1800mx: wakeboarding tower recommendations, deck thickness

[242]

Hi everyone --

this is my first post here. I'm a happy owner of a 2008 1800mx (since last year), to which I upgraded last year from a 11' Avon inflatable with a 10hp motor I primarily boat in Washington state lakes, but take it to other places every once in a while. Nice to meet you all

I'm going to install a wakeboarding tower -- so I am wondering if anyone has any good/bad opinions about towers available out there. Also, I couldn't find any information about the deck thickness on the 1800mx, and if it needs reinforcement (3/8" should be enough as is). Does anyone know for sure?

Thanks!

[seapuppy]

welcome to the zoo...there are several guys with that sized boat here and have installed a tower.....I'm not far from you up here in everett but my boat is slightly larger....

have you called the shop and asked them how thick the fiberglass is???...they would know for sure...and yes..your gonna need to reinforce the back side of the tower to keep from ripping the fiberglass apart.....large stainless steel or al. flat bar would work well...



SP :hello:

[Brit Rider]

In my experience, Maxums are generally fine on the deck thickness front - I'd certainly never had to reinforce one. though saying that, some towers, which have particularly small mounts will benefit from the deck being beefed up.

The general rule is that that if the fiberglass is flexing, then it can damage itself.

The best towers for your boat would be along the lines of a Monster Tower or anything from the guys at DIYWake.com

If you ever go near salt water ensure the tower is anodized, if you don't I'd not be as concerned.

Any ideas on what your budget is and what kind of towers you like?

[shrew]

Regardless of deck thickness, I would recommend considering backing plates and through bolting with nylon locking nuts. It's simply the right way to do it. You probably won't have problems without them, but you DEFINITELY won't have problems with them. The small amount of additional work up front will alow you to potentially avoid more work and potential damage down the road. You're already going to be under there for the nuts, you might as well slap a backing plate and never look at it again.