Osprey T-Top frame breaking?

[81walkaround]

It is not so much the front to back movement as it is the left to right twisting of the top that you want to brace.Stand on the gunnel at the stern and move the top left to right and you will see what I mean.

i understand completely.

i just didnt want to obstruct the windshield (or put something behind the heads of the people sitting on the console seat), and, there are so many benefits to adding the rear vertical braces.

i'm thinking:

1) it would box in the whole frame and prevent *ANY* twisting of the t-top whatsoever
2) it would also add support in the rear for flexing aft-to-stern (and putting so much pressure on the console/floor).  for example, like doing a pullup from the rear of the ttop.  when the outriggers are extended fully, and we're running at sea, that puts alot of strain on the top/frame/floor
3) i would gain places for the crew to hold on to when running from spot to spot (its an issue right now).  This would allow them to stand behind me and to each side, as opposed to right now, they like to stand right next to me and grab the t-top frame.  i hate it because i like peeking out from behind the windshield when i'm driving and i feel closed in by the guy standing just to my left
4) i would gain some rod holders on the horizontal brace of the rear support "H".  i wanted the rod holders in the rear a little more out of the way than on the leaning post frame.  i think it's kinda low there, people are always bending down there to get stuff out of the cooler and when we're at sea, i worry about people banging into them too..  just my "concerns"


as you can see.. we fish alot.. and use the boat alot.. we've put some thought into this.. maybe too much.. lol.    

[pete]

Sounds like a good plan,nows the time to get it the way you want,good luck!keep us posted

[81walkaround]

will do.  i'm dropping her off on Thursday morning.  Hopefully she'll be done Friday and wet-and-wild on Sunday.

we'll also be painting the fiberglass hardtop.. i wouldnt have thought of that if i hadnt seen your pics.

 

trying to find where i can buy the gold weld-on rod holders so i can add 3 to the horizontal cross brace in the rear we'll be adding..

[81walkaround]

She's prepped for the O.R.

Surgeon is standing by.

[81walkaround]

gonna have a talk with my buddy tomorrow morning to figure out what to do.

i'm torn on whether or not to weld the t-top frame to the leaning post.

50% of me wants to
50% of me is having doubts


 

[pete]

tough call,gotta do what works for you.would be different though.I like the look of a traditional t top myself.
looks like you got that top de rigged in a hurry!
great progress so far!

[81walkaround]

i'm staring at a THT thread of contenders for pages and pages... i think your t-top guy hit the mark with that cross brace.  

that seems to be the way contender does it too.  

i'm gonna sleep on it, then talk it over with my buddy tomorrow morning and see where the chips fall.  

i ran all the wiring on that t-top except for the spreaders myself... i did the radar install, xm install, outrigger install, all the electronics (garmin 3210, gsd22, gsm10, gdl30a), fusion head unit, icom vhf,  etc..

i'm wayyyy too intimate with this boat already!  lol.

[pete]

heres a link to the shop that did my work...

http://www.sunshinewelding.com/index.html
definately a pro,he builds the tops for boston whaler.Knew his stuff,basicly told me to drop it off and he would take care of it.

[81walkaround]

ok, so, just dropped her off and did some more research/thinking last night...

also, i noticed our ttop frames are actually different.  

besides repairing the broken welds, the only other thing i'm doing is adding one additional horizontal support just under the windshield, bracketed to the console.  that, in addition to the repairs should fix the torsion/flex issues i'm currently having.

pete, one more question.. when you noticed your cracks, was the base on your ttop loose at all?  one thing i did notice was that my front legs were not as tight as they could have been.  i think because of this, it allowed the ttop to move around a little more than it should have, and helped contribute to the cracking.

[pete]

nope,mine was tight at the deck.I like the brace/bracket under the windsheild bolted to the console,why not put and extra bar horizontal on each sde as well

[81walkaround]

nope,mine was tight at the deck.I like the brace/bracket under the windsheild bolted to the console,why not put and extra bar horizontal on each sde as well

i believe my top has those already?

[81walkaround]

some progress..

all welds/broken pipes repaired..

now, just need to add the horizontal cross-brace under the windshield, attached via an L-bracket to the console..

[wingtime]

Don't make that thing too stiff.  They have to be able to flex and move some!

[81walkaround]

Don't make that thing too stiff.  They have to be able to flex and move some!

i'm just adding one horizontal brace under the windshield to try and stop the side-to-side movement.

all the other welds were just repairs to existing framework.

[pete]

from this side view you can see the extra side brace put on its the middle one or second from the bottom,the welder told me it was to help stiffen top and prevent the twist.