Measurements that saved a marriage

[maximus2003]

I've had the worst luck with anything electronic lately. So now that the hard drive is fixed, the camera is fixed, and the internet is up and running in the new house, here are some pics of the new boat. It was bit of a tight squeeze. I had exactly a 1/2 inch of room to get the boat in the garage. That 1/2 inch probably saved me from having my wife go John Bobbit on me!

[maximus2003]

Here are some more

[maximus2003]

and a couple more

[Bibbs]

I know what thats like.We keep our boat in the cabin garage and I have almost exactly .5 inches on either side and on top.That of course is with side bumper poles removed,tower folded down and swim plat form off.It sure tests your backing up skills.By the way nice boat.

[Jason B]

Like a glove!
Nice looking boat.

[Moki]

Wow, that is a tight fit! --Nice boat and pumpkin!

[maximus2003]

I know what thats like.We keep our boat in the cabin garage and I have almost exactly .5 inches on either side and on top.That of course is with side bumper poles removed,tower folded down and swim plat form off.It sure tests your backing up skills.By the way nice boat.

Thanks! It's only about a 45 minute ordeal to get it in the garage, so I think once the spring comes, it stays in the driveway all summer until the fall rolls around again. Note to all you guys out there: Cutting concrete with an angle grinder = BAD IDEA. I just hope the house doesn't cave in with the little adjustment I made to the foundation and footing of that center pole. HAHAHAHA.

[laketime]

ha ha nice. our garage isnt that tight inside but the door opening has less than one inch on either side when we put the boat away or take it out

[Ks]

Awesome pics!

Glad it fit...

[ragboy]

Which tower is that? Is that the sampson? and how easy is it to go up and down? I have the Z tower, and when I bought it, didn't need to take it down. Now I have a new warehouse, and I need to, and its a pain to go up and down. Thinking of alternatives.

[maximus2003]

Which tower is that? Is that the sampson? and how easy is it to go up and down? I have the Z tower, and when I bought it, didn't need to take it down. Now I have a new warehouse, and I need to, and its a pain to go up and down. Thinking of alternatives.

It's the Sampson tower. It's so easy to take down and put up by yourself. I love the way it all folds in on itself. When I was looking at other boats like the BU VTX, for example, the titan tower that they use needed two guys to lower it. My wife can take this one down and put it up by herself. Not that I let here near the boat without me being close by. HAHHAHAH.

[ragboy]

You need at 3 people to lower the Z tower. Its a pain. Its so bad, I am actually thinking of getting a diff tower. What is the name of that tower, I have seen them alot on tiges on this forum, they are sharp.

[illiniboarder88]

Wow, nice work and sweet boat. This just confirms why I'd like a nice big garage with a small attached house. I've got my priorities straight, right...

[onevalkyrie]

You need at 3 people to lower the Z tower. Its a pain. Its so bad, I am actually thinking of getting a diff tower. What is the name of that tower, I have seen them alot on tiges on this forum, they are sharp.

Hey Ragboy I had the same problem, but after a few ups and downs I can do it by myself if necessary. I cut me a 2x4 to use as a post to hold the tower up while I lay down or erect the legs of the tower. Then you just set the tower down on the legs or lay it down if collapsing. I also made me a little post to set the tower on when collapsed. I couldn't figure out what else to do as there didn't seem to be anywhere to "lay" it on my RZ4.


Oh and I was almost rude, NICE boat maximus!

[maximus2003]

You need at 3 people to lower the Z tower. Its a pain. Its so bad, I am actually thinking of getting a diff tower. What is the name of that tower, I have seen them alot on tiges on this forum, they are sharp.

