Retractabl Pontoon Covers, motorized and wireless
Moderators: Redneck_Randy, badmoonrising, lakerunner
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Re: Retractabl Pontoon Covers, motorized and wireless
Well I hope I'm not that shallow Mike
Re: Retractabl Pontoon Covers, motorized and wireless
retractable wrote:Well I hope I'm not that shallow Mike


1999 Voyager 21' Express Fish triple toon 115hp Mercury (SOLD)
2004 Ford F150 SuperCrew
Boise Idaho
2004 Ford F150 SuperCrew
Boise Idaho
Re: Retractabl Pontoon Covers, motorized and wireless
Dang, typed all this a few minutes ago and it did not post. Lets try again.
Retractable:
I just watched the video. Nice product. Here are my hopefully constructive thoughts amidst the firefight going on here.
It does take away from the looks of the boat, but the top has to be stored somewhere. I'd like the looks better if it was less shiny and had a more rounded modern design. The squared off chrome looks reminds me a bit of the front bumper of a fire truck. Maybe as you advance your design you can get it looking more like an integral part of the boat and not an addition.
The video is good, but it really does look and sound like it whacks the motor. But you are already fixing that. Can you also let the video run a little more after the top locks into place. The instant it hits the motor the video stops. Then on the next sequence the instant the video starts the top begins to move. So there is no time to get a good look at the top totally closed with nothing moving.
I like the idea....i currenty leave my pontoon in an uncovered boat slip at the lake. All the covered slips are taken. It's a real pain to put the cover on after a long hot day on the lake. I'd buy your product, but i don't think i'd pay 3000 for it. Closer to 2000 would be more in the correct range, for me anyway. You may not be able to sell it for that.....but just my opinion.
Good luck with your product.
Retractable:
I just watched the video. Nice product. Here are my hopefully constructive thoughts amidst the firefight going on here.
It does take away from the looks of the boat, but the top has to be stored somewhere. I'd like the looks better if it was less shiny and had a more rounded modern design. The squared off chrome looks reminds me a bit of the front bumper of a fire truck. Maybe as you advance your design you can get it looking more like an integral part of the boat and not an addition.
The video is good, but it really does look and sound like it whacks the motor. But you are already fixing that. Can you also let the video run a little more after the top locks into place. The instant it hits the motor the video stops. Then on the next sequence the instant the video starts the top begins to move. So there is no time to get a good look at the top totally closed with nothing moving.
I like the idea....i currenty leave my pontoon in an uncovered boat slip at the lake. All the covered slips are taken. It's a real pain to put the cover on after a long hot day on the lake. I'd buy your product, but i don't think i'd pay 3000 for it. Closer to 2000 would be more in the correct range, for me anyway. You may not be able to sell it for that.....but just my opinion.
Good luck with your product.
Last edited by mjlyn on Tue Jul 14, 2009 1:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Retractabl Pontoon Covers, motorized and wireless
I think I would look into this if it was a manual powered version that you could remove off the front and it was in the $1000 range. If you had the hoops and fabric collapse into a bundle that you could strap toghether, then move the bundle off the boat when not in use. The rails would of course remain...
1999 Voyager 21' Express Fish triple toon 115hp Mercury (SOLD)
2004 Ford F150 SuperCrew
Boise Idaho
2004 Ford F150 SuperCrew
Boise Idaho
Re: Retractabl Pontoon Covers, motorized and wireless
That's a good thought. It does not look heavy. You have to pull it out of the front storage anyway so why not just pull it all the way back. The worst part of putting on the cover now is lifting it up, figuring out where the front is...then spreading it across the boat. It's a b*^&% to do it alone. This design takes care of all of that whether or not it is motorized.mike wrote:I think I would look into this if it was a manual powered version that you could remove off the front and it was in the $1000 range. ...
- badmoonrising
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Re: Retractabl Pontoon Covers, motorized and wireless
retractable wrote: And I've apoligised to you privately and publicly, I had a moment of weakness, I'm not angry all the time and I have the compassion to forgive, Can we put this behind us?
Sure ! I'll give you a second chance and I really do hope you succeed with your product. Remember though, first impressions are everything.

