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Surf gate


ColinC

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Thank you! I get it now. Instead of wood, could you use the marine grade star board? It is more expensive but might be a little better solution. For a 4'x2' sheet, its $150 for the 3/4" thick. Thoughts?

It seems to me that Malibu would come out with a simple, dealer install only "manual kit" that could be put on older models (brackets with a drop in gate) and sell the autmatic gate on the new boats... Why wouldnt they do that besides the obvious reason of trying to sell just new boats? That would speak volumes for the company and who they are committed to year in/out, right?

...and they'd sell a ton of them.

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I'm guessing malibu will never do a manual version. There is good reason it auto delays and retract at 7 and 12 mph. Forgetting It's delployed and taking off at high-speed could be disastrous. Less than 7mph might be too much stress also. I wonder what kinds of lateral stress this would apply to the rudder.

Don't get me wrong,I would live to add this to my boat too! Let me know where to send the case of beer for the smarter and braver man than me that figures this all out. Cheers!

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We need to incentivize this retrofit R&D darnit.... Homebrew surfgate supplies dont come cheap!

5$ payable via paypal when at least 10 pics, a couple videos of the wave and details are posted!!

** post edited for language - please keep it clean. **

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All of you guys busting to DIY should at least wait until you can test drive a boat with SG on it. That in itself will be worth at least a few trial and errors. :rtfm:

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think what will happen is you will have to order the parts from Malibu to retrofit older boats. It's really nothing more than a new swim platform, actuators and surf tabs. Prob will have install manual switches, won't be able to tie into MTC.

I'm sure some backing plates would be plenty strong. I would bet at the factory they are adding this after the hull is molded just like the power wedge. Guessing cost will more than likely be the bummer, it won't be cheap!

If anyone finds out more information please pass it along....I have an email sent to Paul @ Bakes...will keep everyone updated if I find anything out.

I would love to retrofit my 2011 with SG, I love the boat and its completely dialed in and paid off. I can't see spending $10k+ to upgrade to a 2013... That just makes no sense to me. Other than SG, not a lot of changes from '11 to 13.

Edited by Fman
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Another question on surfgate, in theory could you surf two people at one time if you activate both tabs? It seems do-able if you don't have to weight the boat on one side and just use hard tank ballast and wedge. How cool would it be to surf goofy and regular surfers at one time...

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We need to incentivize this retrofit R&D darnit.... Homebrew surfgate supplies dont come cheap!

5$ payable via paypal when at least 10 pics, a couple videos of the wave and details are posted!!

the question is whether the malibucrew.com will allow someone to post a design that is similar to surf gate, (and may possibly infringe on the patent or portion thereof), on this site.

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Another question on surfgate, in theory could you surf two people at one time if you activate both tabs? It seems do-able if you don't have to weight the boat on one side and just use hard tank ballast and wedge. How cool would it be to surf goofy and regular surfers at one time...

The purpose of surfgate is to prevent both sides of the wake from converging together at the same time, by delaying one side, this is what causes the wave to be surfable. If both sides are delayed, it will basically be the same as stock, no surfing.

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the question is whether the malibucrew.com will allow someone to post a design that is similar to surf gate, (and may possibly infringe on the patent or portion thereof), on this site.

I asked and was told yes. I hope to have something in the next two week. Hope to have the boat at the machine shop Thursday and Friday.

  • Like 2
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I asked and was told yes. I hope to have something in the next two week. Hope to have the boat at the machine shop Thursday and Friday.

That's good to know. I have already made the modifications to my boat, but I was afraid to post anything.

I purchased a Lenco trim tabs kit that contained two trim tabs, two actuators, wiring, and a switch. Because the plates are not large enough (9x9) and because the hull is slanted downward, I created larger plates with just 10x15 kitchen cutting boards. I then attached the cutting boards to the plates at the correct angle. It works great! When I get a chance, I'll post some pics and possibly video.

  • Like 2
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That's good to know. I have already made the modifications to my boat, but I was afraid to post anything.

I purchased a Lenco trim tabs kit that contained two trim tabs, two actuators, wiring, and a switch. Because the plates are not large enough (9x9) and because the hull is slanted downward, I created larger plates with just 10x15 kitchen cutting boards. I then attached the cutting boards to the plates at the correct angle. It works great! When I get a chance, I'll post some pics and possibly video.

