Strength of a radar arch

Sparky

I have a 2005 fiesta vee 270 with a radar arch. I am looking for a good way to hoist my dinghy and was thinking of using the radar arch to tie a rope to to pull up the dinghy onto the swim platform. Is the radar arch strong enough for this? The dinghy is a 10 foot mercury with a 9.9 Johnson 2 stroke on it.

Willhound

Can't speak from a tech standpoint but they seem pretty tough. I'd be careful trying that though when you consider what they're worth and the potential to bend something. What about using the cleats on either side somehow?

LaRea

Even if the arch isn't designed for towing skiers, it has to be strong enough to support a 25-pound radar when the boat is getting pounded by high-speed waves.  So they are pretty tough.  

Easy test:  throw a line around the center of the arch, and hang on it with your full body weight.  If it bends less than about 1/4", you'll probably be fine hoisting a 150-lb dinghy.  

Dude_Himself

They're aluminum, but I don't think you'd have much luck doing what you're suggesting - they're not structural members. I've seen one bent (not on a Rinker) from a local pulling a tube, and another from a guy sitting on it while rafted up. As I've drilled a hole in mine - they're rather thin aluminum: my canoe is thicker gauge. I had to back the holes with stainless steel to prevent them deforming the surface.

Sparky

Willhound said:

Can't speak from a tech standpoint but they seem pretty tough. I'd be careful trying that though when you consider what they're worth and the potential to bend something. What about using the cleats on either side somehow?

I was using the cleats but the ropes were a pain to get by for access and egress from the swim platform. The Radar arch is nice because the rope is tied off overhead. It seems to be fine, I'm just concerned it's strong enough.

Sparky

Dude_Himself said:

They're aluminum, but I don't think you'd have much luck doing what you're suggesting - they're not structural members. I've seen one bent (not on a Rinker) from a local pulling a tube, and another from a guy sitting on it while rafted up. As I've drilled a hole in mine - they're rather thin aluminum: my canoe is thicker gauge. I had to back the holes with stainless steel to prevent them deforming the surface.

Pulling a tube would result in some pretty serious stress I'd imagine. I'm 270 so I'd never consider sitting on my radar arch. LOL! I'm just talking about tying off the dinghy once it's pulled up onto the swim platform and resting on the davits. 

Dude_Himself

Once it's up, that's probably acceptable. Might even consider running the line forward to a cleat - that's a more acceptable stress on the arch (pushing down vs pulling back). But I wouldn't use it to leverage the dinghy up onto the platform - that's asking for trouble.

JoeStang

The tow point for the 276 with arch, is on the arch......

Sparky

JoeStang said:

The tow point for the 276 with arch, is on the arch......

Interesting. I'm assuming it's reinforced for the purpose of towing a skiier or a tuber. I'm not sure mine is although it certainly seems strong and has, I believe, 4 rather large bolts on each side of the arch which must give it *some* strength. I'm going to go ahead and use the arch in the manner I described unless someone tells me it's a bad idea.