Ed, Cheryl, Ethan and Aspen.
2013 Sun Tracker Party Barge 22 w/90 HP Mercury, "Hellrhighwater 2"
2014 E-350 Extended XLT.
Chesapeake City ,MD
2013 Sun Tracker Party Barge 22 w/90 HP Mercury, "Hellrhighwater 2"
2014 E-350 Extended XLT.
Chesapeake City ,MD
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Re: Retractabl Pontoon Covers, motorized and wireless
mjlyn thanks for your constructive input, you have some good ideas.The box when it goes into production is going to change slightly it will become more aerodynamic. That box I cut and bent myself and I don't know if you've tried to bend 1/8'' aluminum or not but it's tough. That was the best I could do.I do have other ideas for it. I also have some other Ideas for the fabric, like putting a clear strip around it so you can close the cover and drive home in the rain, or cover graphics Imagine a black cover with flames down the sides. I also have an idea for a different model with a higher ceiling and can be used as a retractable camper.As for the box I'm not exactally sure where to go with it I've gotten a wide range of comments on it. All the way from it's ugly to I love it, one guy emailed me and said it was the greatest idea he'd ever seen and he loved the way it finished off the front of the boat so you don't have to see the toons anymore.It's just like any other product it will evolve with time. Thanks for your tips on the website I'll look into that.
Mike actually the first boat guard was a manual one . the cover system has gone through 7 generations. Inventing is a system of trial and error. You make a working model and some things work and others don't. So you fix the ones that don't and make another Etc. You can't see it but under the fabric is an expanding frame system made from U shaped stainless tubes and expansion sissors in between them to make the cover expand and retract.There are several reasons why we went to the electric model and one of them is simply because there was no way to get out once you closed the cover,amongst others. That is one idea I plan to do further research on once we get going. Another problem is the actual framework is the heaviest part and that might be a problem for older folks.I could post a picture of the expanding frame if I knew how to post pictures on here.
Mike actually the first boat guard was a manual one . the cover system has gone through 7 generations. Inventing is a system of trial and error. You make a working model and some things work and others don't. So you fix the ones that don't and make another Etc. You can't see it but under the fabric is an expanding frame system made from U shaped stainless tubes and expansion sissors in between them to make the cover expand and retract.There are several reasons why we went to the electric model and one of them is simply because there was no way to get out once you closed the cover,amongst others. That is one idea I plan to do further research on once we get going. Another problem is the actual framework is the heaviest part and that might be a problem for older folks.I could post a picture of the expanding frame if I knew how to post pictures on here.
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Re: Retractabl Pontoon Covers, motorized and wireless
Thanks Badmoonrising I appriciate that. It reminds me of another very forgiving man I idolize Ronald Reagan
- badmoonrising
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Re: Retractabl Pontoon Covers, motorized and wireless
Well that's one thing we agree on. We could use Ron these days. 

Ed, Cheryl, Ethan and Aspen.
2013 Sun Tracker Party Barge 22 w/90 HP Mercury, "Hellrhighwater 2"
2014 E-350 Extended XLT.
Chesapeake City ,MD
2013 Sun Tracker Party Barge 22 w/90 HP Mercury, "Hellrhighwater 2"
2014 E-350 Extended XLT.
Chesapeake City ,MD
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Re: Retractabl Pontoon Covers, motorized and wireless
Wow, been a while since I saw a thread generate 4 pages in about a day. Think it took me 30mins of reading to just catch up from last night.
Don't really have anything to add additional about the product, but I am pretty sure he knew nothing of what happen on the other site, who goofy, malcom, and the other disney characters are. Had some pm's with retractable and think he is a genuine and nice guy trying to get some feedback at this point. Glad he came back, rather than saying to hell with it. Hell some of my better friends over the years came from someone I threw hands with. Not all but some.
doc
Don't really have anything to add additional about the product, but I am pretty sure he knew nothing of what happen on the other site, who goofy, malcom, and the other disney characters are. Had some pm's with retractable and think he is a genuine and nice guy trying to get some feedback at this point. Glad he came back, rather than saying to hell with it. Hell some of my better friends over the years came from someone I threw hands with. Not all but some.
doc
Dying ain't much of living boy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... gm-sp1-Nhs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... gm-sp1-Nhs
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Re: Retractabl Pontoon Covers, motorized and wireless
Well, BMR I'm happy we can start agreeing on somthing, maybe we just got off on the wrong foot.badmoonrising wrote:Well that's one thing we agree on. We could use Ron these days.
Doc. Thank you for your kind words. I sure appriciate it.
Even though I now know everyone hates PDB my article did come out 2 days ago and I've spent 6 hours today trying to answer all the emails and only got half way through. thought I'd take a break and see how everyone was doing over here.
- HandymanHerb
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Re: Retractabl Pontoon Covers, motorized and wireless
Glad your getting e-mails from the PDB piece but you should get more because people in Florida will get their copy in 2 weeks.
I was always 2 weeks behind everyone else in getting it, and we don't spend that much time hating PDB, we just have fun with them for the treatment some of the highest time posters got during the obama love fest.
But I glad to see we still can burn up a topic and put 200 hits on a post in 2 days, shows we have people who care, but we still might thump you on the head to see what your made of, but then we can become friends.
I was always 2 weeks behind everyone else in getting it, and we don't spend that much time hating PDB, we just have fun with them for the treatment some of the highest time posters got during the obama love fest.
But I glad to see we still can burn up a topic and put 200 hits on a post in 2 days, shows we have people who care, but we still might thump you on the head to see what your made of, but then we can become friends.
In Memory of John 6x6 Larsen


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Re: Retractabl Pontoon Covers, motorized and wireless
Thanks handymanherb
Don't mind a little thumping once in a while, Just as long as we all can become friendly. That's the important part
Don't mind a little thumping once in a while, Just as long as we all can become friendly. That's the important part
Re: Retractabl Pontoon Covers, motorized and wireless
I think your product is pretty cool, and a pretty good concept. But how much weight will it put on the nose of a pontoon. Reason being my toon is plowing now, I can only imagine what it would do with your product installed. 

- lakerunner
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Re: Retractabl Pontoon Covers, motorized and wireless
I sure don't hate PDB as because I made lifelong friends there. I don't hate Brady either, I just have no use for the 

Loyd & Betty Meeks
Livin the lake life
2004 Tracker 22 Regency/2010 90 E-Tec. Pulled by Ford 2020 F 250,
McAlester, Oklahoma
Home lake is Tenkiller
Livin the lake life
2004 Tracker 22 Regency/2010 90 E-Tec. Pulled by Ford 2020 F 250,
McAlester, Oklahoma
Home lake is Tenkiller