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Custom welded arch and hard top coming soon...

C

Come Monday

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This is exciting. I'm having an arch designed to replace my rear bimini and am adding a fiberglass top. If everything works, the plan is to have my full enclosure all connect to it. It'll be a little while while he's building it but it's going to resemble this, yet with a white hard top. It's going on a 2350RBR. If anyone has any clever suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I just received my Captains license and am planning on doing a little chartering. This should turn some heads!

My boat currently looks like this (http://club.benningtonmarine.com/index.php?/gallery/album/658-2350-rbr/)

Attached is the rack I'm trying to copy.

image.jpg
 
That's exciting, keep us informed.  First question, why do you want to do this, is it purely looks or do you have other reasons? 

I have to admit I loved the classic look of your boat with the double bimini but can't wait to see what happens.
 
I really hate to rain on your parade because it's a cool and brave idea, but while at the factory the engineers there were very adamant telling us how the mounting points of the towers were specifically engineered for each boat/floor plan with reinforcements and such. I'd proceed very cautiously on it or at least consult them for advice.
 
And on Toms post, this quite possibly will void any remaining warranty left on your boat. It sounds like structural changes will have to be made. Sounds like a neat project though.

How long did it take you to get your Captains licencse?
 
Link said:
That's exciting, keep us informed. First question, why do you want to do this, is it purely looks or do you have other reasons?

I have to admit I loved the classic look of your boat with the double bimini but can't wait to see what happens.
Click to expand...
 
The reason I'm doing it for a few different reasons. First, I love the look. Bennington has such an incredible product that if you were to have a welded rack like this that functioned as well as its form, it would be the total toon package. Second, I think it's going to give me an upper hand on the exposure to advertise my chartering business. I get compliments all the time as it is - I'm sure we all do - but I want something extremely eye catching that someone will want call me for a charter because of sheer intrigue. Then, my job is to show them a good time. My wife and I love boating and have always wanted to share it with the tourists that visit where we live. It's still just an idea, but we're crazy enough to make it a profession I think. Third, it's going to be built in a way that I can add a rack on top such that we wanted to carry SUP boards and do a charter/SUP experience in a secluded location. I'm aware of the structural challenges and the warranty repercussions but the guy doing it is super talented and he thinks there won't be any problem. While I have the opportunity to have this guy do it, I want to do it all.

The captains license is not hard to get, but has a lot of pieces to complete the puzzle. Cpr/first aid, twic card, sea school, drug test, physical, actual test and a lot of paper work. It took about 3 months total and cost about $1200. I'll keep everyone posted as this project progresses. It's going to be a fun challenge.
 
Sounds like a fun time! Do forum members get a discount when we are in your neck of the woods!!!!! Any idea when it will be completed?
 
That looks like a cool project. I don't see how it or should void and warranty. IMO the deck and the rail (where the arch would mount) is a very solid and not a item that usually Go's bad. So I wouldn't worry about it. And I'm sure he knows he is on his own as far as structure issues that may arise from his add on.

I appreciate the advise that people here dish out but frankly some times it comes off like cranky old men. I have seen it a few times here when some one posts pictures of some mod they did some one seems to have some negative comments. I don't know if it's becUse this a forum with lots of older members and people don't mod out their boats or people are just afraid to post up because of the negative vibe. Not pointing anyone out just making a general observation.

I personally think this guys mod is cool and don't see any reason he couldn't make a killer tower and even make one that's better then what bennington makes WOW I just said it. blastmafy !!!
 
If this is a cranky/negative bunch, then you must not have spent much time on 99% of the rest of the forums on the internet. 
 
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IMO everyone is offering advice and looking out for the best interest of the OP. No one is suggesting it is not feasible or not doable, they are offering suggestions on what they see as potential challenges and what one could do to rectify the challenges. Great advice from great forum members.
 
