New Rack Recommendation

[srock]

It's time to replace my original 2009 spinner board racks with something new. Also, the mount, so I am not pulling the pin to rotate. I am looking for an option that will not break the bank. What would you all suggest?

[Miljack]

That's going to be a tough one ($$$), I've looked at this a bunch, first ? is which tower? If you have the "S Bend" Roswell tower, you have the square mounts already there, Roswell has a couple bolt on options, and PTM racks will also bolt up. Both will be pricey...
If you have a Titan SS tower, or the aluminum tower, it's gets tougher. PTM sells clamps that will "articulate" to allow their swivels to be relatively level for swinging.

[srock]

Yes I have the "S" FCT3 tower. It is hard to understand the cost of replacements.

For now, I may add mag swivels and get rid of the pins.

[Miljack]

If you can look at the PTM swivels, that could be a good option for you. Going to PTM does lock you into their racks. IMHO, the Roswell swivels are too small, and will not hold up very well. I've seen this on Moombas and others that use those smaller rotating racks.

[srock]

PTM's look great but whoa the prices.

[bturner]

20% off PTM right now and maybe a bit more in a couple weeks for Black Friday. If you look at the size, materials and all the machining that is done to make these let alone the engineering that went into them, they're priced where I would expect them to be. The MC racks were staggering in price back in the day as well but were lightyears above anything offered in the industry when they first came out. It took years for all the other players in the market to catch up. I remember my friends with other brands being in awe when the first saw them. They also worked flawlessly for the 9 seasons I owned that boat.

The issue for most those looking to do a refit on a 15 - 20 YO boat is the cost in many cases is going to be a significant percentage of what the boat is worth. Worse, while they may help you sell the boat later, you'll never recoup the investment at resale so these better be an investment/upgrade that you plan to live with for a long time or something you're willing to purchase for your own enjoyment regardless of the cost/duration.

Even with the 20% discount these are going to set you back ~$5K. Cheap, if you consider what buying a new(er) boat would cost you. Expensive if you can live with what you have.

As to cobbling something together.... The issue I've run into with cobbling something together is that most times that's exactly what you end up with.... something that mostly works that's been cobbled together. Or worse, something that ends up being like the old saying goes, throwing good money after bad. Unfortunately, I've been a self inflicted victim of both situations. I think you really need to figure out where your end cost is going to be if you rube something together. It would appear you can "self engineer" something that uses bungies and minimal technology for around $1500 with the next step being a rather large one to the $3K - $4K range for the clamping version. If you can be happy with the lower end option that certainly would be the logical way to go.

Either way, I'd wait a couple weeks and see what Black Friday brings.....
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[Miljack]

srock, I agree with bturner on his points, search under my user name and you may find some of the "self engineered" clamping setups I've cobbled up (yes even using some machining equipment, it's very hard to mix & match).
At one point I had some early Roswell swivels mounted on machined aluminum adapter plates to mount Mastercraft clamping fingers. They worked really well, but were not the most durable swivel setup with all that weight hanging off the end of their custom machined tower clamps.
My current setup is using the Titan swivels with PTM clamping fingers, these work great for everything from wakeboards and surfboards (under 2" thick), and I am able to carry foils upside down quite well.
IMHO, the PTM racks are very nice, I'd be concerned about a really light custom foam core surf board getting dents, but, I have not had that experience yet (I do have a custom foam core surf board, but, it's epoxy resin and seems to be pretty tough).

[Miljack]

First pic from the transom is not my boat, but shows the PTM tower clamps and racks. Their clamps a very "trick" in the angle on the mount area can be adjusted...2nd pic is my setup on the Titan tower clamps. If I can figure out a way to get the Titan swivels to release from the bottom that would make them easier to use.