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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Morganton, NC
    Posts
    235

    Default Surf Platform DIY

    I have been wanting to do this for some time and hesitated over the material to use. Every project and upgrade I have done so far has been using aluminum, stainless steel and/or starboard - however, starboard in a sheet large enough for a surf deck was real money, plus a 2 hr one-way drive to get it. Not being sure of the shape, performance, etc I wanted to experiment with a few less $$'s invested.

    I started out at the SeaDek website looking at their Moomba templates, screen grabbed one from a recent LSV and imported into SolidWorks. Knowing 2 dimensions on their template allowed for a scaled drawing to trace into a solid model - this eliminated the need to drive 2+ hrs to my nearest dealer to sweet talk them into letting me trace a newer surf deck. The next step was to see how many sheets of plywood I would need, hopefully just one. The results were:



    The black pen addition was the estimated shape of the pad I planned to cut and install. (still yet to do...)

    I used 11/16" A-C sanded plywood, roughly $26 per sheet. Unfortunately I do not have any 'during' photos because I was anxious to get it together and on the boat for trial runs. I did reference some other members designs during the layout process and ultimately changed my dimensions on the fly since I could not get my SW license to behave at the house - no way to snap on the fly dimensions!!!

    Basically, the old platform was 69 1/2" wide. The new deck is 56". I could have easily made it an even 60" and it would stay out of the wave but I was unsure while building it. There is not much reason to need that extra 2" per side, but you have enough material to do it.

    I used exterior liquid nails to bond the two sheets together, however, if I had it to do over I would have used TightBond II wood glue - would have made for an easier assembly since it's thinner. The assembly was screwed (stainless screws) every 6" in a square layout. Two layers of liquid epoxy were then rolled on all surfaces to keep it water tight. After the first test, the seam began to separate a bit, not sure if the liquid nails was not done bonding (said 24 hrs was 80% strength, 7 days for full cure) or the moisture made the LN swell? Either way, I injected TightBond II in the small seam and clamped overnight - problem solved.



    Here is the assembled result:







    ...continued on next post...
    2008 OBV
    325 EFI with closed cooling
    Gravity III with 750's in the rear, 400 stock floor, 750 IBS
    Servo valve ballast upgrade
    Wetsounds Rev10
    JL Amps, WS420BT

    2000 Outback LS <-- Sold!!!
    310 Carb Direct Drive
    800# Rear Locker
    750# IBS (should have kept this for the OBV)
    Dual Batteries with 2 Bank Charger System
    Kenwood Head with Remotes
    Too many hours restoring exterior from prior negligence to count!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Morganton, NC
    Posts
    235

    Default

    You can see the mounts that transition from the metal deck mounts to the actual surf deck. They are made of two more layers of 11/16" plywood, tapered to look nice and distribute the load.



    After testing showed it was good to go as is, it was sanded smooth and covered with two coats of high temp rustoleum gloss paint. It's what I had laying around and it also stated it was chemical and oil resistant, seemed smart since it's right above the exhaust. We'll see how long it lasts. Next time I will tint the epoxy and have it gloss black via that coating. In the end, there will be very little showing after the pad gets installed.





    It's slightly blurry, but you can see the clean wave starting from the corner of the hull rather than where the deck dug in:

    2008 OBV
    325 EFI with closed cooling
    Gravity III with 750's in the rear, 400 stock floor, 750 IBS
    Servo valve ballast upgrade
    Wetsounds Rev10
    JL Amps, WS420BT

    2000 Outback LS <-- Sold!!!
    310 Carb Direct Drive
    800# Rear Locker
    750# IBS (should have kept this for the OBV)
    Dual Batteries with 2 Bank Charger System
    Kenwood Head with Remotes
    Too many hours restoring exterior from prior negligence to count!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Tallahassee, FL
    Posts
    14,071

    Default

    Very nice work. I have to look at my platform next time out and see if it interferes with the surf wake now that I run more evenly weighted with the sukg8.
    My Mom said I'm not allowed to get wet!
    2008 LSV (sold)
    2000 Outback LS (sold)
    LLTR!!!!!!!!



