Monday, March 11, 2013

20' Show Ski Triple for the Waterboard Warriors

It has been suggested to me to put more information on this blog about the Dyna-Ski boats we build for show ski teams even though many folks interested in Dyna-Ski Boats are not likely to purchase one of these specialty water ski boats.  We do learn things from the folks buying and using these powerful tow boats.  Similar construction techniques and materials are used in all the Dyna-Ski Boats we build. The 20' Models are all built from the same hull mold.



The show ski tow boats are intended to safely pull lots of water skiers all at the same time. Show ski clubs have many acts in their shows so the boats are called on to pull everything from one skier to pyramids with many skiers.  There are show ski clubs all over the world although the vast majority of them are in the US and Midwest area. If you have never seen a ski show you owe it to yourself to take one in if you can.  The most well known is the Tommy Bartlett professional ski show in Wisconsin Dells on Lake Delton.  The water ski show clubs are much bigger shows often times with many more skiers than the Bartlett show though.

http://www.tommybartlett.com/



The Waterboard Warriors triple motored Dyna-Ski 20' Closed Bow we just finished up is a very slick powerful tow boat.  It has three 250 HO Evinrude E-Tec Engines. The Dyna-Ski boat has Evinrude I-Con engine monitoring and control system which uses a single data cable instead of six mechanical cables and associated wiring to control all three engines. The I-Con System is pricey but provides awesome control of the motors. We almost always put a GPS Speedometer on Dyna-Ski boats and this system has it also. There are only 2 controls for the three motors making the boat very easy to drive. 

http://www.evinrude.com/en/ICON


Teleflex Hydaulic steering is used on most models of Dyna-Ski Boats.  This tow boat has an optional power assist unit to make the three motors as easy to steer as your vehicle even with over 800 horsepower and massive torque.  The electric pump is located out of sight in the back of the motor well with a switch on the dash to turn it off and on. The pylon mounting brackets have two positions to fine tune the height of the pylon.



There are two steering cylinders and two tie bars used in this steering system.  A twin motored Dyna-Ski boat normally has one cylinder and one tie bar.  Recreational single motored Dyna-Ski Boats usually have one cylinder. This system uses a pair off Tees and short hoses connecting to the cylinders on the outside engines. The tie bars have to be shortened for this application as the motors are very close together.



The Evinrude motor on the left side has a counter rotation lower unit to help even out the push of the motors and reduce steering effort.  Even with the power assist steering this helps balance the pull and ride of the Dyna-Ski Boat. Notice that the props blades look different as the counter rotation motor needs this to make it work properly.


 The two towing eyes located between the motors are used for pulling bigger acts as the lower pulling points help keep the nose of the boat down and the boat pulls more skiers.


Ski clubs have various methods of hooking ropes to these two towing eyes.



During construction the Ski Team decided they wanted tilt steering so the non-tilt 2.4 helm was changed to a tilt unit. Luckily this was decided before fluid was installed in the system.

There are switches to the right of the steering wheel for turning the system on, starting the individual motors, enabling the engines, tilting individual motors, turning on/off the steering unit, two bilge pumps, lights, etc.

The area under the motor well is pretty full with three batteries and three oil tanks. 


The gas tank is located in the front of the Dyna-Ski Boat under the deck of the bow. There are 420 lbs of sand bags in front of and next to the 43 gallon gas tank. The sand bags help to balance the boat on the water and help provide tongue weight for trailering.  Three pickups and three fuel lines are used for fuel.


The show ski boats have recessed cleats just like all the recreational Dyna-Ski models do. The rope guards are mounted on the outside of the boats to help prevent any of the many ropes from catching.

 The Dyna-Ski show ski tow boats have removable bow and stern lights.


Tuesday, March 5, 2013

New Trend?

We've started experiencing an interesting twist in the boat selling market.  Dyna-Ski buyers are keeping their old motors and putting them on new Dyna-Ski Boats.  Ski Teams started doing this several years ago and now it seems to have caught on with recreational skiers as well.  It can greatly reduce the expense of getting a new boat since the engine is already owned and most likely paid for.  Some buyers even keep their older trailers.

In most cases the old boat is tired or needs some major repairs but the motor is still strong.  Many of the buyers have replaced their older motor in the recent past and some have rebuilt their older motors. The end desire is the same as they want to keep the motor and get a new Dyna-Ski Boat. 

Sometimes customers have the motor swap done by their local dealer and sometimes we do the swapping.   One time the new boat gets all new controls and gauges with the older engine and then again sometimes they keep all the original rigging.  Each boat is different it seems.  We always suggest new throttle and shift cables.

Most the new Dyna-Ski Boat owners want new hydraulic steering as many older boats did not have it.  So the new Dyna-Ski is easier to drive and safer with nothing to wear out or need replacing with the steering system.

Another benefit is if down the road their motor needs replacement they have a newer boat to put it on.  So once again the expense is spread out over many years. Most of the time only minimal updating of the controls and rigging should be needed unless you change the brand of outboard motor of course.

I have never heard of an inboard boat owner keeping the motor and getting a new boat but I could be wrong perhaps?

I got this off the Evinrude Website and thought it was interesting.

Your Outboard Motor & most others HAVE TO BE amazingly tough engines.

FOR EXAMPLE:-
A car driving down the road at 60mph, puts fairly little stress on its engine. But in order to MATCH the kind of STRESS that a marine engine undergoes while travelling the same speed ...
THAT CAR WOULD HAVE TO BE DRIVING UP A 30 DEGREE INCLINE AT 80MPH WHILE PULLING A BOAT!

 I wonder how the hours on an inboard water ski boat motor compare to the hours or miles of use in a car or truck?  I'd guess the hours are harder since the motor RPM's is higher skiing than going down the road.

Friday, March 1, 2013

World Record Pyramid behind a Dyna-Ski

I realize that most of the readers of this blog will never pull more than a few water skiers at the same time behind their Dyna-Ski.  Never the less I have to tell you that Dyna-Ski is proud of all the people that came together to set a new world record awhile ago.  There are 54 skiers and numerous people behind the scenes that it took to make this happen. No doubt someone will try and reset the record in the next year or two as show skiers like challenges of this type.

What this means to Dyna-Ski Owners is you should find comfort knowing that the same care, materials and boat building techniques are used to assemble each and every Dyna-Ski Boat that we build for customers.

Way to go show skiers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbGhKCpJNzs&feature=relmfu



54 Person Pyramid Team

Stock Dyna-Ski 20' Closed  Bow with three 300 hp Evinrude E-Tech Engines
 One of two triple motored Dyna-Ski Boats used by the Badgerland Water Ski Team