Update... Turns out a hard top isn't feasible at this point. The weight of a fiberglass top would be 3lbs/SF and the sq. footage of the rear top is about 80SF, so that translates to 240lbs. That is too heavy in the position where it would be placed. We're worried it would make the boat bow heavy. So for now, we're going to build the rack and modify the canvas in away it will still fit the enclosure and front bimini, however, be easily removed for those days you don't want any bimini and let the rack show itself off. I opted for anodized aluminum over the black powder coat. We have been discussing the under pattern of the rack and decided to do it in a way I can hang my Fosgate tubbie speakers and have one pipe dedicated for that. I'm trying to figure out how to get the top lighting to look slick. I like the led bullets in the standard collapsible tops but I feel there can be something really unique. If anyone has any suggestions - I'd love to hear them. The design is always a slow process, but when the print is final I bet it'll move fairly quick.
 
Sounds like you've really thought it through and will have something unique to draw your clients in. There are lots of great opportunities with LED lighting, using strip lights, underwater pucks, and such. Have fun with it!
 
I would use the same mood lighting Led's Bennington uses on their tower. Unfortunately they don't come in red as I already contacted the company, I thought about trying to buy a couple and see if I could take them apart and switch it. They do make it in a white, but it is a higher wattage.
 
Any updates?
 
Sorry about the delay with an update but I'm just now getting this built! It has been a challenge to get this started but better late than never...

So it turns out the rack was just not going to work. My welder kind of ignored me until I called and said I had a different idea. Now that my charters are starting to happen, I thought leaving the boat alone would be wise, but I think being able to carry paddle boards would be a good idea for ourselves and our charter guests. I've seen the side racks but they cover your boat. What better way to carry them than on top of the boat, right? My welder loved the idea and we designed a rack that will accommodate 4 paddle boards max. We followed the curvature of the Bennington lines and it's built! Attached are the pictures. It's getting a gloss black powder coat and being installed in the next 2 weeks. He's been to the boat 5 times taking measurements and is certain it will be extremely sturdy with a maximum of 125lbs of weight capacity. I guess the challenge was to get lateral strength. He says most t-tops have supports in the middle but there is obviously no room for that here. So through a network of aluminum tubing and calculations, he's confident this will work. The side tube supports are 2" and the top is made of 1-1/2". The guy is an artist and I cannot wait to see this on my boat with a couple of SUP boards on top. He has been welding these things for 20 years and I was lucky to have him take job. Anyways - here's a couple of pics of it in his shop before it moves to paint then installation. Let me know what you guys think - go easy on me! I've never seen this done on a pontoon so I'm breaking ground! Talk soon - Johnimage.jpegimage.jpeg
 
I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product!
 
That should look great!

Bennington take note. Putting kayaks, SUP's, tubes on top of a rack like that would be more flexible than the current designs. Think of it as an SUV with a roof rack. Better yet make it a t-slot affair to take typical Thule or Yakima holders like my car does.
 
Very cool design, can't wait to see it mounted
 
My plan is to load and offload the boards from the rear. I have a yeti 160 tundra cooler on the rear deck centered on the motor that I can stand on but like Tom S commented, there should be an easy way to secure it. If anyone can think of a quick and secure way to secure the boards - I'm all ears. Maybe I should figure that out before it's installed on the boat, lol. It would be slick if I could slide the board from the back into something tapered that would secure the front, then just tie the backs down while I'm standing on the cooler so I don't have to secure the fronts from inside the boat. Unloading would be easy as well.

The only draw to this design is that you cannot retract the rear bimini, but I never do anyways because I have speakers mounted to the top rail inside the boat. The front bimini can be retracted if you wanted the sun. It can be completely be removed by undoing the bottom bolts. The whole tower only weighs 100lbs.

Let me know if you have any ideas of securing the boards. I'd appreciate it.
 
What a great idea on how best to haul things that typically are difficult to handle. Looking forward to seeing the finished project. I love how much forethought has gone into this idea. It wouldn't work for us since when the river is high it is impossible to get into our covered slip with the Bimini top up.
 
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