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Hello again...it's been a while.
Late last year I purchased a B&G Zeus 2 MFD and a Simrad 3G radar kit. I have successfully installed the MFD, along with wind, water, VHF and Triton displays. Now it's time to get the radar on board. I have decided to go for a stern mounted pole and have seen several ready-made kits (ScanStrut, for example) which look very nice, but wow...not cheap. I wonder if any of you in this august group have fabricated such a pole mount from scratch. The commercial poles are aluminum about 8 ft tall with a deck mount and two lateral supports. This does not seem beyond the wit of a metal fabricator to put together. Anyone done this?
Thanks in advance
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Should be dead simple. Make sure you get the guy thats going to fabricate to come look at where you want it installed. Talk about what it is fore. He can bend and weld the aluminum so that you just have 3 plates attached that you can bolt through the hull and or the toerail and make sure the boom clears it and the radar when mounted. Also discuss with him openings in the central pole that you can run your cables through up to the mount on top of if that the radar will mount to. Also give him or show him the mount the radar unit bolts into so he can make a matching mount on the top of the pole that it will bolt into. Also make sure it is oriented the way you need it to be before he fabricates it. Based on our hard dodger and the guy that did that, it should probably cost you material and maybe 4 hours of labor? I would think that would come to between 500 and 700 dollars total. Other thing you can do is make your own out of stainless tubing and standard mounting pad's and fittings to go on each leg etc.. Normal size they use for railings would work except I would want something a bit bigger in diameter for the upright pole. You could just cut and drill and mount fittings for the whole thing or grab an 80 dollars harbour freight inverter welder with some stainless welding rods and and weld it yourself. Assuming you have a minimum of welding experience. You could probably watch a few youtube videos on basic welding and then spend a hour or two practicing on some scrap and still do it if you don't have any experience. It's not that hard to weld steel. Aluminum is in a different ballpark and you will need someone that knows what they are doing. Even with the steel it will look much better if the welder is experienced. With a little practice you can do a strong weld, with a lot of experience you can make it look pretty 🙂
Mine are only about halfway to pretty so far.
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Thanks for those good tips, Scott. I went through a similar thought process as to how to fabricate one, but then someone told me about Garhauer and bought this one: https://www.garhauerstore.com/transom-hardware-accessories/radar-towers-accessories/radar-tower-rt-8-2-5.html
With the base plate and stand off strut the total was abut $800. I am now working out exactly where to place it. When its all in I'll post some pictures.
Have postponed work on the windlass project and will concentrate on getting all the instruments, including the radar, installed. The windlass is driving me nuts trying to fit one on top or beside the bowsprit, line up with the bow roller and drop down into the chain locker. Nothing seems to work without a substantial platform on top of the bow sprit and extending to s'bord over the chain pipe. Again, a good fabricator can do it but what is the best material? SS, Al, Wood, Starboard? I might just get a light anchor for a lunch hook which is about all I plan to do for the immediate future.
Thanks again for your help.
Take care...
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For the windlass... I like stainless.. It's strong and maintenance free for just about forever. Wood is a annual to biannual maintenance item. Starboard? maybe.. Stainless is stronger.
If you go wood it is easy to do yourself.. I just Know though that anything to do with anchoring I want as strong and strongly mounted as possible.
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