DIY Wakeboard Tower

Just wanted to post some pics of the diy wakeboard tower I have been making at my shop. I modeled it closely after the monster wakeboard tower, with some modifications. let me know what yah think!
-more to come.

some pics of the sides.

Looks great! But I see a structural problem with the lateral movement, not really sure how Monster gets away with it?

Yeah, I see what your saying... the sides are cuved forward and inward slightly so hopefully it will help. Also still needs 2 more braces on each side that just haven't gotten put in yet...

I think I will probably have a strap to the front of the boat the first round of actual testing... probably be nervous as can be first time I test it out!!!

the welding bench is sick. Wish I had room for one like that. Materials would be about $500 I bet.
Sick tower also though, nice work, must be a nice fab shop.....

Just some info on the MTK... we've installed a few of them... The MTK tower is too narrow which makes head room and bimini fit a problem.. Also the mounts are way to close to each other which super stresses the fiberglass.. We had to fabricate huge reinforcing pads and fiberglass them in..

Good Luck.. Looks great..

Thanks for the input, that was kind of my reasoning by going with the solid stretch plate to kind of reinforce some of that stress... I am going to put steel pads underneath with a u bracket to screw from the plate inside into the inner hull, with rubber pad gaskets on top for padding to hull. the main point I am worried about is the mounting brackets from the tower to the plate...

How difficult is it to apply additional fiberglass?

Here is the machined pylon I had done for the top... only cost me a bottle of crown royal...

We need some pics of that bad boy on the boat!! Nice job!

Here is a few pics of the wakeboard tower being installed on the boat... be easy! I know my boats not the greatest... but if I had the money for a 80k wakesetter I would probably go that route instead of building my own tower lol

I am concerned that the tower looks to tall on the boat... it is nice that even when it gets speakers no one will have to worry about clanking there head. It will get a test run this weekend, then will get powder coated black.

Let me know what everyone thinks...

I clicked on this thread expecting some entertainment based on some previous DIY towers that have popped up in the past. However, I was wrong. Nice work man, you clearly know how to work with metal.

Very nice work! It might be a tad tall for that boat but like you said, you won't hit your head! That boat can provide hours of fun for your family the same that an 80k wakeboat could IMO. Very nice work. let us know how it goes after the water test.

I wouldn't worry about the height. I think it looks great. Nice job and it will be a big improvement for your Seaswirl. Reminds me of the tower we built back in the day for the mighty Glastron (but you did a way better job)!

P.S. Favorite part of the pic is the guy drinking the beer offering advice from a "safe" distance!

impressive workmanship, i too was looking to see what type of circus you were fabbing up but this thing is nice. BTW its not too tall your boat is just too short!

Typical three managers managing one employee work while all provide opposing work instruction and critic.

Nice job and props to you for your skills!

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Looks great! Could u shorten the front tube an inch or two and to give it a little more forward swoop?

besides getting it powder coated (as long as she holds up... God willing!) this is where she's staying! between machining, rolling, cutting, coping, welding and install there is at least 65 man hours between everyone... I am pretty happy with how it has turned out, but it has been about 4 months in the making. I don't know if I would do it all over again lol. Thanks for all the comments.

The craftsmanship looks real good man. Be proud of that. Don't worry about the boat, you're out on the water, that's what matters

Great workmanship man. Congrats! I hope you and your family enjoy it for a long time. And that pylon is super sweet!

Looks good. Did you put backing plates where you mounted it?

Nice work. I think it looks great as well. Will keep an eye open for it out on the Willy or the Columbia.

Looks really good.

Don't worry about not having a 80k Wakesetter. I bet 90% of the people on here started off with some like yours but with a much worse looking tower.

Looks good.

I would add a lateral brace on the rear, spanning from each vertical leg to the horizontal crossbar.

Originally Posted by zimme

Looks good. Did you put backing plates where you mounted it?

The bottom plates (1/4" alum - has 3/16" duro 60 neoprene gasket along the whole bottom panel) underneath the hull is another 3/16" neoprene gasket with a 1/8" mild steel C bracket spanning from the top along the side and down to the baseboard

Attached are some of the drawings I drew to use for the designs.

tried tested and approved... much better! Now need to get some tunes...

Great job ! You must be a red neck like myself. I'm working on a surf gate for my Malibu.


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What material did you use for the tower? I was told alum. conduit was the only type of tube readily available that you could bent

Originally Posted by dirtnasty

What material did you use for the tower? I was told alum. conduit was the only type of tube readily available that you could bent

The drawings i did are up above for download (free) - I used 1-1/2" 6061 T6 Aluminum, from the research i did most wakeboard towers are made of 1-1/2, 2, or 2-1/2" 6061 T6 aluminum, and 6061 or 5052 is typically the best for rolling/bending.

UPDATE: my boat unfortunately broke down after only being able to use the tower on 2 seperate occasions! I have since replaced the upper unit and the motor!!! B.O.A.T. = bust out another thousand! She will be back out on the water again this summer finally and I can't wait. Kind of put powder coating the tower on hold since the boat was out of commision but am going to get it done here in the next couple weeks as my shop has now opened up a powder coating division!

Blown motor? Sounds like a good excuse to run out and buy a new (to you) wakeboat...just saying

SeaSquirl! My folks had a SeaSwirl 18 Sierra. Loved that boat.

Nice job on the tower, man. Nicest looking "home built" I've seen. Although, by the looks of your shop, you've got access to a few more tools than the average bear. Whatever. Sweet tower!

Kyle, what's the plan for the bimini top? Will you still be able to operate it under the new tower?

i would love to have bought a new boat, but this little boat has grown on me... more worried about a new house atm then a new boat lol.

Thanks for all the props, it was a lot of work but i couldnt be happier with making the decision to do it myself (with the help of countless others haha) I designed the tower so it would ride just under the bimini top (or hoped it would anyways) it works great, i can get the existing bimini over the tower with no problem. I dont think i can use the tower however when the bimini is up as i am afraid that a tow rope probably would bend or break it.

here is a pic of the wakeboard tower collapsed.

I would think that with all that equipment, you could build a new frame for that Bimini and then mount it to the tower.

We rock an MTK on an older Maristar 210 and it's pretty awesome actually. The bimini Monster provided goes over the tower with a hole for the pylon. It holds up great!

Here is the newest pic of the boat with the tower powder coated.