Collapsing Your Tower

Just curious, do you collapse your tower so you can store it in your garage?

Also, do you tow with tower up or down?

We always tow with the tower up, but we do break it down to put it into a our storage building.

I have to remove the swivel board racks and collapse the tower to store the boat in the garage.

I always tow with the tower up.

I have a 2001 air and have to fold the FCT every night to fit up under the shore station during the summer.

It stays folded in the garage over winter but I have a rope going from the rafters to the tower so the tower is suspended 4 feet off the boat. That way I can put the cover on easily in the garage so it doesn't get dusty.

I always tow the short trip to the lake and back with tower up. Next time a take it on a long trip, I may lower tower just to see what the fuel mileage is, getting 10mpg as is.

Stored outside, tower up, fully covered with poly-tarp.

We take the tower down to get it into the carport and then raise it up when in the carport.

We only tow with the tower up and NO boards in the racks.

I collapse my tower to get it under the garage, then fold it back up once in the garage, so it doesn't put any marks on my interior. That's just how my tower sits when it's collapsed, but I see Scott's picture above, he puts a 2x4 to hold it up from his interior. I may have to try that.

I have to lower my tower to get it into my storage building when it's not sitting on the boatlift. It's a pain, but well having the boat inside so it can dry out completely.

Scott, there is a way you could fit your boat in the garage without taking off the board racks. I fold the tower down, and then once it's down, lift the support leg and pivot the board racks in, then let the legs rest on the board racks.
It's an extra step but it's a lot easier than removing the racks all-together.

we take our tower off to get it in the garage!

we tow with it up!

Thanks for the heads up Cal, I'll look in to that trick. I hadn't thought of that one.

Waylon, here's a picture of my simple 2x4 holding up the tower. I have also installed some Lag eye hooks in the rafters above the boat in case I need to suspend the tower out of the way with straps.

Mike - you take the entire tower off to get it in the garage?

I have a 9 foot door and fold mine down to get it in the garage after every use.

We tow with our tower down so the "bug juice" doesn't get on the tower speakers.

We use a similar set up like Scott so it doesn't rub on the upholstery. Only ours has a U shape the tower leans into.

The new AlphaZ tower on the 09 Tiges collapses down to windshield height. There are only two pins to release on the tower and it's easy enough for me to do by myself.

Wait till you get it loaded up, Kayla. My wife could lower our Titan by herself if it didn't have a ton of weight & accessories on it.

Scott and Cal,
I have an easier way than both of your descriptions... tough to explain but I will try and if not send me an email and I will do a pic tutorial for you.
-lay a towel on your gunwale where your board rack will hit.
-fold down that tower leg, but don't have your rack locked in any position, have it floating and it will come down and cup right into your towel. So, your backing of the rack and the tip of your rack will wrap around the gunwhale.
You can slide your tower by it and it will still not be any wider than your boat if you have width clearance issues....
Super super easy and works perfectly....

On to the question... I am two inches short of not having to fold my tower. I have to fold it down just to get it in and then I put it back up. I can do it in less than a minute now...

The reason I dont tow with my tower down is because it seems like the vibration and jarring of the road would weakin or make sloppy the two joints where the tower is mounted...mine are heim joints.
Have any of you that tow with it down notice this?
When my tower is up and tightened down it is super ridgid. Just seems like a better/safer way to tow it.

Hate to tell ya, Sean. But there is nothing "super rigid" about the ProFlight tower. I'm not sure if the tower being down would do anything to it. But securing it in the down position would probably resolve that anyway.

What Im saying is that my tower is a whole lot more ridgid going down the road bolted together at four points vs two points...I would assume this is the same for most towers. I wonder what the tower mnfg would recommend???

I've never seen any tower manufacturer recommend towing in the down position. And I imagine the reason why is exactly your point.... it's just not secured as well. It would be interesting to see future tower designs that can be secured down for towing on the trailer or up for using.

Now that I think about it, there might be one...... the Air Sling Power Tower. I've never used it though, and I'm not sure that rigidity is it's strong suit.

has anyone noticed how the new tige tower collapses?

i was thinking about checking out their 09s this weekend. the houston dealer having a huge tige reunion this weekend.
www.texastige.com they have '09s in stock and i'm sure they'll be in the water!

EASY

http://mbsports.net/accessory_view.asp?accessory=towers

we never take our tower down. thank god we have ten foot garage doors!

Hey I had the chance to go out on Tige's '09 and experience their new tower! Wow, that thing is awesome! I was sold on looks alone, then I experienced the features - thumbs up for Tige!

First, the tower is solid and rattle-free and the bimini is so easy to install!

Collapsing the tower is a breeze! - Even with the 4 speakers on it. There is a balancing spring inside that makes it easy for one person to lower the tower. All you do is unlock and take out 2 pins and "spot" the tower as it is lowered backward. You don't have to climb on the upholstery, just stand in the middle of the boat. The tower doesn't rest on the upholstery so you don't have to worry about "rub".

The integrated docking lights are cool too.

I've got to say, the Tige tower for '09 helps make the upgrading decision easy.

check out Sangers new tower click on number 13 for Scott Pellaton explaining and demonstrating the new tower
http://www.barefootcentral.com/SangerFactoryTour.htm

Sooooo basically its a malibu tower (same system 2 pins, pull them and the tower is spring loaded so it doesnt just fall down its smooth) hahaha just messin with you guys

Andy - one huge difference is that Sanger tower looks antiquated, oh and also the new Sanger tower is an upgrade ($$).

Tige's new tower has a sleek look and is standard with an RZ, Z1 or Ve.

Dave - I know you are only kidding.... It's not a malibu tower, it's better!

Hahaha, Im bored and had to twist somebodys arm!

Julianne it sounds like the new Tige tower is a one person set up (or down)and does'nt require a support to prevent uph damage. That's huge for me! I've read that Metcraft Ent. designed the new Tige tower and also designed Malibu's - I've also seen a similar tower on Svfara - I wonder if that's a Metcraft design also?

That new tower looks awesome on that tige.

Hey - Thats my family in the Tige. We demo'd that boat at the Texas Tige Reunion - Great Boat!
We had a great time - thanks to whoever posted it!

That tower is also very strong