North Carolina to Florida Service Provider to Modify T-Top

Repair or modification of Boston Whaler boats, their engines, trailers, and gear
Bod925
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North Carolina to Florida Service Provider to Modify T-Top

Postby Bod925 » Wed Jun 29, 2022 6:37 pm

Q1: what sort of service provider exists local to me in the western North Carolina area or as far away as Florida that can modify my 210 MONTAUK boat to fit under the carport at my home, as I describe below?

BACKSTORY
I am the new owner of a 210 MONTAUK boat. I have a carport that I'd like to park the boat under, but the boat's T-top is too tall to fit under the carport. I would like to have the boat modified so the maximum vertical height of the boat on the trailer is no greater than the windshield.

[Deleted a question asking for a survey of who possess certain knowledge. Please DO NOT ask questions that initate a survey of who possess certain knowledge.]

I have read [somewhere unspecified that a T-Top has been modified to have a] hinge to allow the T-top to be tilted down, but I want to remove the T-top completely. I want to replace the "tubes" that stick up with narrower tubes that stick up past inside the factory tubes that will act as sleeves so the T-Top can then slide over.

Jefecinco
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Re: North Carolina to Florida Service Provider to Modify T-Top

Postby Jefecinco » Thu Jun 30, 2022 10:43 am

High quality stainless steel work is expensive. Modifying your boat in such a way will reduce its value. It's possible that modifying your carport will cost less and provide a better solution. There is the added benefit that the time wasted in removing and reinstalling your T-Top will be saved for your boating pleasure.

Another alternative is to store your boat in a secure indoor location either near your favored launch ramp or your home.
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Phil T
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Re: North Carolina to Florida Service Provider to Modify T-Top

Postby Phil T » Thu Jun 30, 2022 11:25 am

Contact Ray Martin @ http://www.MartinMarineDesign.com He is in Hardeeville, South Carolina and does custom fabrication and offers products designed for Boston Whalers.
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dtmackey
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Re: North Carolina to Florida Service Provider to Modify T-Top

Postby dtmackey » Thu Jun 30, 2022 2:19 pm

There are many boat builders in North Carolina that do amazing work. Their supply base for large boat parts is also in the same area, so finding notch aluminum fabricator should be easy.

What you want: disconnects welded into the T-top aluminum upright tubes. It's a straightforward process and not difficult for a good tig welder. This modification would not allow for wiring for lights or antenna to run through the tubes.

Here is an example of the disconnects.

https://www.wholesalemarine.com/fishmaster-pro-series-folding-t-top/

You can choose between all four posts disconnecting or just the rears and the front have pivot points allowing you to fold the t-top forward.

Birdsall is a company that is top notch in boat fabrication and here's their folding T-top solution. They also allow for wires inside the tubes since it's a folding t-top.

https://marineproducts.net/folding-t-tops/

D-

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Re: North Carolina to Florida Service Provider to Modify T-Top

Postby jimh » Thu Jun 30, 2022 5:14 pm

A much simpler, cheaper, and likely to be better solution: remove the T-Top entirely. Have some custom canvas made to replace it. Set aside the T-top in a storage location out of the sun and weather. You may need it later. Enjoy the boat, park it where you want, and get better sun protection from the new canvas.

The canvas will have advantages compared to the T-Top:
  • much less weight aloft, so much better roll and heave stability for the boat
  • much better sun protection because the canvas will be much closer to the top of your head and cast a more effective shadow of the sun
  • much less wind resistance when underway, both when on the water or on the highway and towing the boat at highway speeds
  • much less harm to the value of the boat by making some weird modification to the OEM rigging of the T-Top

Later, if you decide to get a different boat, you can re-install the T-Top and make the boat more attractive to the next buyer who envisions himself as a champion angler landing enormous pelagic ocean game fish. You won't have to reduce the boat's asking price by $10,000 because you hacked-up the OEM T-top.

