Homemade delta wakeshaper

[95echelon]

1 hour ago, Arctic Slalom said:

anyone have problems with the harbor freight suction cups?

Ours hold suction awesome, but last weekend we broke off one of the little black levers which engages the suction cup. 

Just a heads up, as I'm on my second set.  The levers (where they pivot) don't have much meat to them. 

I bought another handle, but I am going to see if I can transfer them from one of my other handles. They are all built similarly.

[bebates]

I was finally able to get out with the suction gate and our boat (2000 Malibu Sunsetter LX Direct Drive). 

This is with the wedge down, 500 pounds ballast in the back, 10.0 mph on the perfect pass. Two adults in the boat.

This is the wave (http://imgur.com/qPgcZMK) 

This is me having fun (http://imgur.com/xY2QshS) 

This is me trying to teach my niece to ski on the boom (http://imgur.com/PlDzxSQ) 

This is the suction gate (http://imgur.com/H39gcKq) 

 

[cla10beck]

@bebates: can you share the placement of your gate for the best wake on your sunsetter lx?

[bebates]

I placed the gate as far back as I could and as low on the hull as I could. I want to try raising it up a little. It was suggested on another forum that it is not completely barried under water. 

[EchelonMike]

1 hour ago, bebates said:

I placed the gate as far back as I could and as low on the hull as I could. I want to try raising it up a little. It was suggested on another forum that it is not completely barried under water. 

I tried a few different locations.  This is where we started...the water is clear at the lake so it is sort of hard to tell, but the "shadow" across the paddle is the water line.  We started with it a bit out of the water like this at rest.  When underway it is all the way under.

We also tried it as low on the hull as you could go the next day.  It was hard to tell what worked better as far as placement because on day two when we lowered it we had less people weight in the boat.  Will experiment next time.  The lower placement basically eliminated any spray so that was a benefit.

 

[kisersosay]

3 weeks in and my DYI suction cup surfgate (GaryGate 2.0) is working awesome.  Just used it again yesterday for about 4 hours and it didn't budge one bit.  So far we have 4 of these in use on our lake and everyone is in love with them.   

Below is a quick youtube slideshow showing the gate and both the port and starboard side waves.  Only stock ballast, wedge down, just the wife and I in the boat and, perfect pass at 10.0 mph.    

As other's have stated, we did have one of the black locking tabs break when installing on my buddy's Xstar.  We just bought another harbor freight handle,  drilled 2 holes and swapped out the parts, easy fix.  

The issue with harbor freight locking tabs seems to be when you apply force in any sort of a sideways angle.  These are plastic locking tabs and can't take much of a sideways force.  There just isn't that much plastic around the locking pin to be able to withstand a sideways/twisting type force.  My guess is that these will last much longer if you apply force in only a "straight on" manner.  Time will tell.

 

[Air Tahoe]

Ok, I built mine after lots of reading and head scratching. I think I used mostly CFH's concept because I liked the plastic vs. metal next to the hull and we have similar boats. I traced out what I wanted on cardboard, assembled it, then cut that out on plastic from amazon. Instead of the spacers, I used left over plastic and cut the them into squares. It is the perfect width and resist torsional flexes better then a spacer would. Left over bolts for the hardware, washers and lock nuts on one side. It weighs 4.3lbs and sinks. So I added just enough foam inside to keep it afloat should it pop off. 

Now I am worried my plastic levers are going to snap like others are reporting. 

I'll try it out tomorrow. Hope it works and doesn't fall off ! I'll shoot video before and after. 

 

Here is the plastic I used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JPHTPCI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And the suction cup: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PBQ9K8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[MichaelT]

Thanks for the pics and directions.  I copied your design this weekend and it worked better than expected.  Even tried it on multiple boats.  Everyone was very impressed.

On 7/15/2016 at 5:08 PM, 95echelon said:

I bought another handle, but I am going to see if I can transfer them from one of my other handles. They are all built similarly.

I haven't had any trouble yet with mine.  You can transfer one lever to the other.  Press up from the bottom of the suction and you can remove the small pin that holds it on and just put another lever on.

[Roush611]

On July 19, 2016 at 7:02 PM, MichaelT said:

Thanks for the pics and directions.  I copied your design this weekend and it worked better than expected.  Even tried it on multiple boats.  Everyone was very impressed.

I haven't had any trouble yet with mine.  You can transfer one lever to the other.  Press up from the bottom of the suction and you can remove the small pin that holds it on and just put another lever on.

I do not have a suction cup yet but how do you get the bolts into the suction cup part?  Are you able to peel the suction cup back far enough that you can drill a hole and insert a bolt?

