans, just built it as we went. One of the other guys should be on later, he'd probably be able to describe it better. Overall, I think we used fifteen 16foot 2X4s and six 8X4 sheets of plywood. The flat part of the top rail is 16 feet long, and the approach up to it is around 10. I will say the C-box for the rail will be nice, as we are all rookies at this. The wider the better!

Plans....? Well, to be honest, we didn't have any. We basically drew one 2D picture and went to town. We figure that way we wouldn't be restricted by plans. Ha <BR> <BR>Nacho, the barrels are 20 gals. They are plenty buoyant. I will admit I was surprised at how little they went down in the water with all that weight. Not sure on the total weight. If I had to guess I would say around 450 lbs.

where you guys at! I'll come session with you!

Hey Brian, <BR> <BR>I do ride on Medicine quite a bit. One of my friends just moved into a place there and he and his roomate both have wakeboats. If you see a yellow centurion, or black and white 01 xstar give a shout. It can get kind of busy on the weekends, but weekdays are pretty decent. If it gets bad we go to Bryant, Riley, and / or a couple other places. If you ever want to ride give a shout. I am a boat whore this year as I just sold my old one, but I always have beer and gas money. (I know that was a shameless plug)

Looks very well built! Only thing you might end up changing after the fist run is the entry angle. It looks mellow, but at 22mph or so, its pretty aggressive.

Yeah, it will be interesting to see what happens when we get out there. Very much trial and error. Anyone have any good ideas on how to anchor this thing? We were thinking concrete in 5-gallon buckets, but I'm sure there are other/better ideas out there.

I agree that the entry looks a bit steep and its not the best setup to learn on with all that wood to land on. Once you get it dialed, it will be a blast. I would love to hit that. You might also consider filling the barrels 1/4 full of water when you get to the lake so its not top heavy. Are you planning to cover they plywood on the box part of it? How do you get that on the trailer?

We have some large sheets of plastic to cover the top of the box. One of our buddies has a large goose neck trailer with a beaver tail. So we just lift the one end on and then slide it forward.

I just re-read your post and you definately need to put trex, pvc or some other surface besides exposed wood to slide on. Its not slippery enough and will eat your boards fast. I would go with trex, its flat wide and easy on the boards.