Never mind the reduction in gas mileage.” That puts a lot of stress on the fittings, and eventually they will be making some avoidable repairs. I once got behind someone trailering their pontoon with the top up and the stress was wrenching the Bimini frame back and forth. “We put our Bimini down when travelling on the highway. Lay the tops down and you greatly reduce the risk of increase wear and damage.” Over time they may develop cracks and break. “Don’t travel with the Bimini up because it stresses the aluminum fittings. Just take the extra few seconds and lower it.” “I had to replace my Bimini frame about 3 months after I bought my boat because of something stupid I did with it in the up position, so I’m not taking any chances with mine.
Why subject your equipment to any more unnecessary wear and tear than necessary and that includes when towing.” “Do you hear any squeaks and rattles coming from your Bimini frame while on the water? If yes, just bear in mind that’s movement and movement equals wear and tear. You may pull many miles with it up, but to those, I’d say that you are taking unnecessary chances.” “It’s all about common sense, and I know there’s not much of that left in today’s society, but if you pull up to the neighborhood gas station or boat launch, then no big deal if the Bimini is down. Those joints are after all a steel screw through a piece of aluminum.” “The more you do transport with Biminis up then the more it wears on the joints of the tops frame. I’ve now made a PVC pipe frame to hold it laid back.” “Mine is always set to the down position after my wife clipped a tree limb, wrecking the frame where I had to replace it. “I always leave mine up and after 13 years of trailering and towing in the up position it hasn’t hurt it yet and I’ve never had any damage.” If you aren’t getting on the freeway then it won’t hurt anything I think.” It really depends on how far you are traveling. “I typically put my Bimini down when towing but my brother in law doesn’t. Here’s a selection of what other boat owners are saying on social media about the Bimini up or down when towing debate:
However, as I mentioned, other people including pontoon boat owners do it differently, some agree with me, some don’t. Do it down like it’s supposed to be for towing which is in the down position. If it’s left up, then you could get height clearance problems, and possibly place unnecessary stress on the frame. If your Bimini has the short legs for towing in the down position, then that’s how you should do it. My pontoon does not travel at speeds over 40 miles per hour so why would I want to expose my Bimini frame to the stress of a 65 mile per hour tow?īased on that, I believe that the wind resistance when driving and towing could greatly shorten the life of the Bimini frames, although I have no scientific evidence for this. I drive faster on the road than my pontoon boat travels on the water. Wind Could Create Stress on the Bimini Frame
#Runabout bimini top Patch#
Now thankfully it only put a small hole in the outside cover and didn’t tear the top itself, but I still had to do a quick patch up and repair. Then one day we got home and there was a half inch tree branch sticking out of the cover. Image credit unknown – found via Pinterest. When I first bought my pontoon boat I used to leave by Bimini up with the cover on it when driving. Let’s get into those points in a little more detail, and firstly talk about obstacles.
But at what point should it be up or down? Your boat’s Bimini top is 100% essential, particular on those hot summer days when out on the lake or water.
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