212X is finally home and on the lift

[RightStuff]

And would this quick release work on other towers, or is it only going to work with the towers? From what I have seen in pics of the 212x towers it looks like it has similar thumb screws as the other towers.

And lets see some pics of it!!

 

[Belleville_Boater]

As promised here is my quick release design for lowering the tower, also the custom knob serves as a rest for the tower so that it stays off the rear seats. The process of lowering/raising the tower is about 10-15 seconds.

 

[JimG]

Great job @Belleville_Boater. Now we all want to know how we can order this set-up for our boats. THANKS for coming up with what looks like an awesome solution.

 

[JimG]

@Belleville_Boater -- have you disappeared off the face of the earth...or at least out of Michigan?

As we've had some warmer than typical weather over the last few weeks in Michigan, it has got me thinking about boating again, and also reminded me of the solution you engineered last year for lowering the 212X tower. I am still wondering if there is any way the rest of us 212Xers can purchase the same set-up?

 

[jwilliams2020]

+1 for wanting to order a set of these. @Belleville_Boater - I second @JimG sentiments; this looks like a great solution to the pain that is the stock fully threaded hand-screws. Would love to know if/how we could purchase these

 

[jwilliams2020]

In the meantime, a bit of reverse-engineering of the solution (based on photos and quick research) - fair warning: I am not a design engineer (just a computer engineer). All credit to this design goes to @Belleville_Boater, I'm just trying to figure out the off-the-shelf parts available to make this design work. Looks like the following part inventory could work:
-Pins: http://www.jergensinc.com/Klp-Rec-Btn-1_4x2-0-Ss_883022
+These are 1/4" diameter pins with a 2" grip length, and a double shear rating of 9200lbs [which appears to be a higher level of safety than the original design]
+Cost appears to be around $25/pin (cheaper than the replacement knobs from Yamaha!)
+Quantity needed: At least 4 (assuming we're leaving the original knobs in the pivot-point of the tower
+Note: The original design appears to have an adjustable pin (likely to account for 'slop' between the tower and it's sizing) - The pins I found don't do this, a spring and/or washer could potentially resolve this issue if there is slop in this design
-Pin Receiver Caps: http://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn/...uick-Release-Pin-Receiver-Caps?navid=12108876
+These caps are what the pins would connect to on ther other side of the tower from the ping
+Cost appears to be around $10/cap
+Quantity needed: match qty with pins
-Threaded Inserts: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002WC8T2K/ref=biss_dp_t_asn
+These are to protect the original threads in the tower
+Cost appears to be around $6/insert
+Quantity would need to match pins + threaded materials on the tower (I have to go look at my tower to see if every part of the tower connection is threaded or not).
+Notes: This variety has threadlock - may be harder to install/remove but won't have to worry about it as much (hopefully)
+The diameter of the interior threads on this should just perfectly fit the 1/4" diameter of the pins...it isn't as eloquent as a smooth-interior, but it should do the trick.

Hope this helps the group, open to comments/concerns/feedback - will post once I do this on my tower (likley in the next 4-6 weeks)