2001 Tige Metcraft Tower SNAPS...

[20up]

no complaints from my 03 WD tower

[talltigeguy]

FWIW, I owned a 2002 and a 2005 with Metcraft towers and both have been excellent. My understanding is that the towers that Metcraft put on the 01-02 were prone to breaking and swaying a lot. I think that they were just learning what works and have now done a great job with their towers.

This is a pic of my 2002 21V. Notice it is different than what is shown at the start of the thread.

[talltigeguy]

Unbeleivable coincidence, I was just surfing on Ebay and found this for sale. this is the tower of concern.

[dcauthen]

Been watching this one for a while....and it helped make my decision. The '00 21V Fox Edition is getting a Monster over the winter and losing the Metcraft before someone gets hurt. Fortunatley, the Monster will mount and use two of the three holes on the rear, and only need one hole drilled for the front and it's done. Decent prices too.

There's some nice Tige owner pics on the website of people who have added or made the switch.

www.monstertower.com

DC

[bcskypilot]

Yep thats the tower...

A comment on a couple post before about the boat owners being responsible for having and keeping this tower...

I looked long and hard at different boats before I purchased the 22i. At the time, my Tige wasn't the most expensive boat you could get but it definitely wasn't the cheapest either... I think the 98 22i was voted Boat of the year if I remember correctly. It was sold to me as a "West Coast do it all boat". A boat "built by a great group of people who took pride in what they put out there". With the “Taps”, I could barefoot, ski, board or even drag the kids around on a tube in a little chop... The boats size and versatility was exactly what I wanted. I had one of the first Tige's here in Indy and I was and still am damn proud of it. Heck my boat today with 230 hours on it still looks better then 90% of the boats on the waters here in Indy.

I’ve never doubted that the “Tige People take pride in what they put out there”. Can they better serve those who invested in them though? This tower is built by a company they now choose not to do business with. I’m not sure how many of these towers are even out there. My tower and I would guess all the others out there are probably out of warranty. At this point, neither Tige nor Metcraft, have to do a thing for any of us. My question is this though… What if they did? How many customers does a company retain or gain if they always try to do what’s right even when no one is looking? Does it pay for a company to go “above and beyond”? Could it cost them if they don’t?

After my experience with Tige, Metcraft and this tower I agree with both “responsibility posts” that I read. I wish I had the time and skill level that would justify me going out and upgrading a tower that may not be perfect on a boat that I purchased (For the record, I loved the way the tower looked and didn’t really know that it wasn’t a good tower till it snapped. Am I giving away my skill level??). Now that I think about it I wish I had the time and skill level that would justify me going out and getting my dream 8ok wakeboard boat… Reality is though that I am a family man who enjoys getting out and just having a good time riding when time allows. Unfortunately, that's not that often... The fact is though that I made a purchase on a product "built by a great group of people who took pride in what they put out there". I believe this purchase should assure within reason, a safe and exciting boating experience. At no time would I have ever thought that to assure my enjoyment or the safety of my family that I would need to replace the tower manufactured for the boat.

Ready for the other side??? Talk about responsibility… The “H-Section” on my tower failed just like the others listed on this post. It snapped on both sides while I was being towed from it allowing the H part to pull down into the boat toward my family and friends. One of the wakeboards came crashing down into the boat, fortunately, nobody was injured. Knowing how bad it could have been I feel pretty lucky that the hardest thing I am dealing with right now is trying to decide if the old Tige that I still love so much is worth a 1.7k gel coat repair and 1-2k tower replacement charge or if I am ready to move on...

[LovinPowell]

Does Metcraft have a website?

[bcskypilot]

They used to have a website. I remember seeing it because on the site they showed other products they manufactured like the throttle handle etc. They either switched it or discontiued using it though...

[NICKYPOO]

1-2k for a new tower= good deal
1700 for gel coat repair= rip off

[Matt Garcia]

Boat owners who know they have a weak product but refuse to take responsibility for the weak product on their boat? I'm gonna get grilled for this one but, I think it's the boat owners.

How is it the boat owners fault? That's like saying it was the people who bought Firestone tires it was their fault since they were faulty tires. No one was to know before hand that the tower had a major weak link in it until it happened. It also seems that the towers were breaking in an inconspicuous spot (black pads covered the joints) and was not noticeable until the damage was severe. In the end I am glad I got rid of that tower because it did have a lot of sway and was noisy. I think that tower was just a design mistake that Metcraft has now learned from.

[bcskypilot]

This is the new Metcraft tower?? Anyone know if it is solid or are we back at shake rattle and roll?

[Tequilasun]

I don't know about shake rattle and roll, but man that is ugly.

[bcskypilot]

The look may have to grow on you but will it do this??

[xpjim1]

Smendez has the new Metcraft. i have seen it in person and that picture does not do it justice. Here is the the link to Smendez post and pictures

http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/show...hlight=smendez

[Tequilasun]

Yes, The pic above does not do it justice. Smendez's looks great on his boat. I hope that's not a marketing photo above, I certainly wouldn't choose it from that.


Edit: Just went back and looked at Smendez's tower. Are those towers wrapped in plastic on the downtubes? Smendez's looks like it is fiberglass, but the one above looks like plastic. Maybe it the red that is so ugly on the one above,

[NICKYPOO]

Matt-

Mabey fault is a little strong. How about resonsibility. When I had the Metcraft I checked it regularly to make sure everything was tightened and still in one piece (the H frame bolts were always coming loose). I also had a friend with a Ford Explorer that had the faulty Firestones. As soon as the bad news started coming out about those tires, he had them replaced. Was it his fault the tires were faulty? No. Was it his responsibity to do something about it before they failed? IMHO, yes. Now that the word is on the street about these towers, hopefully people will take the responsiblity for their craft and do something about it before someone gets hurt.

So far as the new Metcraft is concerned. I like it. Zleeper also has one on his boat.

Boy, I sure know how to get poeple fired up at me.