  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Morganton, NC
    Posts
    235

    Default

    My stock platform was always basically in the water with ballast and even when we were evenly loaded (we still run slightly listed, found it had more push) the platform cut into the wave. I was goofing around the last time out with this new platform and was dragging my feet similar to where the old platform would hit and you could actually change where the curl of the wave formed, much closer into the boat. I can't say the wave became better to ride, but in my mind it is. Certainly cleaner looking.
    2008 OBV
    325 EFI with closed cooling
    Gravity III with 750's in the rear, 400 stock floor, 750 IBS
    Servo valve ballast upgrade
    Wetsounds Rev10
    JL Amps, WS420BT

    2000 Outback LS <-- Sold!!!
    310 Carb Direct Drive
    800# Rear Locker
    750# IBS (should have kept this for the OBV)
    Dual Batteries with 2 Bank Charger System
    Kenwood Head with Remotes
    Too many hours restoring exterior from prior negligence to count!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Tallahassee, FL
    Posts
    14,071

    Default

    Just looking at pics I think mine is almost all the way out when we are running only slightly listed with the sukgate.



    20160726_194030.jpg
    My Mom said I'm not allowed to get wet!
    2008 LSV (sold)
    2000 Outback LS (sold)
    LLTR!!!!!!!!



  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Naperville, IL || North Scott Lake, MI
    Posts
    1,455

    Default

    Great work, that looks awesome!! With the pad on my platform peeling badly and dragging in my wave I have thought about doing this as well.

    Do you have any before and after pics to compare the two waves?

    You mentioned decreasing the width but the rest of the platform looks to have kept the current design and proportion - is that correct or did you also change some of the other dimensions / shape?
    Mike

    2013 Outback V
    - ballast: 900# rears / 400# center / 650# IBS
    - audio: Exile SXT9Q x 2 towers / Kicker KM65 x 6 cabins / Xi 12 sub / Javelin & XM15.4 amps / ZLD
    - FAE
    - DIY suckgate

    2003 SeaRay 182 -- gone but not forgotten...

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Morganton, NC
    Posts
    235

    Default

    Proportions kept but from memory, everything shrank a bit except for the trailing edge - that stayed constant at 16 1/2". So basically, it looks the same but if you were to try to drop a precut pad on it, it's not going to fit.

    Here's the best I have of the old wave, which in this picture looked pretty stinking good...



    Here's the new deck during testing, no rider unfortunately:





    They look very very similar, but I can assure you when you watch the wave form now with the new platform it's very quick and clean and starts curling immediately off the hull. I can replicate the disturbance the old platform made by dragging my foot in the wake just behind the corner of the boat.
    2008 OBV
    325 EFI with closed cooling
    Gravity III with 750's in the rear, 400 stock floor, 750 IBS
    Servo valve ballast upgrade
    Wetsounds Rev10
    JL Amps, WS420BT

    2000 Outback LS <-- Sold!!!
    310 Carb Direct Drive
    800# Rear Locker
    750# IBS (should have kept this for the OBV)
    Dual Batteries with 2 Bank Charger System
    Kenwood Head with Remotes
    Too many hours restoring exterior from prior negligence to count!

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Commerce Twp, MI
    Posts
    38

    Default

    Awesome work. This is my next project.

    Did you reuse your old mounting brackets or buy new ones? If new ones, where did you pick them up at?

    Thanks.
    2010 MOBIUS LSV

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Morganton, NC
    Posts
    235

    Default

    Reused originals

    Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
    2008 OBV
    325 EFI with closed cooling
    Gravity III with 750's in the rear, 400 stock floor, 750 IBS
    Servo valve ballast upgrade
    Wetsounds Rev10
    JL Amps, WS420BT

    2000 Outback LS <-- Sold!!!
    310 Carb Direct Drive
    800# Rear Locker
    750# IBS (should have kept this for the OBV)
    Dual Batteries with 2 Bank Charger System
    Kenwood Head with Remotes
    Too many hours restoring exterior from prior negligence to count!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Vancouver WA
    Posts
    5,019

    Default

    FWIW, here's a couple pics of my surf wave coming off the hull and going around the surf platform I made...



    2008 Moomba Mobius XLV. Monster Cargo Bimini, WS Rev 410's, Polk Cabins, 3 Infinity Subs, PPI amps, WS420, Exile BT, upgraded ballast pumps, up to 3,500+ pounds of ballast, Blue LED's...
    1992 Supra Sunsport. **SOLD** 2k pounds ballast, Surf System, Blue LED's everywhere, decent audio system.
    Tow Rig: 2013 F150 Ecoboost FX4 (wife's rig) Other money pits include:1998 BMW M3 Cabriolet, 2009 Audic A6 Avant 3.0T, 2005 Kawasaki ZX-6R 636.
    www.TraysonsToybox.com

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