2012 230 and 2013 G23 - Tower Folded Down, How Much Clearance Needed?

[bradw]

How much does the Z5 bimini effect the height required to store a G23?

I've got a pretty tight storage location (2680mm 8 foot 9? inches) and I think i perfer the Z5 over the factory bimini.

[GCSuper]

The Z-5 affets it a lot. It will most likely have to be removed along with the forward brackets. When my boat ( 2011 210 ) is on the lift, we have to partially drop the tower for the boat to lift all the way up. The back connectors on the Z-5 have to be removed for the tower to lay down. For winter storage to fit in my 8' door, the tower has to go all the way down and to do this, the bimini forward mounts have to come off.

[bradw]

Well that solves that one i think!

What has to be done with the new factory bimini to get the tower right down? (sorry for all the questions)

[Andrew14]

GCSuper is correct. In order to get my tower down low enough (it has two lowering settings...."bridge setting" and "garage setting"), I had to take off the Z-5 (and forward brackets) which is not difficult once you know what you are doing (the Z-5 is heavy though and awkward for one person.....it took me some time to figure out how to get it out of the boat without messing it up by myself). Since my boat stays in the garage all the time, my plan is to ride without the Z-5 if its going to be a one and done outing on the weekend (maybe a few quick sets on a Sat/Sun morning). If I'm going to use it the whole weekend, I'll pull it out of the garage Friday night (put on the Z-5) and then leave it out until Sunday night until it goes back in. Board racks also have to be removed (they still up with tower folded), but that's easy....almost held in with "quick disconnects". Lots of work just to store your boat indoors some might say, but worth the peace of mind to me

[reeder]

Andrew, that trailer dolly in your pics above, how well does it work putting your 230 in your garage? is that a multi person push?

[Andrew14]

Reeder - it actually will not work for putting the 230 into the garage, only taking it out of the garage because my garage floor and driveway has a slight decline tilting away from the garage. I really can only use the dolly to pull the boat out of the garage and maneuver it around inside the garage while the rear axle is on Go Jacks (enables you to swing the trailer around with the boat on it in tight quarters). I use my Tundra to back it into the garage and the dolly to take it out, then line it up for hook-up to the frame hitch. Also, if you are going to get a Trailer Dolly, make sure you get a solid/heavy duty one from a reputable place (I got mine from Northern Tool Supply). These Wake Boats have a ton of tongue weight, so you need something really substantial - I underestimated how heavy my 210 and 230 would be when I first started moving them around. I'm religious about using wheel chaulks with every movement too (I live on top of a big hill and have nightmares of a runaway SMURF-Tique going through my neighbor's living room window....I also usually park the truck at the top of the driveway so worse case if it gets away from me it just plows my truck...hahaha). In retrospect, I wish I had gotten the power-dolly....which I might still get.

[reeder]

Thanks Andew14!! the go jacks, good idea!

[Andrew14]

No problem Reeder - yeah, the Go Jacks have been money.....they have enabled me to pull off parking jobs like this (see below). After a while, it just became a game to see how much of my stuff could I get into my three car garage that's only 20 feet deep. I was able to get the 210 in (swim deck still on, trailer tongue not even folded), my double cab Tundra in and my A4 I liked Tetris as kid...haha