Surf setup 2015 242LS

[swatski]

Now just need to make those shiny!
That horse stall mat is about 100lbs if not more.

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[KXCam22]

Swatski,
Do you have water to try it in or are your lakes frozen. Was planning something similar with plywood but the horse mat is waaaay better. Cam.

 

[swatski]

Swatski,
Do you have water to try it in or are your lakes frozen. Was planning something similar with plywood but the horse mat is waaaay better. Cam.

I agree about the mat. Yes, our weather is crazy warm, hitting 70s this weekend. I'm pursuing this as fast as I can, which is unfortunately part time, after work and kids. But I have all the parts, more or less, and will start the manufacturing tomorrow - just need to find a drill press.
@rocknracing was very kind to let me use his, but I may find something a little closer.

I'm still thinking of using a longer/taller flap. I will certainly keep you posted.

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[swatski]

I don't know about you guys, but my progress has been relatively slow.

I decided to make mine in stainless. I love stainless, but... NOT drilling in it, what a PITA. Most of it is due to my impatience, it's very easy to overheat and glass/harden the material. Some of it I can't help due to welds. Real PIA. If I was fabricating it again, I might stick with aluminum. Oh well, it will look good! and I figured that surf flap is a "must have" for water sports anyway, even for tubing. Really, surfing aside. So it's worth the pain (and I just needed to add about $150 to the cost -- in drill bits alone , LOL).

I'm basically done with the flap part, minus some cosmetics, but got totally bogged down with the braces. I kept the basic design by @COtoFLsurf, but had to make some modifications due to SS. I also made the flap longer, at least for now, at 20". Depending on test results, I may or may not add some weight at the bottom, and/or some lateral support. Part of the reason I wanted to have the SS frame.

Slow progress. One thing is, jigsaw (or even sawzall) do not seem to work on those 3/4" horse stall mats. I ended up using some kind of cheese knife.





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[Mainah]

Soapy water and a razor blade is the tried and true method for cutting horse stall mat. Slow speed on the drill press with suffcient machine oil helps drilling in SS.

Can't wait to see more experimenting with the wake flap.

 

[Bill D]

@swatski carbide drill bits will help with the stainless. Looking forward to seeing your build.

 

[swatski]

Saved my @ss! Wish I found those earlier.
Drill press is helpful but only to an extent. I needed some 3/8+ holes.


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[swatski]

All came together pretty good last night, never mind the burrs I need to clean and polish up. Can't see it in the picture, but the flap clears my tabs actuators with some 1/2" of room to spare. I used large furniture coasters, unglued, at least for now. This thing seems pretty strong, you could probably do pull-ups on it, LOL.


Unfortunately my work is getting between me and the flap testing... Will need to wait till next weekend.

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[swatski]

The fit w/tabs' actuators is perfect (those bolts will be trimmed of course), I knew it was going to be tight.
I so hope this mod works, it will be kick a$$!


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[RiverRat]

I like where this is going... that said, anyone think this would be beneficial for a surf wake behind a single pump?

 

[CrankyGypsy]

 

[Minh Nguyen]

Love this forum!!! Looks good @swatski !!! This will soon be on my mod list. With the flap on can you still go normal speed @COtoFLsurf ?

 

[swatski]

View attachment 51563

Too funny!!!

 

[swatski]

I like where this is going... that said, anyone think this would be beneficial for a surf wake behind a single pump?

Yes I think so. I just got back from the river. I'll try to post some VERY early results. Before I get that call from a divorce lawyer.

Boy, does this thing pull - holy mackerel - I thought that flap was going to stop the boat... a disaster! Which is actually awesome - so much influence, its overwhelming. Don't get me wrong, it is bad - real bad - and needs to be modified and harnessed, bad. But that is so much better than the opposite - too little or no effect. (Definitely not the case, LOL)

Wow, does @COtoFLsurf know what he is doing! Mine is WAY too big.

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[swatski]

Okay, so I took the boat out to do some good old fashioned flap testing. Very limited as I only had about 30min of daylight left, but here it is.

Keep in mind there was NO BALLAST and only one person in the boat. So, this has no relation to actual wake surfing setup, but there is still a lot of information there, I think.

In all the pics below -- left is NO flap, right is WITH the flap. You can actually see the flap's trailing edge in some pics.

First, high speed - approx. 20mph (what is high wakeboarding speed):


SAA (20mph, left - NO flap, right - WITH the flap)


What is not clear from the pictures is the flap makes the "rooster tail" higher... And the trailing edge of the flap at 20mph just flaps/oscillates like mad, seems unstable -- like it starts shaking the transom. The forces are so strong, not sure aluminum would withstand that - I certainly would not be comfortable to try. Mine is an overkill stainless, but the whole thing is shaking pretty violently at those slightly higher speeds.

