Poorman's Gate

[boardjnky4]

I have been thinking about this A LOT! I mounted trim tabs and have been attaching different "gates" to it to test out. Unfortunately, any further testing will have to wait until next spring because I had to winterize the boat last weekend!

Here is the progression of what I tried:

First gate that was too small

Next gate to try if length had any effect

It seemed to help, but there still was just something wrong. Also, it made steering the boat at slow speed terrible.

I then figured out that it was the spray coming over the gate, so I created this:

This worked OK, but it definitely needs to be longer. So, the next steps are to get some HDPE that I can cut longer, make it wider at the furthest point from the boat, and then figure out how to make the entire gate removable for non-surf usage of the swim platform. I have been thinking of having a small HDPE board permanently attached to the hinge (trim tab) and actuator, then figure out how to quickly and easily attach the gate to it. Any ideas?

What Lenco actuators are you using? I am re-thinking the use of the bennetts after getting them in. I can only get 2.5" of stroke out of them. Lenco makes a 4.25" actuator but they are pricey! 200/actuator!

[martinarcher]

Tao used the 101's which have 2.5" of stroke. I have 2 of the 102's on order which are the 4.25" stroke actuators (same as Malibu uses on the SurfGate boats). They use the 102's on the gates and the 102XD's on the power wedges. I think to get my gate out of the wake at boarding speeds and still have it deploy a full 25 degrees off the hull I'll need the 4.25" of travel. Just be warned - they are big actuators They are 13" long closed!

[boardjnky4]

Size won't be an issue. Like you, I need the longer actuator. What did you pay for them?

[martinarcher]

I think they were about $170 a pop. It's hard to find them in stock anywhere right now. Mine just shipped today.

[C28]

Tuneman,

Have you tried the dark side yet?

My good friend has an 08 230 that is just crap on the dark side, the regular side is wonderful but I dont like going back side all the time. I am hoping this may be a fix for his 230.

[tuneman]

Tuneman,

Have you tried the dark side yet?

My good friend has an 08 230 that is just crap on the dark side, the regular side is wonderful but I dont like going back side all the time. I am hoping this may be a fix for his 230.

No, I haven't tested the dark side, but I will. I still have to build that gate, so it will probably be a week or two out. I'll definitely post results.

[tuneman]

Got another video up of the Enzo with gate. We were boarding as the sun was setting, so I quick snuck in a ride before it got too dark to do video. No time to tweak the ballast.

1000lbs each locker, 650 port side, 250 starboard side, 300 in the bow.

1st cut - NO surfgate, 10.5mph

2nd cut - with surfgate, 10.5 mph

3rd cut - me surfing on an IS Black Pearl, I'm 6'3", 10.5mph, choppy water, ignore the sloppy riding

[cwkoch]

Lookin good Chad!!

[martinarcher]

That wave does look good! Nice work. Are you planning on making a permanent gate?

[tuneman]

That wave does look good! Nice work. Are you planning on making a permanent gate?

Yes. I'll likely have Lenco actuated gates controlled with an Arduino for next season.

[nyryan2001]

Tune-- how does that wave compare to your old style sac'd out and leaning hard wave?

Got any pics or videos of your old style setup?

[cstk421]

Took some still shots from the video and other sources to put good photos in one place. Hope it helps the DIY process !

Claudio

[martinarcher]

Anyone know the angle of Malibu's gate when stowed in relation to the side of the hull?

[Tao of Wake]

Anyone know the angle of Malibu's gate when stowed in relation to the side of the hull?

Where the gate is connected to the transom, it is 1.5" from the side edge of the hull. At the end of the gate (18" long), it is 6" from the side edge of the hull (if you extend the edge of the hull rearward). If my calculations are right, that makes a 17.43 degree angle. Also, the gate is angled inward from the top to bottom. At the top of the gate, it is 6" from the edge of the hull; at the bottom, it is 5.5".

[pielet97]

I think I'm going to model mine after that burnt orange bu since the corner of my VLX looks identical. Has anyone figured out the dimensions of that gate and its extended angle? I don't plan on using tabs right now, so if a dimensional sketch existed, that would be perfect.

