New Bimini Top

[mmandley]

Hi Trayson. What brand of tower is that in your pic? Thx! I'm hoping it's an xtremetowers (XTP). That's what I have and am looking for a Bimini top.

If I recall they are XTP towers.

[zd215]

Trayson, is it below or in front of your tower speakers? Do you recall if its the Medium size?

[Boonejeepin]

I have the same tower. Medium sized cargo Bimini and my cargo Bimini is mounted under my XM9s.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Boonejeepin]

Best pic I can find quickly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[chester]

Looks like they don't roll up into a boot. Either of you have to lower your tower every time for storage? Is it a pain to remove all the time?

[Boonejeepin]

I remove the fabric only when towing.

The entire unit can be removed in about a minute with the fittings provided.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[trayson]

If I recall they are XTP towers.

You're right. I saw a XTP sticker on my tower that I hadn't noticed before.

Trayson, is it below or in front of your tower speakers? Do you recall if its the Medium size?

Both. However, the hang height of pretty much any of the typical tower speakers would place them above the trailing edge of the cargo bimini. the frame sits lower than the bows that the boards rest on.

Looks like they don't roll up into a boot. Either of you have to lower your tower every time for storage? Is it a pain to remove all the time?

Like Russ, I added the ability to disconnect the string that holds on the bimini cover (A knot and loop at each side). this makes it so I can remove the cover without unthreading the whole string. Way easier. I also added the bungee so I can carry boards with the cover off. I use the frame with no cover 95% of the time and trailer with just the frame. (though I could do short distances with the cover on).

No it doesn't "fold up" like a traditional bimini. It does pivot down on the forward mounts so you can get to boards easier. I'm not sure if you could pivot the bimini while folding the tower or if you'd have to take the bimini off completely. But taking it off is pulling 4 pins and popping the 4 supports out. it's a fairly "quick release" setup. Though I'm lucky that where my boat lives I don't have to drop my tower ever.

[trayson]

In this pic, you can see how much the frame of the bimini hangs below the speakers. (I have some of the exile buoy balls on top of my tower, with them strapped to the bimini frame to keep them out of the way).





In this pic, the end of the boards stop a little before the rear of the center pods.




So, that's probably MORE than you wanted in pics. hahaha

[zd215]

Never too many pics, thanks for posting them!
I have to fold up my bimini sometimes for highway driving to another ramp, is the canvas pretty quick to install/remove? Sounds like you did some sort of mod to make it easier.

[trayson]

Never too many pics, thanks for posting them!
I have to fold up my bimini sometimes for highway driving to another ramp, is the canvas pretty quick to install/remove? Sounds like you did some sort of mod to make it easier.

What I found (as well as others) is that it's a little bit of a pain to remove the canvas the way that Monster made it. There is a string that runs though a handful of loops in the edge of the canvas. Imagine 10 to 15 loops that are about 2" long all the way around the canvas that the string runs through. On the front and rear of the canvas, there's a rope ratchet to tighten the canvas on the frame. The problem was that the rope ends up going under both of the arms that mount the bimini frame to the tower. so to remove the canvas, you can to remove the rope from enough of the loops that you could get the canvas off the frame without the rope getting stuck on the arms that attach the frame to the tower.

If you saw it, you'd understand instantly.

The solution to this problem is honestly as simple as cutting the rope on each side of the canvas in between the arms that attach the bimini frame to the tower. that way you only have to remove the rope from a couple of the loops and the canvas comes off/on WAY quicker. Honestly it's not the removal that' the big deal but re-threading the rope through the loops is a bit of a hassle that you wouldn't want to do over and over.

Some people have put little keychain lobster clasps for hooking and unhooking the 2 spots where you cut the rope. But I've had great success with just putting a loop on one end of the rope and a knot on the other end. When the rope is loose, it's easy to slip the knot into the loop, and when the rope is tightened, the knot is enough to keep the rope from coming out of the loop and it keeps it taunt like it's an uncut rope.

I hope that all makes sense. it'd be quicker and easier to explain and do in person and probably would have taken less time to do that it took me to write this all out.