Now, the low speed (approx. 9-10mph):
Left - NO flap, right - WITH


SAA


Again, hard to tell from the pics, but this big flap makes the wake "explode" and run higher.
It's weird. Clearly, my 20" long (tall) flap is way too much. Unless the angle is changed, but even then I think that thing is too huge and just gets unwieldy.

Today, I started without the flap. When I mounted it, the boat just bucked -- it was MUCH harder to get up to any speed, the flap dragging like crazy. At about 20mph it became unbearable.

BTW - The flap is not easy to mount (in the freezing water, LOL). I suppose it would be relatively trivial to mount it from the water, but right now it is almost impossible. I will have to figure something out next time I go out.

The flap clearly has huge potential. I think I may just trim it back to 14", like @COtoFLsurf, but am tempted to test a 16' and then 14". If the 16" was substantially better than 14", I would consider redoing the flap (in 16").

IDK. Any suggestions? @Mainah how do you cut this thing, again? It was a major PITA the first time.

I'm also wondering if the angle of the flap mount might need to be flattened out a bit. That horse stall mat in 3/4" is a lot more rigid than I anticipated. That would require a total rebuild of brace assembly though (so, I'm not to crazy about it).

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[Mainah]

@swatski - Great write up. I am very thankful someone tried the longer length. Soapy water and a razor blade is a long standing method to cut horse stall mat. You could also try to find or make a knife edge reciprocating blade. Never tried that on this mat but it could work. Again try with soapy water on the mat as this provides lubrication to the side of the blade where the mat is trying to act like brake pads on a bike.

Looking foward to seeing more results. Hope you are not putting yourself in the dog house with the family with all of the time these mods and write ups take.

 

[buckbuck]

Keep it up @swatski we will re-assure your wife that you are contributing to the betterment of society (jetboaters society). Perhaps this will cause you to find some graces in the home.

 

[buckbuck]

My mind keeps coming back to this mod and how to refine it.

For me, It would have to be easy to stow as I would have to attach it when ready to surf and stow at other times. So I am thinking that the clean out hatch would be the most convenient place. This constraint would limit the size. Any other ideas?

Also, as @swatski alluded to, it would have to be easy to mount. I usually have everyone step to the front of the boat to lift the stern in order to attach the Wake Wedge. I would not want it any more difficult than that.

Due to the weight and possibility of it sinking while attaching this mod, I would want a safety strap to first attach. This way if it got away from me, I would have a way to recover it.

 

[swatski]

@swatski - Great write up. I am very thankful someone tried the longer length. Soapy water and a razor blade is a long standing method to cut horse stall mat. You could also try to find or make a knife edge reciprocating blade. Never tried that on this mat but it could work. Again try with soapy water on the mat as this provides lubrication to the side of the blade where the mat is trying to act like brake pads on a bike.

Looking foward to seeing more results. Hope you are not putting yourself in the dog house with the family with all of the time these mods and write ups take.

Thanks, when I go into Round 2 of mat cutting I need to be better equipped (with knowledge). The length needs adjustments for sure, so if I can cut it more easily I could test both 16" and 14" and if necessary go back to whatever works best -- I still have a two-thirds of the mat leftover. More importantly though, I'm considering the angle could be critical, I did not appreciate little flex there would be. IDK, any thoughts on that.


Re: my wife -- she has pretty much given up on me at this point, and just shakes her head most of the time. Sad.
IDK why, when I see a boat my brain just goes into an overdrive trying to figure out how everything work... I've always boated and had project boats, so when we bought a new one last year I guess she thought she was being oh-so-smart-I-would-be-done (poor thing). LOL.

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[swatski]

My mind keeps coming back to this mod and how to refine it.

For me, It would have to be easy to stow as I would have to attach it when ready to surf and stow at other times. So I am thinking that the clean out hatch would be the most convenient place. This constraint would limit the size. Any other ideas?

Also, as @swatski alluded to, it would have to be easy to mount. I usually have everyone step to the front of the boat to lift the stern in order to attach the Wake Wedge. I would not want it any more difficult than that.

Due to the weight and possibility of it sinking while attaching this mod, I would want a safety strap to first attach. This way if it got away from me, I would have a way to recover it.

Good points, @buckbuck. That thing is decidedly in the beastly category right now, it is very heavy. Wielding this thing (alone) under the swim deck is NOT fun. Granted, I plan to shave off a third of its size, but this is never going to be a devise you can store in the cleanout hatch. It does fit in the ski locker in my boat which is, in part, how I determined the longest size I wanted to deal with. And yes, safety straps are a must. I came so-so close to loosing it already in the frigid water.

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