Edited September 14, 2012 by pielet97

[martinarcher]

Where the gate is connected to the transom, it is 1.5" from the side edge of the hull. At the end of the gate (18" long), it is 6" from the side edge of the hull (if you extend the edge of the hull rearward). If my calculations are right, that makes a 17.43 degree angle. Also, the gate is angled inward from the top to bottom. At the top of the gate, it is 6" from the edge of the hull; at the bottom, it is 5.5".

Thanks man. Are those last two measurements backwards? The top edge would be closer to the hull right?

[Tao of Wake]

Thanks man. Are those last two measurements backwards? The top edge would be closer to the hull right?

What I provided are correct. It's due to the shape of the hull.

[martinarcher]

NRight on. You wouldn't know the vertical angle of the gate would you? It looks like it's enough that the gate will end up deeper as it swings out to the deployed position. I'm debating on how drastic I want to make that angle on mine. If I match the angle of my boat's hull it would be 16.5 degrees which I think is a bit too much.

[Tao of Wake]

NRight on. You wouldn't know the vertical angle of the gate would you? It looks like it's enough that the gate will end up deeper as it swings out to the deployed position. I'm debating on how drastic I want to make that angle on mine. If I match the angle of my boat's hull it would be 16.5 degrees which I think is a bit too much.

No, I didn't measure that. I would guess around 15 degrees, so you may not be that far off. When mine is deployed, it is vertical, but I think it needs to be angled downward to send the spray out instead of over the gate. That is why I added the "lip" at the top.

[rugger]

NRight on. You wouldn't know the vertical angle of the gate would you? It looks like it's enough that the gate will end up deeper as it swings out to the deployed position. I'm debating on how drastic I want to make that angle on mine. If I match the angle of my boat's hull it would be 16.5 degrees which I think is a bit too much.

MA - I wouldn't worry too much about it. My gates too are angled quite a bit (I matched the side of hull) and it seems to work great. I would recommend trying the setup with both gates on though, because the non deployed side can effect the wake. I tried just a few different shapes, all negligable differences, but pretty much went back to the original, which has a taper on the bottom of the gate so that it's taller in the front than the back. Between that and the angle, it folds up nicely without interfering. It looks like from those (very helpful) pictures someone posted above, that the malibu gates are also tapered. Maybe that's why.

I'd been using these nice push button poles to open and close the gates for weeks... I thought it was smart but today the button got jambed while we were out on the water. Oops. We ended up surfing with the traditional lean. I'll probably just drill them out and use a pin until I swap them out for actuators some day.

The good news is I ended up lengthening that platform and it came out great. Added a little more angle while I was at it, but now I don't think I needed too.

[rugger]

Here's the angle of mine. Totally different hull though. I posted in another thread for anyone else with the funky stepped transom. I'm sure there are better ideas, but so far it works for us. Too busy to keep messing with it this summer anyway.

[Gravana]

This is all very impressive. Thank you for sharing with all of us. I truly appreciate it!

[wakebrdr94]

What angle are the gates you guys are running?

[oceanbu]

Why couldn't you do something like this setup and just turn them vertical?

http://bcove.me/z5pvfewa

fastforward to the 4:16min mark to see what I mean. The guy is installing a trim tab system. Looks like the system would be pretty easy to adapt for a surfgate application.

Wouldn't a setup like this with actuators work on a malibu except with vertical tabs? Buy it, install it and you can control the tabs using switches at the helm while you are driving.

Only thing you would need is the gates.

Edited September 22, 2012 by oceanbu

[boardjnky4]

MA - I wouldn't worry too much about it. My gates too are angled quite a bit (I matched the side of hull) and it seems to work great. I would recommend trying the setup with both gates on though, because the non deployed side can effect the wake. I tried just a few different shapes, all negligable differences, but pretty much went back to the original, which has a taper on the bottom of the gate so that it's taller in the front than the back. Between that and the angle, it folds up nicely without interfering. It looks like from those (very helpful) pictures someone posted above, that the malibu gates are also tapered. Maybe that's why.

I'd been using these nice push button poles to open and close the gates for weeks... I thought it was smart but today the button got jambed while we were out on the water. Oops. We ended up surfing with the traditional lean. I'll probably just drill them out and use a pin until I swap them out for actuators some day.

The good news is I ended up lengthening that platform and it came out great. Added a little more angle while I was at it, but now I don't think I needed too.

Where did you get the push button pole?