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scouting foot bars for NRS 6" drop bar

6K views 23 replies 8 participants last post by  dgosn 
#1 ·
i'm trying to pull together an NRS based frame for a 14' Wave Destroyer. going with the new(er) 6" sport cat drop bars but was woundering if there is anything i can do for some foot scouting bars or if that is even a possibility with only a 6" drop? maybe us the 9" brace posts from the NRS deluxe footbar? Thanks
 
#2 ·
You might look at taking the frame to a welding shop. The easiest would be to weld some pipe along your drop rails. This would at least get you two pipes on each side to stand on
 
#3 ·
Speedrail T's that stick in horizontally, but you better reef on those setscrews so they don't spin. But I have a friend with that frame, and with that small of a drop you're going to be eating your knees to stand up. I'd go with more drop, except with Aire boats there can be some problems with the inside D rings since they install theirs somewhat high on the tube.
 
#5 ·
lhowemt said:
Speedrail T's that stick in horizontally, but you better reef on those setscrews so they don't spin. But I have a friend with that frame, and with that small of a drop you're going to be eating your knees to stand up. I'd go with more drop, except with Aire boats there can be some problems with the inside D rings since they install theirs somewhat high on the tube.
You cant get the t-s past the bend in the drops unless you use the two piece t-s
 
#6 ·
Even the short t's? There are two kinds of T's, and the short one isn't much wider than the pipe (on the T). Still, it might be hard. I don't think the split T's would work as they have a big bulge on the back side which would be poking into the boat. That bulge is where the two pieces grab onto each other.

OK, split T straight down, elbow in, and then piece of pipe. This would address the height issue also, however I'm not sure I'd want that hanging below my frame.
 
#7 ·
Maybe the skinny t with 2 not 3 setscrews might fit around the 45. Come to think of it the setscrews are in diff spots on the fittings. You are probably right. If they fit i'd go with the shortest pipe then go 90 fitting and run the pipes along the sides. Then take to a shop to weld, or drill and pin Make sure your foot cant slip inbetween here. Might have to add webbing to prevent that
 
#8 ·
My biggest pet peeve with my NRS frame is the lack of cross bracing. If they had cross braces, it would give you something to support a scout bar. The spreader bars they sell kind of work. You could try them and weld some scout bars to them????? I had NRS make me some custom floor boards out of the skidguard material that they use for their siderail racks. I attach them very snug to the lower siderails with heavy duty cable ties and this gives me a floor plus some cross bracing. However, I'm not running a play Cat, and I know you guys & gals need an open floor with scoutbars for that crazy Class V action, so my fix wouldn't work so well for you. I'm curious to see what you folks come up with. As Laura said, with 6 inch drops you'll have your knees up your nose on the scout bars no matter what????
KJ
 
#10 ·
Drawing Sketch Artwork


I sketched a pic of what i might have welded to my nrs drops. Shown is four three inch lengths of 1.5x1.5" angle 6061. The pieces are welded back to back (to make a "T" and then welded onto the drop rail. You should then be able to bolt a piece of marine plywood about 5" wide to the tops of the T's. This should give you adequate footing to straddle the cockpit for scouting
 
#12 ·
View attachment 4053

I sketched a pic of what i might have welded to my nrs drops. Shown is four three inch lengths of 1.5x1.5" angle 6061. The pieces are welded back to back (to make a "T" and then welded onto the drop rail. You should then be able to bolt a piece of marine plywood about 5" wide to the tops of the T's. This should give you adequate footing to straddle the cockpit for scouting
That looks like it would work Avatard. Good idea. If you try it, post pictures.
Do the drop rails on the NRS play cat frame have the same flex problem as the standard cat frame (with yoke) lower rails? That was my issue with trying to use a mesh trampoline floor. When you stand up, the lower rails bow inward a little because of no cross braces. That's why they came out with the spreader bars.
KJ
 
#13 ·
Its a simple problem the aluminum (any length) is going to have some flex and it will be obvious for long unsupported spans

My play cat has no floor for obvious reasons i need to be able to crawl through it (i'm just a class iii/iv boater). If shallow it also helps to occasionall drop my feet and fred flintstone it, besides, who doesnt like the feel of seeing the water below their feet or dipping toes in the drink