Can't wait! Have you riding behind it yet?

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That's good to know. I have already made the modifications to my boat, but I was afraid to post anything.

I purchased a Lenco trim tabs kit that contained two trim tabs, two actuators, wiring, and a switch. Because the plates are not large enough (9x9) and because the hull is slanted downward, I created larger plates with just 10x15 kitchen cutting boards. I then attached the cutting boards to the plates at the correct angle. It works great! When I get a chance, I'll post some pics and possibly video.

I'm laughing to myself reading this! Cutting boards! That my friend is some legit redneck/walmart engineering right there.

Can't wait to see it!

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martinarcher

I've made quite a bit of things from those poly plastic cutting boards. They are cheap, very strong, and easy to work with. I'm looking forward to seeing how they look/work!

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I've made quite a bit of things from those poly plastic cutting boards. They are cheap, very strong, and easy to work with. I'm looking forward to seeing how they look/work!

I'm looking forward to seeing a surfgate on an '87 Sunsetter! :)

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I've made quite a bit of things from those poly plastic cutting boards. They are cheap, very strong, and easy to work with. I'm looking forward to seeing how they look/work!

me too. speaker spacers for door speakers in my car and binding shims for snowboard bindings.

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That's good to know. I have already made the modifications to my boat, but I was afraid to post anything.

I purchased a Lenco trim tabs kit that contained two trim tabs, two actuators, wiring, and a switch. Because the plates are not large enough (9x9) and because the hull is slanted downward, I created larger plates with just 10x15 kitchen cutting boards. I then attached the cutting boards to the plates at the correct angle. It works great! When I get a chance, I'll post some pics and possibly video.

How about going to TAP Plastics and have them fab you up some custom tabs, pick your color, and they could also finish the edges off to make it look factory. LOL, I too am looking forward to your cutting board tabs! whatever it takes...

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Apologies for not posting here sooner. I'm at our place in northern MI with a bunch of friends, and we have just been having a blast. We did try to surf behind my rednecked boat, but it seems the surf side plate is interfering with the wave, so we just went back to the traditional "listing" method. I'm not sure if I will have a chance to play around with it as we are leaving tomorrow, and I won't be back up (where the boat is) until Labor Day weekend.

When we had just one plate on the boat (port side), the wave was pretty good. We didn't have a chance to test it much, but it was surfable. When both tabs were installed, and just one is deployed, the surf side was unsurfable. The wave was just washed out. I am afraid that the swim platform would have to either be modified or completely removed so that the plate can be placed so that it is angled further in. This is just not an option for me, so it may just be scrapped.

As soon as I can get some pics of the setup, I'll post up. I have some video showing the washed out waves; I just haven't uploaded them, yet. I may get this all done Monday.

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I completely forgot to snap some pictures of the setup, and I won't be back where the boat is until Labor Day weekend!

Here is the video of the wakes, though:

We had all 3 stock tanks full (center, both rear), a 450# in the bow, both 750s in rear lockers full, wedge at max, and 5 guys in the boat at about 200# each. The boat was really struggling (Monsoon w/ OJ 468 prop). I tried playing with the wedge in the middle of the video, but it didn't help. I also tried speeding up (11 MPH to 12 MPH). We then tried emptying about half of the 750s, no wedge, etc., but nothing seemed to help. The regular side wake definitely looks better, but that doesn't make any sense because both plates are installed exactly the same. We installed the starboard side first, tried it out (was surfable but not a lot of push), then installed the port side exactly the same as the stbd. I do notice that a lot of the wake is going right over the plate. This may be due to the fact that the boat is so low in the water with all of the ballast. I have the plates so that the top edge is even with the top edge of the swim platform. I wonder if the new boats have the swim platform mounted higher on the transom.

I am planning on heading over to my dealer this week to do some measurements of the surf gate: Dimensions of gate, gate placement on hull, how far it tucks away when not deployed, etc. With this data, I will fabricate some new cutting boards and mount them. Probably won't happen until next spring, though, as the boat will be going in storage right before Labor Day!

Edited by Tao of Wake
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