I'm not sure what the model name of the tower is. I can't find anywhere on the tower that says the model name either. I've heard guys on here refer to it as the razor, i think, tho. If you go to the website: sampsonsports.com you can get more info from there or give them a call. From what i understand they customize every tower to fit every different boat model, therefore it works perfectly for your boat and fits exactly with your boat's windshield. A tige will not have the same tower as a malibu, or a naut, or a mc. They can make your tower fold backwards or forwards depending on your storage needs. I think the entire tower weights 90lbs and when you fold it down you're only moving like 50lbs of that 90lbs, so it's very easy to do it on your own. I'm having my wife military press 50lbs in the gym all winter to make sure that she'll be able to take it up and down not problem come spring time. HAHAHAHA. To take the tower down you just turn the board racks(which come built in w/swivels already) in loosen the handle on each side and it folds down onto itself. Max time is like one minute to get it down. I'm not sure about all the other makes of towers out there, but the craftsmenship on the Sampson is very impressive. If you look at the welds on a Sampson compared to say, a Monster tower, you'll really see the difference. Our welder at work told me that there is no way that he could make welds like that. But, then again maybe he's a bad welder, I don't know. So far he hasn't killed anyone and he's been doing it for years. HAHAHH. Let me know if you want any other info.

[Domsz06]

nice looking area and boat!!

[maximus2003]

Oh and I was almost rude, NICE boat maximus![/QUOTE]

Thanks! OV

[maximus2003]

nice looking area and boat!!

Thanks. The water pics are from Cultus Lake, which is the nearest lake to our local dealer and where they do all their test drives. It's great mid week and on the shoulder season, but if you go there on a weekend mid summer you can literally walk across the lake on the boats out there.

[zad0030]

Haha that looks like how our boat is in there. Ours is in diagnally and we had to cut a hole in the wall for the corner of the trailer. And we never measured height so when we got it home and folded the tower we werent so sure.....The tower actually touches the garage door as it goes in. ANd the first day we brought it home we just put it in the garage just to see if it will fit, and we have not been able to get it in as good as we did the first time in the last 2 1/2 summers!

Nice boat!

[chpthril]

Yeah, I must say that is a sweet color combo :ro: :D as I am kinda partial to the black/blue scheme.

Glad it fit in the garage. Was that an after thought to put it in garage? If so, you got lucky :ro: The Sampson has to be one of the easiest towers to fold.

[maximus2003]

Yeah, I must say that is a sweet color combo :ro: :D as I am kinda partial to the black/blue scheme.

Glad it fit in the garage. Was that an after thought to put it in garage? If so, you got lucky :ro: The Sampson has to be one of the easiest towers to fold.

No, I took all kinds of measurements before we bought the boat. I knew it was gonna be really close. With the tower folded down, the highest point goes under the sill plate of the garage door by about 1/8". I was figuring that I was gonna have to remove the 2 x 4 sill plate to get it in, but in the end I didn't have to. I have 6' 9" from floor to sill plate. The highest point on the tower is literally 6' 8 7/8". On the BU VTX the Titan tower only folds down to 7' 2" so that was another reason for not getting the BU.

[chadster2]

I painted some lines on the floor, Fire truck in the bay style, to make the tight fit. I started out with tape. Your fit look about the same. I found it takes one try per beer, up to about 6.
Oh and I was almost rude, NICE boat maximus!

[Jason B]

Haha that looks like how our boat is in there. Ours is in diagnally and we had to cut a hole in the wall for the corner of the trailer. And we never measured height so when we got it home and folded the tower we werent so sure.....The tower actually touches the garage door as it goes in. ANd the first day we brought it home we just put it in the garage just to see if it will fit, and we have not been able to get it in as good as we did the first time in the last 2 1/2 summers!

Nice boat!

Zad,
Let some air out of your tires and it will lower the height a bit. I have to do that with my MX trailer to clear the vent/garage door. Just remember to fill them back up when you leave.

[Lucky 275]

put some hair around it too

[tessa]

I am getting a real feel for what tight space is putting a 20V in a 21'6" deep garage. I had a custom trailer made for the depth and the first one they made was too long. Now the have new plan to get it down to 20'5" with a fold back tongue but my latest nightmare is the tower and mirror make it too high when folded to get it in the door. So I have an option to have the struts cut down about 3-4" on the whole trailer but then I introduce rudder and prop possibly to low to the ground.

:confused: Another option to look into and test the results is to change to a 10" drop down hitch before backing up my drive and see if it will clear that way. So tomorrow at the dealer we will drop the tongue to 10-11" off the floor and measure to see if I can get clearance that way.

