Engine hatch tray?

[brain_rinse]

Yeah, that's awesome. I'll add it to the winter to-do list.

[patrick232]

Looks, great I was thinking about making one out of plastic like the Malibu. Now if I could just get a meeting with the R&D group at Skiers Choice we could make this an option for everyone.

[sandm]

to play devils advocate...

I have seen the ones that supra uses here at the dealer. they are somewhat small and not very deep. that one appears to be quite deep and takes up all the dead air behind the engine. wouldn't that area and air space be needed to help keep the engine somewhat cool on a hot day? I would think that the larger a space you can keep a running engine in, the better? would it not promote vapor lock sooner?

it's a nice design and looks to be very well built, but I would think that there's a lot of r&d and engineering that goes into placing something in the engine compartment?

again, just playing devils advocate

[walb0244]

I was thinking that. We run the blower motor constantly pretty much. Also, with stuff being stored in it we will be opening the lid more too which should help with cooling the motor. I'm not really sure. We have gotten into the habit of opening the engine compartment and running the blower. We will see. ONly time will tell.

[walb0244]

Well guys. I just got done playing on the lake this weekend. Probably won't get to play today due to it being Father's Day. Well we put 7 hours on the boat over the coarse of Friday night, Saturday morning, and Saturday evening. Didn't play during the day Saturday because too crowded. So I just play in the morning and evening. Well the boat ran fine from what we can tell. Me and my Father-n-law kept an close eye on the temp guage because we didn't know what the aluminum try would do. Well like said earlier no issues. Boat ran like it normally does. Never went over 180.

Still debating on putting drain holes in it. Probably will but don't know there is a need for it right now. We ran the boat at first and I was cautious about putting ropes in the tray worried might get too hot. Well there was alittle bit of water in the tray at first. Next time I opened the engine compartment no water. I kept feeling the tray but it never felt hot. It felt warm but not hot. So I put two intertube ropes in the tray just after we got done using them. They dried out in about 15 minutes and no water in the tray. So I'm pretty happy with the try right now.

Only time will tell but right now I don't see any issues.

[cab13367]

Well guys. I just got done playing on the lake this weekend. Probably won't get to play today due to it being Father's Day. Well we put 7 hours on the boat over the coarse of Friday night, Saturday morning, and Saturday evening. Didn't play during the day Saturday because too crowded. So I just play in the morning and evening. Well the boat ran fine from what we can tell. Me and my Father-n-law kept an close eye on the temp guage because we didn't know what the aluminum try would do. Well like said earlier no issues. Boat ran like it normally does. Never went over 180.

Still debating on putting drain holes in it. Probably will but don't know there is a need for it right now. We ran the boat at first and I was cautious about putting ropes in the tray worried might get too hot. Well there was alittle bit of water in the tray at first. Next time I opened the engine compartment no water. I kept feeling the tray but it never felt hot. It felt warm but not hot. So I put two intertube ropes in the tray just after we got done using them. They dried out in about 15 minutes and no water in the tray. So I'm pretty happy with the try right now.

Only time will tell but right now I don't see any issues.

Walb,

Thanks for the report. Sounds like a great place to prewarm towels, wetsuits, or lunch!

Al

[walb0244]

Yeah. I made the joke I was gonna throw a ham and cheese sandwich in there and have a hot ham and cheese when i got done wakeboarding.

[newty]

Looks great bro! Can you post up final outside demensions?

As far as heat, I'll bet its a non-issue. Really that is already a tight space and if there was going to b heat issues you would have already had them.
Lake water seems to do the trick.

[walb0244]

The box is 6" deep x 12" x 28 3/8" wide. My box was alittle too wide. So I would maybe just go with 28" wide and forget the 3/8 to give you some play. Also, from the controls for perfect pass to the transom was alittle tight. I had to drill holes in the tray to make room for the lag bolts that hold the aluminum frame work around the engine to the transom. Now when I put the box in the heads of the lag bolts come throught the holes in the back of the tray. So if you don't want to do that I would also take off about 1/2". So if I was to make a box again I would make it 6" x 11" x 28". That will give you some play area so it isn't so tight. Mine I had to do some grinding on to get it to fit. Double check these measurements with your engine compartment tho.