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Re: North Carolina to Florida Service Provider to Modify T-Top

Postby jimh » Fri Jul 01, 2022 9:57 am

Jefecinco wrote:Another alternative is to store your boat in a secure indoor location either near your favored launch ramp or your home.
For many years I kept my boat in storage during the Summer, only retrieving it when I wanted to go boating for several days or a week. Due to being stored out of the sun and weather, the boat's hull finish was not continually deteriorating due to exposure to UV radiation and other weather related harms. For the past several years I have been keeping the boat in the driveway, and I can see that more intensive maintenance of the wood finish, the hull gel coat, the trailer tires, and the canvas mooring cover will be needed. I used to pay about $70 a month for storage in the Summer, and I can see now that it was saving me a lot of work on the boat.

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Re: North Carolina to Florida Service Provider to Modify T-Top

Postby Jefecinco » Sat Jul 02, 2022 9:42 am

I noticed a reference or two in this thread to "aluminum fabricator". I am under the impression that Boston Whaler OEM T-Tops are fabricated from stainless steel. If that is the case a lot of care will be required to find a fabricator qualified to weld the steel correctly. Incorrectly welded stainless steel will lead to serious reliability problems, particularly when boating in sea water.

There are certification processes for welders. Unless one is a trained welding inspector simply looking at samples of a welders work is not the optimum method to determine the welders qualification. A welder certified for the work to be performed will not guarantee excellent work but will lower the risk involved.
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Re: North Carolina to Florida Service Provider to Modify T-Top

Postby jimh » Sat Jul 02, 2022 2:31 pm

Jefecinco wrote:... a lot of care will be required to find a fabricator qualified to weld the steel correctly.

ASIDE: about a year ago we were cruising in northern Lake Michigan and were at the nice marina in Elk Rapids. A fellow arrived there in a rather new Boston Whaler boat with a large arch over the cockpit intended (I think) as a tow line attachment point for pulling skiers or other water toys. He had come across the width of Lake Michigan from Wisconsin, a trip of about 50-miles or more of open water, and there had been quite a sea running when be crossed. The OEM Boston Whaler arch had cracked--for the second time. The arch had cracked once before, but only because it hit an overhead obstruction (which is always a problem with tall structures on small boats), and a local fabricator or welder had re-welded it. This must have put some strain on another section of the arch, and it cracked on the trip over from the wave action.

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Re: North Carolina to Florida Service Provider to Modify T-Top

Postby jimh » Sun Jul 03, 2022 8:56 am

To get back to the suggestion made by the originator of this discussion regarding how a Boston Whaler T-Top could be made removable for the purpose reducing the vertical height of the boat when on a trailer in order to store the boat under a carport, I have a two observations to offer.

First, on the proposed method of making the T-Top removable by cutting through the tubes that support the T-Top and inserting smaller tubes inside the original tubes to create a jointed section where the tubes telescope together: this idea is completely unworkable for a very simple reason: this will only work if all the tubes are oriented in exactly the same angle or plane. Typically the support tubes for a T-Top are all laying at different angles. You could never cut all the tubes and make a telescoping joint in such a way that the top could be withdrawn or put back in position. This could only occur if all four or more support tubes were identically oriented and allowed the top to be pulled out simultaneously from all support tubes at once.

Second, in terms of the work to be done and the effect on the value of the boat, it would probably be much easier and less expensive to raise the height of the carport rather than invent some way to lift off the T-Top and reinstall the T-Top every time you wanted to stow the boat under the carport. Let's be serious about this. Who is going to remove a T-Top just to put the boat under the carport, including breaking all the electrical connections that are hidden in the tubes, then carry the T-Top to some other place for storage. And, next time the boat is to be used, go through the hassle of putting the T-Top back together on the boat.

With the literal impossibility of making the T-Top removable by cutting the support tubes, and the crazy amount of bother that taking it off and putting it back on entails, the real solution here is to raise the carport. Or as also suggested, rent off-site storage indoors.

[Moderator's note: the sidebar discussion on the sort of boater that desires having a T-Top has been moved to THE GAM for further discussion, so that this thread can remain more focused on the topic of the method to make a T-Top easy to remove and easy to reinstall.]

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Phil T
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Re: North Carolina to Florida Service Provider to Modify T-Top

Postby Phil T » Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:37 pm

A portion of the reason for my post recommending Ray Martin is his experience as a designer and fabricator of custom metal works. I am sure he can determine what is necessary to add hinges to the posts.
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