:02: Another idea is to raise the garage door sill up from 82 1/2" to 86". Big hassle because of association and village approvals not to even think about cost of labor and new door.:( Damn tower.

Nice loooking boat BTW it looks sharp.

[maximus2003]

I am getting a real feel for what tight space is putting a 20V in a 21'6" deep garage. I had a custom trailer made for the depth and the first one they made was too long. Now the have new plan to get it down to 20'5" with a fold back tongue but my latest nightmare is the tower and mirror make it too high when folded to get it in the door. So I have an option to have the struts cut down about 3-4" on the whole trailer but then I introduce rudder and prop possibly to low to the ground.

:confused: Another option to look into and test the results is to change to a 10" drop down hitch before backing up my drive and see if it will clear that way. So tomorrow at the dealer we will drop the tongue to 10-11" off the floor and measure to see if I can get clearance that way.

:02: Another idea is to raise the garage door sill up from 82 1/2" to 86". Big hassle because of association and village approvals not to even think about cost of labor and new door.:( Damn tower.

Nice loooking boat BTW it looks sharp.

My garage door sill is 6'9", which is just over 82 1/2", and the tower(Sampson tower, DHM trailer) just clears under. Before you go making any major adjustments to the trailer or house, try going to a lower hitch on the tow vehicle to drop the nose down or let a little air out of the tires. The other thing to do is to remove the sill plate from the garage door, which is pretty easy to be done. Mine is just a 2 x 4, so I was prepared to take it on & off should I have needed that extra1 1/2" to get the boat in. Remeber you also have the taps plate on the back when you are thinking about the total length of the boat.

[chpthril]

I am getting a real feel for what tight space is putting a 20V in a 21'6" deep garage. I had a custom trailer made for the depth and the first one they made was too long. Now the have new plan to get it down to 20'5" with a fold back tongue but my latest nightmare is the tower and mirror make it too high when folded to get it in the door. So I have an option to have the struts cut down about 3-4" on the whole trailer but then I introduce rudder and prop possibly to low to the ground.

:confused: Another option to look into and test the results is to change to a 10" drop down hitch before backing up my drive and see if it will clear that way. So tomorrow at the dealer we will drop the tongue to 10-11" off the floor and measure to see if I can get clearance that way.

:02: Another idea is to raise the garage door sill up from 82 1/2" to 86". Big hassle because of association and village approvals not to even think about cost of labor and new door.:( Damn tower.

Nice loooking boat BTW it looks sharp.

Any room to lower the bunks???

[dogrocco]

The 24 ve I just bought came with a pole to help you lower the tower. I have not tried it yet but I will soon.

[ragboy]

nice to know, that tower is a PAIN to put up and down. I am actually considering swapping out for a samson tower. Let me know how it works, and I may try to order one.

[Lunchbox]

sweet ride max! thanks 4 posting pix!

[maximus2003]

sweet ride max! thanks 4 posting pix!

LBX,

Thanks! Glad to see you have a new ride & that everything worked out after the accident. Enjoy the boat! I sit in mine(in the garage) very weekend and pray for global warming(or at least here in Canada). Summer can't come soon enough!

[tessa]

I talked to my dealers service dept this morning and they are going to trim and lower the bunks down 3" or so. I will still need a drop down hitch but that doesn't phase me to lower the tower and then change the hitch before I back up my hill into the garage. Since I did not spec this into the custom trailer specs it'll cost me out of pocket a few hundred dollars. Might be done by end of January.

I am not going to let air out of the tires because once the boat Jack is in the garage we unhitch and swing the tongue over to the right and push back the final few inches into a foam pad on the back wall. Not easy to do with low air on tandem axle trailers and no sons :)

[maximus2003]

Tessa, My advice would be to go back and take very careful measurements of your garage door opening. I find it hard to believe that you are having to make all these adjustments to the trailer, if your garage opening is a standard size. Like I said, floor to sill plate on mine is exactly 6'9" and mine fit, by a hair without making changes. The fact that you are coming uphill to the garage will also help you, because your tongue will already be lower. Good Luck!