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Tie off fenders


eyekode

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ahopkins22LSV

Decent idea but I don't feel like mounting those brackets on my boat. And different docks and boats require the fender to be at different heights. I know you can adjust the rope but not worth having to do the adjusting you would have to do anyway plus having those brackets on the boat

I can see how those would be nice to have on your down maybe the other side of your lift where you sometimes tie up during a long day on the lake, but not have the fenders there all the time. so I think in that case those are a great idea.

Edited by ahopkins1988
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Do those sit flush when not in use? It is hard to tell from the picture. Thanks!

Salem

No, they have a small dome shape to them that sits about an 1/8" or so above the surface at the highest point.

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I have three pairs of cleats like the ones below - near the back, about at the windshield, and half way around the front, just as the hull curves.

I have rubber fenders and use a stainless caribiner through them.

For most docks, i just hook the fender directly to the cleat. For a lower one, i have a loop of rope on the other end of the fender. I clip the stainless caribiner through the rope and then to the cleat. Works well, easy to connect and remove. It's all stainless to stainless so i don't worry about scratches anywhere.

post-7974-0-15262600-1383009124_thumb.jp

post-7974-0-86554700-1383009250_thumb.jp

Edited by Soon2BV
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No, they have a small dome shape to them that sits about an 1/8" or so above the surface at the highest point.

1/8 is close enough to flush for me :). I was just wondering if they stood up enough that I may snag something on them.

Thanks for the info!

Salem

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1/8 is close enough to flush for me :). I was just wondering if they stood up enough that I may snag something on them.

Thanks for the info!

Salem

No, they are super smooth so there's nothing to snag on them. Now, when the post is installed, that's a different story and can be quite sharp so there has to be some thought on where to place them.

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The fenders Zombie listed are way too small to use in any kind of choppy conditions.... especially if you raft up to other boats at all.

Exile Audio sells the big Hippity Hops for like $20 each here.

They can be blown up to like twice the diameter of a small boat fender.

Get'em. And don't look back.

284883_2193306879634_1456029435_32383294

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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Bill, do you just run the dock line through the handle?

Yep.

I have 2 of them & have loops tied off at specific points. One hangs off the pylon. The other hangs off the board rack bracket on the front leg of the tower. Then I use the cleats for mooring lines.

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I ran some regular fenders this year and they worked OK. I never had an incident but I was always watching them. I tied one off to the front tower leg and one to the rear cleat. I may have to give these big balls a shot.

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Bill, do you just run the dock line through the handle?

Yep. Tie off the buoy to the clamp and then tie the boat off to your boat. They work better than anything else. I really like the exile ones as well because the are softer than what you would get at Overton's or something like that. You can blow them up with you own lung power and take up hardly any space when they are deflated.

  • Like 2
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Yea, I find the big hippity hops are best for rafting up, especially when your all there to watch an event, ie; wakeboard competition, boat races, etc. The closer boats are together, especially boats with towers & racks, the waves rolling thru will tend to knock the towers & racks together. Spacing the boats out more helps with the problem. But if you don't find yourself in those kind of conditions, the small fenders are probably fine.

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I don't like the idea of mounting extra hardware to my boat so I just use both the tower legs and the factory cleats to tie up. I have seen some people that actually keep a fender with an extra long rope and tie it to the tow pylon.

Like I said, no need for the extra hardware if you have a tower.

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The fenders Zombie listed are way too small to use in any kind of choppy conditions.... especially if you raft up to other boats at all.

Exile Audio sells the big Hippity Hops for like $20 each here.

They can be blown up to like twice the diameter of a small boat fender.

Get'em. And don't look back.

284883_2193306879634_1456029435_32383294

Are these durable enough to use for mooring to a dock for the whole season?

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They are made of some decent heavy gauge rubber. They feel like the bouncy balls we used to ride as kids. They are just a little smaller. That is the best I can do to describe them. I think they would last as long as you aren't mooring against very rough, aged wood that might rip the rubber eventually.

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I've been down to the Parker Strip on the CA/AZ border & Canyon Lake in SoCal & seen people using the toy version of the Hippity Hop for years. Murphy's dock has like 10 of them mounted all around it. I'm not sure how they wear on different types of docks, but have not had any issues myself.

When I bought the Vride 6 yrs ago I picked up a pair that look like giant baseballs. I still have them. Their old & funky lookin now but they still hold air. I use them when we're out camping & I'm trying to keep my dock space "reserved" while we're out riding. I figure if they walked away, no big loss. I like that their big & it's easy to swing the boat in & hit them rather than the dock.

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I have the same ones as AirJunky. I used them all summer long and had no issues. They are more durable than I originally thought. I would tie them off to my cleats on the side of the boat and then pull into the dock. A few times this summer I thought they were going to pop when I pulled into the wood dock, all the pressure of the boat was pushing against the ball on a single point (corner of the dock). They held up great... As Bill said they also work great for rafting up next to other boats.

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