Hinged Radar Arch for bridge clearance

L

LivinLife

New Member
Feb 7, 2008
20
Gunpowder River, Maryland
Boat Info
380 Sundancer 2002
Engines
8.1's
I have a 2002 380 DA. This boat on a high tide will not make it under a fixed train bridge that we need to go under to get out to the bay. I don't want to be confined to playing the tide to get home. I would like to have the arch hinged at the base. The only people I can find who have done the work and have pictures displaying the work are in Florida, and will come to me in Maryland but for a price of almost $12,000.00 including travel expenses. Does anyone know of someone who can do that job who is closer to me? Are there any major hangups that I should be aware of before starting this project?

Thanks!!
 
I am having one fabricated for my 08 290 DA. It will be a tripod design with hinges at the 3 legs to fold or remove from the glass arch, It will hold radar, sat tv, gps etc. I have seen similar removable designs for a complete arch as well.

I use a local design shop here: CMI 781.740.1260. I have used them before,they do great work, perhaps they can refer you to someone locally.
 
I know the bridge in question my friend took delivery of his 37DA and had to wait for low tide to get under that thing. The other issue is at low tide the water is pretty thin there also. Good luck in your quest
 
Thanks Dave S.... That last thread looks like the company in Cape Coral Florida I have been talking to. It's good to see other pictures than just the one on their web site.
 
Livin,

Can't help you with the hinged radar but I do know the bridge you are speaking of, been thru it more times then I can count. To bad that bridge is there as the former Gunpowder Cove Marina was and still is Sea Ray heaven. Some slip holders got fed up with the bridge and bailed on the place. Kept boats there for 15 years, I only store there for the winter now, great place...............never, ever been held up in my 370DA (lower arch)

A member of our club did a hinged radar on his Cruisers to deal with the Bush River bridge, however I won't see him until our boats are in the water, I'm guessing you want this done sooner rather then later.

John
 
Livin... i had my radar arch Hinged on our 320 2006 Sea Ray... Just last year.. Had it done in Michigan here at Barret boat works, and it was only 3600.00.
i do not know anyone near you boat 12,000 is crasey....
I don't believe I have any pics left boat if you do a search on this site you'll find the thread I posted to.Anyway they will hinge it right where it attaches to the boat, folding it forward.... It should lay right inside the windshield...

Let me know and I can give you the link to Barret Boat works
 
Boltman... Thanks I would like to get a website or a phone number to the company that did your work. The more people I can speak to before hand the better. Had that company done that sort of work before or was this their first? What kind of time did it take, and did they offer a hydraulic option?

Thanks!!
 
My first trip to Miami to try to buy a boat ended abruptly at the dock as I approached the boat to find the arch hinged. There was a leak which stained the forward port speaker in the cabin, and during the sea trial, one prop was bent badly which shook the whole boat. Needless to say, this boat was not yet listed. The dealer had just taken it on trade, and other than being a wreck, it worked perfectly for me on paper (trade-in opportunity).

Back to the topic. The hinges were large metal plates which capped each section of the cut arch and, of course, had a hinge at one end. They looked crude and they didn't mate well. You could see air through them. They were rectangular plates fitted to a rounded arch (cross section). Make sure you specify some design criteria so you don't end up with unsightly mechanical chunks of metal half way up your smooth, shiny, rounded, Euro-style arch.
 
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