Cracking Tower

[The Black Widow]

Hey Everyone!

So I have seen a few threads on here about towers cracking or breaking at the welding spots on the joints but couldn't really find a good solution to the problem.

For the past few months we have been noticing our tower breaking at the joints on both sides. It is now to the point where it is dangerous to leave on there so we removed it and now need to figure out what to do with it.

Has anyone had luck welding the sides? Will that hold up? We had someone come take a look at it and they suggested putting brackets on each side for added support to the welded locations.

Any advice or thoughts would be helpful. I am not sure the type of tower or where to find this info. Its on a 2006 24Ve and here are some pics.

Thanks!

[ATTACH]photo.jpg[/ATTACH]photo 1.jpg

[skippabcool]

Yikes. That makes me nervous, I have the same. Most of the cracked towers were the older Metcraft.

[The Black Widow]

It happened so fast! We noticed it a few months ago as just a small mark and then 3 or 4 trips later this is how it ended up.

Is there a spot on the tower to look for the manufacturers name? We took the top part of the tower off the boat and can't see it anywhere. I did see in lots of posts here that the Metcraft towers had this problem but nobody posted if welding fixed their issue.

[luke]

i would do what was suggested grind out old weld re weld it with a larger fillet weld and add gussets fyi im a welding contractor

[The Black Widow]

i would do what was suggested grind out old weld re weld it with a larger fillet weld and add gussets fyi im a welding contractor

Do you think the weld will hold up while towing?

[luke]

how far?

[The Black Widow]

how far?

Oh sorry, I did not mean towing on the road. I meant towing riders on the water. Will the weld be as strong as the original tower and capable to hold people?

The crack on one side is not where the original weld was but slightly above that.

[luke]

oh yeah just have it done by a professional they should know just what to do to make it good to go

[bigskymudflaps]

I too have done a bit of welding. The welding material is actually stronger than the base metal. I'd say, grind it down and have a good welder make it whole again. Have them use a TIG welder only. They better be good at what they are doing. Pretty welds are a must. If someone doesn't have the skill to do it as well as the welds you see in on the rest of the tower, they don't have the skill to do the job. Do not let them talk you into anything else other than a TIG weld. Ask for some examples of their work, do your homework and you'll get it fixed well. Good luck.

[The Black Widow]

Great! Thanks so much for the advice. I feel a lot better knowing it should hold.

[talltigeguy]

It happened so fast! We noticed it a few months ago as just a small mark and then 3 or 4 trips later this is how it ended up.

Is there a spot on the tower to look for the manufacturers name? We took the top part of the tower off the boat and can't see it anywhere. I did see in lots of posts here that the Metcraft towers had this problem but nobody posted if welding fixed their issue.

That is your standard Tige 'E' series tower. They have been quite solid and failures like this are fortunately very rare. I think that they were made by Tige themselves. Do you do anything with your tower other than pull wakeboarders? Do you have accessories on the tower, (like 12 speakers)? No run-ins with low hanging bridges or rooflines?

[The Black Widow]

That is your standard Tige 'E' series tower. They have been quite solid and failures like this are fortunately very rare. I think that they were made by Tige themselves. Do you do anything with your tower other than pull wakeboarders? Do you have accessories on the tower, (like 12 speakers)? No run-ins with low hanging bridges or rooflines?

We use it only for towing wakeboarders, skiers, and surfers. Tube goes off the back if we ever use it.

Definitely no run-ins but there are 4 speakers on top. Not close to where the cracks are but I guess the weight could be the issue?

[boardman74]

Like said above the weld is stronger than the metal. I worked for Caterpillar for 7 years and have been thru all their failure analysis classes. Looking at your picture I would say your failure is due to over heating of the base metal(tower leg) when it was welded. Notice how the crack mirror's the outside of the weld line.

Stainless is super touchy to heat and like said above needs to be TIG'd to look right and all be structurally sound.

[Nobody]

i would do what was suggested grind out old weld re weld it with a larger fillet weld and add gussets fyi im a welding contractor

Luke is correct. We added gussets to our corners and had a well seasoned welder to the job. When it comes to repairs, the weld is critical. Looking at how bad yours is...it would imagine that a fab guy will need to add an outer layer of alum. stock.

The part that sucks is the wiring inside the tower MUST be removed, or at least lowered past or anywhere near the welding. We tied a metal fish line to our wires so when the job was done, we could easily pull the wires back up through the tube.

Expect to pay a few hundred for this kind of repair.

If I had the time, I would upload some photo's of our tower, but I have to leave town for 4 days.

[talltigeguy]

We use it only for towing wakeboarders, skiers, and surfers. Tube goes off the back if we ever use it.

Definitely no run-ins but there are 4 speakers on top. Not close to where the cracks are but I guess the weight could be the issue?

I wouldn't blame typical tower speakers. I was mostly worried about tubers. Some guys tube off of their towers and have not had any problems. I suspect that the Alpha Z would be good even with tubers...But that is another subject.

What was said above sounds like good advice...find a good welder and get her fixed, she should be better than new.