Does anyone know the history of the pylon like on this 18 footer? My other two 18's have the aluminum tri-pod pylon made for and installed by the Hydrodyne factory in the late 60's and '70's. This pylon is the same one that I aslo had on a 20 footer that was a former club boat. I have heard rumors that Mercury Marine had made a bunch of these up and gave them to select ski clubs. I also heard there was a fab shop somewhere in Wisconsin that made these and sold them to clubs in the area. The one I have now is made of steel and is powder coated black. The one one my old 20 was made of steel and chrome plated.(poorly) Just wondering if anyone really knows the story. Jim ?????
I don't know. Daniel's boat has something similar to that. Some of those had a member that mounted at the same level as the lower motor mounts. I like that because the motor and pylon loads tend to cancel each other out. These boats were and continue to be custom built and there are many configurations. jim
The only reason I ask is I have seen this this exact type of pylon on probably 20 boats over the years. These have mainly been show ski boats and maybe even a Bartlett boat or two. It has the hook on top for quick rope changes, and the way it was constructed the top plate where all the tubes meet looks like a stamping which kind of makes me believe they were "semi"- mass produced. I have seen the new type of pylon extentions Duane Snow builds for the R.A.J.'s and other clubs which moves it forward from the stock 20 footer placement, and allows the use of the quick rope change hook. He also ties them into the side decks. Duane and I have discussed a custom piece that will really be unique if I decide to build my new boat. The picture I posted (after it was shrunk down) does not really show how this pylon is configured. You can hardly see the bar that bends down and goes to the floor in front of the splash well.
Yes, The Bartlett boats had that "over everything" type of pylon. I think the traditional pylon is more convenient for a family, but the pylon on your boat gets the tow point further forward. The Jays set up is quite good because it also allows a release to be mounted in addition to the hook. If you can contact Ab Jr, he might know the answer. What new boat? jim
Lettin the cat out of the bag! Twin rigged 18' pontoon boat, right? I think it is safe to say that there is gonna be another Dyne added to the museum collection in the near future.
BTW, Trailer turned out AWESOME! What a difference from when you bought it. I like the white, and the Hydrodyne decal on the side.
I think the tripod hooks were a Bartlett/Mercury Marine thing. Aquanuts had them in their boats including their 20 footers up to about 1989 or so. Our club bought one of the Nuts old boats and it had the hook in it which I still have. It is kind of cool but does get in the way as Jim said if you are using the boat as a family boat.
The old club boat that I mentioned I used to own was an '87 20 footer that was an old Aquanut boat. It was their old blue one with the twin 175 V-6's on it. It had the hook style pylon in it , and even though it had no back seat and the only thing we used it for was skiing, the pylon really didn't get in the way much.
Hey Bob, the one we have is an 85 and used to be blue but is now white. Still going strong - we have put 900 hours on that hull since 2002 when it was refurbished. It is the first boat in in the spring and last boat out in the fall. It has had from a 150 carb VMax Yamaha on it to 225HO Evinrude. Will probably have a 250HO or a 300 E-Tec on it in 2009. :good:
