great lakes boat top. Not impressed.

[AFD]

I ordered a complete set of canvas including all the supports for our boat over the winter. I stored everything according to the Instructions from glbt. I started installing everything the other day and let's just say...not impressed.

It is easier to install in direct sun light as it seems to soften the canvas and the glass as it isn't really super warm yet.

The glass panels took tons of adjusting to fit right and are DRUM tight. This is great unless the panels shrink in the sun, I am having.g a hell of a time installing and can't believe I will be able to make the panels fit at all next season or even later this season.

The stitching... One of the zippers is ripping already on the center glass section. This is the area that isn't even in A lot of tension. I was pulling the zipper and it was going real smooth and easy and it just ripped the stitching, I couldn't believe it.

The aft curtain or "fastback" went on and I was going to be using string to hold the corners in place. As there are webbing grab handles in the corners. I used a small 1/4" rope to hold one corner to a cleat and when I was just holding the other corner to line things up, the webbing just ripped right out of the stitching. I have sent even ready to start pulling as I was still lining tho.vs up and it ripped the stitching. I was thinking how convenient it was to have these heavy duty handles right in the cornersand it pulled straight through without pulling.

I haven't even started with the snaps yet or the camper top so I won't be calling glbt until I know the extensiveness of the problems but needless to say I am not a happy customer right now.

 

[Banagy]

I had no problems when I ordered my canvas from GL.

 

[Old Vet]

Bummer. Sounds like they just did a single row of stitching on everything....and if those stitches are letting go already it's only going to get worse once it's all out in the weather for a while and the rain and UV gets at that thread.

My wife double stitches everything when she sews stuff up.....especially the zippers which can get alot of stress on them after things shrink and tighten up.

Hope they take care of you in some way. Good luck.

 

[LTD.330]

I had a similar experience when I attempted to install my new canvas from GLBT in the spring of 2011. It was too cold out and I couldn't get the canvas to stretch, particularly the plastic visor. When it warmed up on a sunny day I was able to get everything together and it fits tighter than a drum. Probably too tight, the Admiral doesn't have the hand strength to put the pieces in by herself.

 

[AFD]

Well there will be days when I boat that are colder than today so the canvas should hold up to what I consider "normal" weather in the 50's is.t what I would consider cold or abnormal.

Good news is that the camper, fast back and all the snap installation went very well, a little tug here some pull here and everything looks nice. Apparently there is not a door in the camper shell though. If it is up I will have to take the rear panel half off or crawl under it to get it...that doesn't make any sense as there is a door in the fast back curtain.

 

[Carver370]

Are your poles adjusted correctly? All of the stainless support poles are adjustable in some fashion and generally are not the same from boat to boat, especially on a used boat that someone may have messed with along the line.

 

[dpmulvey]

Just curious..... Have you consulted with GL to allow them the opportunity to correct a perceived problem prior to this discussion?

 

[AMFM3]

Well there will be days when I boat that are colder than today so the canvas should hold up to what I consider "normal" weather in the 50's is.t what I would consider cold or abnormal.

Good news is that the camper, fast back and all the snap installation went very well, a little tug here some pull here and everything looks nice. Apparently there is not a door in the camper shell though. If it is up I will have to take the rear panel half off or crawl under it to get it...that doesn't make any sense as there is a door in the fast back curtain.

none of the slope back canvas pieces have a "door". That's one of the things I disliked about the original canvas on our 370. When it came time to replace, I had our local guy custom design and install. It's good stuff. A little more than Great Lakes, but we feel worth the investment.

Mark

 

[jcoll]

I have a '98 290 and I've purchased several pieces from Great Lakes. Never had an issue myself but I will say the weather was warm when I installed everything. I got all 3 top pieces and the support pole for the aft bimini.

On a side note, I thought '98 was the first year of the forward arch. I see in your listing yours is a '97. I swear I've seen '97's with the older lines and the rear sweeping arch. For what it's worth my beam is also 10'2".

Good luck, take your time and the folks at Great Lakes were easy to work with.

 

[AMFM3]

I have a '98 290 and I've purchased several pieces from Great Lakes. Never had an issue myself but I will say the weather was warm when I installed everything. I got all 3 top pieces and the support pole for the aft bimini.

On a side note, I thought '98 was the first year of the forward arch. I see in your listing yours is a '97. I swear I've seen '97's with the older lines and the rear sweeping arch. For what it's worth my beam is also 10'2".

Good luck, take your time and the folks at Great Lakes were easy to work with.

i have a 97 370 and my arch is forward sweeping.

Mark

 

[MonacoMike]

IMHO it was way to cold to install canvas. It needs to be warm to to get the canvas to fit well.