[wdr]

Push up on the cups exposing the cross pins holding the lever onto the cup shaft and turn the assembly so the pins fall out.

A variation on the theme!

Edited July 20, 2016 by wdr

[SoDakSooner]

You guys have me fired up.  I've got one that is platform mounted.  Big and bulky and weve never really gotten it dialed in.  This looks so easy to make and much smaller to store

Running over to harbor freight right now to see if they have one in stock....

 

[wdr]

1 hour ago, SoDakSooner said:

You guys have me fired up.  I've got one that is platform mounted.  Big and bulky and weve never really gotten it dialed in.  This looks so easy to make and much smaller to store

Running over to harbor freight right now to see if they have one in stock....

 

I made a transom mounted gate as well, it worked fine but was just such a PITA to store and kind of embarrassing to hang back there! Bonus is that this Suck Gate has little to no adverse steering effects and absolutely no spray unlike the transom mounted version I made.

[SoDakSooner]

Have to chuckle a bit, but I picked up the harbor freight suction cup thing at lunch but couldn't find any HDPE, so I just ordered on Amazon.

The most frequently bought Item with the HDPE????  The HOD suction lifter.  Wonder what they are being used for?

 

[Roush611]

This was just a test run. 400lbs in each rear locker, 500 center ballast and wedge down. I had to bump up the rpm's a bit to clean up the wake but I forgot to see how fast I was going. I think it was about 11.5. No people but me for this run. The first video was taken at 10.

Before....

After...

Edited July 23, 2016 by Roush611

[iwam]

Here's mine, haven't tested it yet though

[Roush611]

How big is everyone making the "paddle" part of the contraption?  The last one I made was 9x11.  I was not paying attention on Sunday and didn't put a rope around it and it popped off and sank.  I am now working on version 2.0 and would like to see everyones input. 

[bebates]

35 minutes ago, Roush611 said:

How big is everyone making the "paddle" part of the contraption?  The last one I made was 9x11.  I was not paying attention on Sunday and didn't put a rope around it and it popped off and sank.  I am now working on version 2.0 and would like to see everyones input. 

6x9 is the money for me

[Michigan boarder]

Does the HDPE float?  I have the aluminum suction cups en route, but figured I would stick with wood for floatation.

[95echelon]

20 minutes ago, Michigan boarder said:

Does the HDPE float?  I have the aluminum suction cups en route, but figured I would stick with wood for floatation.

Do the vinyl. I probably have enough extra to make you one. I am making an extra for myself this weekend. You want me to see if I have enough left?

[Michigan boarder]

21 minutes ago, 95echelon said:

Do the vinyl. I probably have enough extra to make you one. I am making an extra for myself this weekend. You want me to see if I have enough left?

Dude that would be great!  Will pay cash/beers/gas/ride.

[iwam]

2 hours ago, Michigan boarder said:

Does the HDPE float?  I have the aluminum suction cups en route, but figured I would stick with wood for floatation.

I don't believe so, I plan on using a tether

[wdr]

My 3/4" HDPE gate floats, but I am using the plastic HF suction device. The aluminum handle might be too heavy unless you fill the handle void with some expanding foam or other substance that floats. 

Edited July 27, 2016 by wdr

[h2oratJR]

went thru securirty check point with the ones from West Marine if any of you are wondering if you can carry them on 

[Osufnl499]

On 7/16/2016 at 1:14 AM, bebates said:

I was finally able to get out with the suction gate and our boat (2000 Malibu Sunsetter LX Direct Drive). 

This is with the wedge down, 500 pounds ballast in the back, 10.0 mph on the perfect pass. Two adults in the boat.

This is the wave (http://imgur.com/qPgcZMK) 

This is me having fun (http://imgur.com/xY2QshS) 

This is me trying to teach my niece to ski on the boom (http://imgur.com/PlDzxSQ) 

This is the suction gate (http://imgur.com/H39gcKq) 

 

Just finished making this version myself, but having trouble figuring out the placement in relation to the water line. When the boat is off is idle where should the waterline sit on the paddle of the gate itself? We tried to submerge it  but the gate always come off soon after we start moving. We also tried higher up and it stays on but sprays water about 7 ft in the air covering  the boat. Any suggestions? 

[95echelon]

On July 27, 2016 at 9:50 PM, wdr said:

My 3/4" HDPE gate floats, but I am using the plastic HF suction device. The aluminum handle might be too heavy unless you fill the handle void with some expanding foam or other substance that floats. 

I found that if the plastic tabs to secure the handle breaks that the Amazon HOD ones fit in the harbor freight handle and seem to be sturdier. So if you bought an HOD on amazon only to have it fall off you can at least reuse the tabs!