New 2005 22V Delivered today.

[smendez]

Originally posted by Ruune
One question tho- how did you get hooked up w/ an '06 tower?

Ruune:
This is not a Tige Factory tower. This is a Metcraft tower. I'm under the impression that this is Metcraft's tower for 2005, though if they delay much longer on getting the production towers out they might as well call it the 2006 tower

[Tequilasun]

smendez where do you guys ride up there?

[Tige M.D.]

i like the looks of the tower also. is it user friendly to fold down?

[smendez]

Originally posted by draginass
smendez where do you guys ride up there?

We ride the mighty Mississippi, between the Alton and Winfield locks. The area is called the Alton Pool. Some folks call it the Alton lake.

The water is nowhere as clear as Table Rock, but it's close to home (20 minutes) and it can be so dead calm during the summer that it provides the best riding I've had.

On occasion, we'll go to Carlyle Lake (about 90 minutes from home), though that's only to satisfy family and friends, as that lake has a reputation for getting windy and rough.

And of course, we always make the time during the summer to spend a couple of weeks down by your neighborhood. I wish TBL was closer, at 4 1/2 hours it's tough to go there for a weekend.

[smendez]

Originally posted by Tige M.D.
i like the looks of the tower also. is it user friendly to fold down?

M.D.

This is a prototype tower which I got to borrow while the production tower is built and shipped. The prototype does not fold. That works for me because during the summer the boat stays on the lift at the marina so it doesn't need folding.

Since the tower is only folded a couple of times a year - when it goes in for winter storage to get it through the garage door and then when it comes back out - I'm not too worried about up/down user friendliness. However I realize that this is important for many folks so I'll be happy to report on that when I get the production unit.

My only concern at this time is that I'm sure the production unit will have a couple of extra hinges to allow it to fold, so I wonder about rattles. The prototype is so incredibly - one piece solid - That it's a complete dream to ride with. It doesn't rattle or shake or even give a hint of flexing. I can only hope the production unit works as well.

I'll keep you posted.

[Tequilasun]

Originally posted by smendez
We ride the mighty Mississippi, between the Alton and Winfield locks. The area is called the Alton Pool. Some folks call it the Alton lake.

I wish TBL was closer, at 4 1/2 hours it's tough to go there for a weekend.

I have heard that people do ride in the Mississippi, but I never quite belived it! Must be tough to dodge all the barges and Catfish J/K

Next time you are down this way, you should tow over to Bull Shoals lake, about 35 minutes east of Table Rock, that is some fine riding, main channel during holiday weekends..butter for miles. I would ride there, but I'm 2 minutes from Table Rock

[smendez]

You're lucky to be so close to Table Rock. It's a nice lake.

I heard Bull Shoals is nice from more than one person - but isn't it colder? I'm spoiled with warm water

[Tequilasun]

nah, I think your thinking of Taneycomo. They call it a lake, but it's just a wide river, between Table rock and Bull Shoals. Bull Shoals is about the same temp as Table Rock. I wish the water would warm up now

[smendez]

Oh - Taneycomo is cold allright. We were there for 1 day last July when some friends invited us to do the fishing thing. That water was around 45 degrees. Crazy!

I'll follow your advice and try Bull Shoals this year.

How cold/warm is Table Rock? The river is just now breaking over 60 degrees.

[smendez]

Originally posted by rushin
looks great! The tower looks low. Maybe it is just the style.

Rushin:

I finally got around to measuring the top of the tower. It's 6' 10" to where the rope is attached. Is this the same as other towers??

[talltigeguy]

My 24V rope attachment on a Metcraft tower is a little over 7 feet. The style of tower must make it just 'look' a lot lower than other towers.

[rushin]

smendez: Sounds pretty close give or take a few inches, I will measure just for kicks.

[Tequilasun]

our o5 tige tower is over 7 feet off the floor

[bcskypilot]

Great looking boat! I'm also looking at that tower. Thanks in advance for letting us all know how the one they send you works out with the shakes and rattles...

[smendez]

Allrightie,

I promised back in May that I would report more on the tower after I obtained the production version and the bimini. I've been quite busy boating but just this week I got 2 different requests for feedback, so I figured it's time to post my findings.

After many delays, the production tower came on the last minute of the last day before we went on vacation. You could say that's cutting it quite short, but in the end - Bob Metcraft and Stateamind delivered.

The production tower is just as solid as the prototype. There are absolutely no rattles or shakes coming out of it. No matter how hard the boat gets pounded.

The bungee cords that hold the wakeboards will cause a tiny bit of a rattle when they're not streched holding a board. If a board is in the rack, the noise goes away.

The stainless steel hardware for the bimini will "clank" when the boat gets pounded hard, though that's very rare.

I have yet to take the tower down, so I can't report on how easy it is to do this, though I can tell you that this is likely a 2 person job.

The bimini stows nicely against the tower for trailering or when you just want sunshine. However, it's a pain in the neck to do it. It's a 2 person job and it's not easy. it's a fight that will test your patience.

The bimini goes on top of the speakers, so it gives you plenty of headroom. However, on a hot - sunny day, because it's so high, depending on the angle of the sun, it will provide shade outside of the boat and not where it's needed.

Getting the wakeboards on / off the racks is fairly easy, as they're not too high and thus easily accessible.

The board racks on the production tower stick outwards rather than upwards. The problem with this is that when putting the boat in our 10' wide slip, we only have about 1.5 inches for clearance on each side. Unless we come in perfectly straight, we run the risk of knocking the racks off the tower when entering the slip, so we just power the nose of the boat into the slip, and then just hand pull it the rest of the way. This requires at least two people to do. Getting out of the slip is again - done by hand. I'm sure the racks will need to be removed from the tower when we store the boat in it's garage for the winter.

The tower is 6' 10" tall where the rope is attached. However, due to the design of the tower, it's much lower at the sides. I'm only 5'7" and I have banged my head against the speakers on several occasions, mostly when trying to "walk the boat into the slip" or trying to put on / off wakeboards on the rack.

The black part of the tower is powder coat, while the front supports are billet. The speaker enclosures are chromed. The boards racks are chromed as well. Nothing is plastic, it's all steel. The front supports are hard to keep clean, but they sure look nice when you spend some time and elbow grease polishing them.

I chose the speakers that Metcraft included. This was an uninformed decision on my part that I would quickly change if given the chance. They included 2 pairs of Blaupunkt P652C's. They are regular car speakers good for only 40 watts maximum each. They're rated at 20 watt RMS each. I lost one of the grills to the speakers after our second trip to Table Rock Lake, which is just over 200 miles away. I plan to upgrade these in the near future.

The tower does not have a light at the top. Just a couple of weeks ago, we were boating late. As as we were approaching our marina, the Missouri Water Patrol stopped us. They mentioned they could not see our rear white navigation light because the bimini impedes the view from the front. They advised us that the white light needs to be at the highest point of the boat. Again, this is an issue I need to correct.

In all, I'm quite pleased with the tower. I would summarize the pros and cons as follows:

Pros:
Great looking tower.
Extremely solid.
Good height in the middle if you're not too tall - I can attach the rope to the top without climbing on my kids
Lots of room clearance under the bimini.

Cons:
Bimini is hard to put on / off.
Low clearance on the sides, especially just below the outside speakers.
Cheap speakers.
Lacks navigational light.

Here's a picture with the bimini