For my gear cat its a different reason. One, most gear is suspended. Two, floors make the cat handle like a raft through big sketchy river sections and my boat is too big to flip back over so i need every advantage to keep it upright

So i have two drop in sections of floor and a roughly 2x3' section near my footbar that is open. If out of the boat and deep you can crawl through (although a ladder sounds safer). If very shallow i can drop down and provide lift for the boat ( like push off from shore) If deep and slow i can drop down and pee. And the ladies can dip down hover and pee (if i turn around to give them some privacy)
 
#14 ·
My first Cat frame was a 4 Corners modular on a JPW 14 X 19 Flyer Cat. It had metal mesh scout bars with an open cockpit. I liked it for all the reasons Avatard mentions (flintstone, cool off feet, drop down to pee). Only problem with that frame was that it didn't break down small enough to fit in the plane for the trip to Indian Creek every September. I like my NRS, but miss my old open cockpit. However, my river running partner in crime HATED my open floor. He was always afraid I would get hung up or break a leg whenever I dropped a leg or foot down. I did almost get a leg broken once when an overzealous "helper" grabbed my boat and yanked it forward while I was landing the boat in shallow water at Barth hot springs. Needless to say I gave him the "don't touch my boat unless I ask you to" lecture. My floor in the rower bay is 24 inches front to back, and I've never noticed a performance problem with it. But it's not a play cat either.
KJ
 
#17 ·
cataraftgirl said:
Cool. Did you actually make these? Got any pictures of them in action?
I thought about this. Here are the negatives:

You need a large piece of angle to span the pipe, that stuff is not thin so you wind up with something that is 5lbs/foot (adding 15-20 lbs to the frame

You need to torque it down quite a bit to keep it from slipping on the round pipe. Lopros slip and they have a lot more contact area.

It will want to deform from the ubolt and slip.

Plus very expensive for a 20' length that you only use a few feet for

On the plus side - you can remove or modify , it can be done with a chop saw/carbide blade, and in theory you can make smaller pieces that are connected with plywood to keep down weight and sharp edges


Unless someone offers low cost ($20 ea?) cnc lopro style that you can bolt on, i think i'll try my solution at my welder shop
 
#18 ·
You didn't read the entire thread I linked too. It is 4 lbs/ft for the stuff I used, I made each side 1.5 feet in length. I put a little piece of extruded channel between the angle and pipe (like on the under side of a NRS bolt on seat bracket) which really makes it lock tight. It doesn't slip with 2 ubolts per side and I weigh 190 naked. Furthermore, I dillled out some big holes to reduce the weight (like old Chounard Hexentric nuts for climbing) and painted it with some drift boat floor paint for grip. I can buy this stuff by the foot at Everett Steel, most good metal supply ware houses will sell by the foot. I will get some pics and post as soon as I get the frame back, currently it is 250 miles away loaned out.

Here is the frame after I first built it without the scout bars, set up to row in the rear with passengar up front for fishing. I put the rower in the middle for
whitewater, I also built the yolks and some drop in casting decks with aluminum angle frame underneath that lays on the side rails (copied from the ones Andy and Bax sells)
 

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#19 ·
shappattack said:
You didn't read the entire thread I linked too. It is 4 lbs/ft for the stuff I used, I made each side 1.5 feet in length. I put a little piece of extruded channel between the angle and pipe (like on the under side of a NRS bolt on seat bracket) which really makes it lock tight. It doesn't slip with 2 ubolts per side and I weigh 190 naked. Furthermore, I dillled out some big holes to reduce the weight (like old Chounard Hexentric nuts for climbing) and painted it with some drift boat floor paint for grip. I can buy this stuff by the foot at Everett Steel, most good metal supply ware houses will sell by the foot. I will get some pics and post as soon as I get the frame back, currently it is 250 miles away loaned out.

Here is the frame after I first built it without the scout bars, set up to row in the rear with passengar up front for fishing. I put the rower in the middle for
whitewater, I also built the yolks and some drop in casting decks with aluminum angle frame underneath that lays on the side rails (copied from the ones Andy and Bax sells)
Ok now i like your idea better as it involves no welding Down here its alaska copper and brass. Get me the dims on your material. I think i'll make a couple sets for myself and if i have to buy it in 25' i can always sell "kits" on mountainbuzz to recover some of the cost
 
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