On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:32:22 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing penned the
following well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

On Tue, 18 Dec 2007 20:16:53 -0500, "Lu Powell"
wrote:

Thanks. After considering all the inputs from this forum, I went
shopping. Yikes!!! I realize workmanship has its price....however, $1600
to $2000 to start for a small barebones T-top is a bit over the top. Add
some rod holders and curtains, and the tab is approaching three
thousand.

Marine grade aluminum is expensive. The time to fabricate, bend and
weld added to already expensive aluminum and you are going to spend
some money.

$2000 is a cheapie.

Having run a machine shop for decades..... this is NOT the time to
buy anything made of aluminum or copper (brass and bronze included) as
they are the materials of war and now go for fair market value times
some ridiculous factor.

5052 aluminum has *never* been cheap and the expertise to weld same is
also not bargain basement. Additionally, have you ever considered the
cost of equipment to bend aluminum tubing?

I'm standing squarely in the middle on this item. The prices are
obscene, but so are the costs. I don't have an answer..... but I do
have a political/temporal parallel..... we called it Viet Nam and it
affected consumer and manufacturer prices in *exactly* the same way.

Patience may or may not afford relief. My crystal ball is out for
repair......

--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.

Homepage
http://pamandgene.idleplay.net/

Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats
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"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:32:22 GMT, Short Wave Sportfishing penned the
following well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

On Tue, 18 Dec 2007 20:16:53 -0500, "Lu Powell"
wrote:

Thanks. After considering all the inputs from this forum, I went
shopping. Yikes!!! I realize workmanship has its price....however,
$1600
to $2000 to start for a small barebones T-top is a bit over the top.
Add
some rod holders and curtains, and the tab is approaching three
thousand.

Marine grade aluminum is expensive. The time to fabricate, bend and
weld added to already expensive aluminum and you are going to spend
some money.

$2000 is a cheapie.

Having run a machine shop for decades..... this is NOT the time to
buy anything made of aluminum or copper (brass and bronze included) as
they are the materials of war and now go for fair market value times
some ridiculous factor.

5052 aluminum has *never* been cheap and the expertise to weld same is
also not bargain basement. Additionally, have you ever considered the
cost of equipment to bend aluminum tubing?

I'm standing squarely in the middle on this item. The prices are
obscene, but so are the costs. I don't have an answer..... but I do
have a political/temporal parallel..... we called it Viet Nam and it
affected consumer and manufacturer prices in *exactly* the same way.

Patience may or may not afford relief. My crystal ball is out for
repair......

--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.

Homepage
http://pamandgene.idleplay.net/

Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats
-----------------
www.Newsgroup-Binaries.com - *Completion*Retention*Speed*
Access your favorite newsgroups from home or on the road
-----------------

Thanks for all the insights. Since the T-top is not a "must have", time
to find a better use for the money. Now, about that Garmin
GPS/Fishfinder/Mapping unit.........

On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 10:20:50 -0500, "Lu Powell"
wrote:

Thanks for all the insights. Since the T-top is not a "must have", time
to find a better use for the money. Now, about that Garmin
GPS/Fishfinder/Mapping unit........

I just returned from Bass Pro over in Foxboro, MA. Spent some time
looking at the multi-function units.

Dollar-for-dollar, I think the Lowrance multi-functions are better
than the Garmin units.

If only for the fact that the Garmins have this really non-intuitive
user interface compared to the Lowrance.

On Dec 18, 8:16 pm, "Lu Powell" wrote:
Thanks. After considering all the inputs from this forum, I went
shopping. Yikes!!! I realize workmanship has its price....however, $1600
to $2000 to start for a small barebones T-top is a bit over the top. Add
some rod holders and curtains, and the tab is approaching three
thousand.

Just how valuable can 50 or so pounds of aluminum tubing and canvas
cost? Although I have a "Santa Claus" ready and able to pay the whole
freight, I can't in good conscience let that kind of money be spent for
such a little benefit.

Thanks for all the opinions.... No T-top for me....

wrote in message

...



On Dec 14, 9:53 am, "Lu Powell" wrote:
I have a five year old Sea Pro 17 ft. center console and want to
install
a t-top. My main concern is the added weight and higher center of
gravity. The boat is mainly used in St. Johns River at Mayport, FL,
and
occasionally a few miles offshore when the ocean is flat.

Any of you experts have comparable experiences and advice?

I assume a T-top for a small 17-ft boat is not going to be very tall
in order to keep the center of gravity low; for example, the T-top in
my 18-ft boat is lower than the T-top in larger boats. This means you
may not be able to put a large enclosure right under the T-top because
that would have blocked your view when you are standing. This means
you will not be able to put your VHF radio and other accessories
inside the enclosure. This removes one of the benefit of having a T-
top.

For the same reason, you may or may not be able to mount fishing rods
under the T-top in a 17-ft boat.

On the other hand, you will still be able to mount antennas for VHF
radio and GPS on the T-top and keep them out of the way.

Despite the fact that I don't think a large enclosure can be mounted
under the T-top, I am still playing around with the idea of mounting a
small enclosure under the T-top that is just enough for a small VHF
radio and a pair of gloves or something small like that.

Jay Chan- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

$2000 sounds about what I have expected. This was the reason why I
decided to purchase my boat that came with a T-top. I figured that
the T-top itself could justify a large part of the total purchase
price of the second hand boat -- little that I knew that the T-top
were not anchored on the boat correctly and ended up rotting the whole
deck.

Jay Chan