MM

 

[ziekman@cox.net]

I installed mine in 80 degree sunny weather, with no issues. Hung the visor with the top zippers, let it bake until after lunch. Did everything else in the AM. Went through a lot of snaps, until I got the hang of it. Definitely, call them. I'd think they'd rush replacements to you, based on what your experience has been.

 

[AFD]

Jcoll,
You are mostly correct and even the dealer was confused when I said '97.
Essentially it is a 97.5 but sea Ray didn't make half year models so they changed the model to 290SDA and the rear arch Version is a 290DA. They should have just called it a 1998 and sold it early.

Amfm3
Actually my slant back has a door but the camper back does not...figure that out.

Dpmulvey,
I have not yet. As I said in an earlier post I was waiting to have everything installed before contacting them as I wanted to know everything that was "off" or an issue prior to contacting them. I tried to get good photos yesterday but the sun was too bright and I had other things going on that needed to be done last night.
Now that everything is squared away and I had no other pro lens, I will contact them tomorrow.

Carvers370,
I am sure they are adjusted correctly. I'm sure some are tricky but with great lakes they were very simple. All of the mounts were in place and the only Instructions were for the measurements of those mounts and I double checked all of them prior to installing anything.
The biggest problem was with the glass panels. They only line up one way with the grove in the windshield framework so I know they are adjusted the only way they can. My problem was that although they are tight , I thought they should be, the zippers are skidding easy and smooth but the stitches are just ripping and pulling apart. It has happened in 3 places on 2 panels.

Btw, where my boat is, is direct sun almost the entire day, it is protected by wind by my house and my neighbor's house and the sun beats against my southern exposure facing sun room with 8'6" tall 4' wide wi.does reflecting the heat back to the boat. It is very warm there and I was installing everything above 55* ambient temps so the boat and panels were well above 65 plus when I hung them and let them sit they were very warm to the touch when I started

 

[Old Vet]

the stitches are just ripping and pulling apart.

the type of thread they're using certainly sounds questionable if it's breaking and pulling apart the first time you ever try to install. You can bet your boots there's going to be more of that to come down the road unless it's restitched.

 

[Quint4]

I only sew with Tenara or Solarfix thread (teflon). It will outlast the canvas.

It is $90 a spool but It's all I use (no double stitching needed.)

 

[Air O'Nautical]

Is your boat in Cape Cod? I'm south of you and its been too cold for me to put the canvas up. I'd do it today but, still too cold. I haven't seen 55 yet this year, not that 55 is any magic number. That's still too cold.

Sounds like the sewing isn't right but, wait till a "real" warm day.

Good luck,

 

[AFD]

I'm in Abington my truck thermometer said 55 today, the one in my driveway said 67. Lots of radiant heat where the boat is, and I'm literally sweating inside the boat just doing some prep work, installing a new cabin door lock.

The aft curtain "fastback/slantback" and camper went on great aside from that pull loop ripping right off and not having a door in the camper.
The sunshade and bimini went on pretty well too except the bimini was slid onto the poles backwards and had me scratching my head for about 5 minutes looking like an idiot. No big deal.

Looking at all the stitching isn't bringing out a bunch of confidence though. Single stitched and pulling apart. I wasn't rough on these panels at all and just ripped the zipper stitching right off. Made sure it wasn't binding on the Velcro first too. Just pulled apart.
I was thinking about the weather but if my boat is in until November 1st every year...can I not touch my canvas without worrying if stitching will pull apart?

 

[Fly'n Family]

We just went through our process regarding all new canvas and ended up going with a local company that's won a bunch of awards for their canvas jobs. Yes, I too had no idea of awards in this type of thing, but sure enough..........
The gal at Great Lakes was nice, responsive, and their price was good....about 3300 for our 310.

We went locally because we just felt it would be a better fit for our needs. We wanted a full camper, with both "glass" and screens so we would have options. We didn't like the slant back with no door because it took away from the deck and would be a hassle to get in and out of. I also found the zippers and the sewing material was much more heavy duty with the local guy. Additionally, we ended up getting a top that has a linen liner, which will add an even more "homey" feel to the deck. And finally, we were able to get all of the trim in a nice contrasting color to the canvas which we think/hope will look sharp, and also a nice full entry "door".

GL's seemed like a decent place, but our needs were different from what they supply.

Will post some pics when ours is finished. Lookin' forward to it.

 

[tdschafer]

I went with a local company too. This way they did all the sweating & correcting that was needed. In addition, I was able to dictate exactly how I wanted mine (like switching the groove attachment to snaps on front eisenglass) with no problem!
Good luck with the repairs & I hope that they are responsive to your issues.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Todd

 

[AFD]

Thanks, I'm fairly certain they will be.
Still can't believe that the parts that get the most abuse are single stitched.