90 Four Winns Bimini

[79Rude115]

I am looking to put a Bimini on my 90 Four Winns Horizon 200. Here on Iboats marine store it shows a top 79-84" wide X 36" tall X 6' long.

1) this seems way to short in height unless the top were mounted to the top of the windshield. if it is mounted to the top of the windshield it will be a pain when the top is down
2) this seems way too short in length to provide much shade, i was thinking it would need to be 8'

Does anyone have the same boat with a bimini and if so could you share what dimensions work best?

 

[Utahboatnut]

Re: 90 Four Winns Bimini

That is a very common size bimini for a 20footer I would never mount a bimini to the frame of the glass but that is just me. Price out what replacement glass costs and it will scare the crap out of you. you can get the same size but in a 42" high which is what I have, I am 6'3" and can stand under it, plus it fits just under my tower. Sometimes an 8' long can look too big on a 20' boat just depends on what you like though. I ordered mine through iboats and mounted it myself took about 2 hours and it is great when boating at lake powell at 105 deg plus during the summer months.

 

[79Rude115]

Re: 90 Four Winns Bimini

Thanks, it will sure save some bucks if I go with the 6' top instead of the 8'. I am going to take it out this afternoon and do some measuring. The Boat is actually almost 21' (20' 9"). Does anyone happen to have a similar size boat with an 8' bimini? Pictures would be greatly appreciated.

 

[79Rude115]

Re: 90 Four Winns Bimini

Ok, went out yesterday and did some measuring...The 42" high is going to be perfect, this will give me about 6' 3-4" of height

I still cant decide if I want to go 8' legth or 6' legth, 8' will offer lots of shade much further back my only concern is that it is going to look goofy on a ~21' boat...still need someone to weigh in on this...

 

[redone4x4]

Re: 90 Four Winns Bimini

i believe mine is 6' on a 19' boat.....we were discussing this weekend how we wish it was an 8'. the extra 2 feet would cover almost all of the cockpit seating from the windshield to the transom, except for the open bow.

 

[79Rude115]

Re: 90 Four Winns Bimini

Thanks for the advise. I have read hundreds of threads related to this decision and I am only more confused. It isn't much more $ to get a 4 bow 8' top but I am locked into Taylor Made if I go that route.

It seems the primary reason for not getting the bigger top is the fact that the bigger top may look strange on a 20'9" boat. Given the fact that I have an older boat with more interior space compared to new model...and my boat is a big deep V I think the 8' is going to look fine but I have still not made my mind up.

 

[83Evinrude]

Re: 90 Four Winns Bimini

I think the 8' is going to look fine but I have still not made my mind up.

We have a 19' boat and I was unsure if an 8' top would look to big on our boat as well. The only way to completely cover both the front buckets and the bench in the back was with an 8' top.

Thats what I ended up with and I'm very happy, it looks very nice on the boat too. Ours was also 79-84" wide, it started out at 48" tall but I cut it down twice. It now has right at 6' clearance in the middle and less at each end.

Some would want more clearance but I like the low profile look it has. Anyone can move around easily and the shade is more effective if you mount it lower.

You might want to consider where it will stow if your putting it in a garage or storage area with a low door as that might help you make your decision on how high to leave it. On our boat I can pull the pins for the rear braces and lower it to the bottom edge of the front of the windshield. You might prefer somewhere else but this works well for us. Measure carefully and I'll bet you will like the results.

 

[79Rude115]

Re: 90 Four Winns Bimini

I dont expect 8' would cover all the way from the drivers seats to the back seats - when i put the tape on it yesterday it appeared that 8' would go from even with the top edge of the windshield back to just beyond the rear facing buckets. I am not concerned about the back seats getting shade because no one ever sits in them anyway. I am sitting here questioning my measurements so I guess I am going to have to go look at it again

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: 90 Four Winns Bimini

They say when in doubt go with a longer one, functionability first looks appeal second. It's shade in the burning mid-day sun who cares what it looks like, just make it a neutral color like white.

 

[Utahboatnut]

Re: 90 Four Winns Bimini

Maybe you could take an old sheet or dropcloth or something and temp rig it up with ropes or broom handles just to get an ides of how it will look. start with the sheet at 8' and look at it from all angles then go to the 6' and look at it. For me being a bit taller I had to have something that I sould fit under without knocking my forehead, that was my biggest concern I didn't want to spend a bunch of $ only to be pissed every time I hit my head on it. The 42 was perfect it fits just under the tower provides good shade and looks like a custom fit one but for a third of what they want for the tower specific bimini they are tiny length wise and super expensive. When I measured for mine thats how I did it, just used some pieces of pvc and a drop cloth that I could duct tape to what size I wanted moved it forward/back etc until I got it just how I wanted then measured from there. Good luck.

 

[79Rude115]

Re: 90 Four Winns Bimini

I finally got the 8' top ordered. I found a much better price on boatersworld dot com but iboats matched their price.

I ended up with a Taylor Made 79-84" W X 42" H X 8' L Hot Shot material. I also got the matching boot and adjustable strut braces.

Any mounting tips would be greatly appreciated.

Also - does anyone have experience with Hot Shot material?

I will post some pics once I get it mounted.

 

[rs1lollie]

Re: 90 Four Winns Bimini

I just installed a Westland top 6'L x 42"H x 78"W it is pretty straight forward, the only thing that takes time is deciding were you want the top. Tip: assemble top and open it, have a couple of people hold it on the boat and see what spot looks good to you and what gives max shade to you in the drivers seat. I just ordered the rear support tubes, will put them on next weekend.

 

[DBreskin]

Re: 90 Four Winns Bimini

I finally got the 8' top ordered. I found a much better price on boatersworld dot com but iboats matched their price.

I ended up with a Taylor Made 79-84" W X 42" H X 8' L Hot Shot material. I also got the matching boot and adjustable strut braces.

Any mounting tips would be greatly appreciated.

I have a 1992 Horizon 200 and recently put on a 6' bimini. I had trouble deciding between 6' and 8'. If I had it to do again I think I'd go with 8' and mount it so the front edge of the top was even with the front of the windshield. The way it is now, the front edge of the top is just forward of the top of the windshield and it allows a bit too much sun on the front seats. If I move it forward it will not allow enough shade on the rear seats.

I got a 42" tall top because mounting a 36" top to the windshield frame wouldn't allow me enough freedom for fore and aft placement. The 42" top mounts to the outside of the gunwale and I was able to put it exactly where I want it.

I used rear support tubes instead of straps. I removed the metal strap eye that was originally intended to secure the convertible top, and put the support tube base plate in that spot.

I placed the front strap eyes as much inboard (toward the centerline of the boat) as possible to minimize side-to-side top sway at speed.

One convenient thing about the size and placement is when I fold down the top for trailering, it lays just forward of the windshield, under my trailerable boat cover.

 

[79Rude115]

Re: 90 Four Winns Bimini

Looks real nice, I just got mine on and boy I wish I would have read your post before I mounted it. I think I mounted it too far back but I am going to run it like this for a while then maybe move it forward 12-18".

Anyone know a good filler for screw holes ?

 

[79Rude115]

Re: 90 Four Winns Bimini

Ok, I took it out for the first time with the new top and the position of the top worked better than I thought.

The one problem I have is that it does not seem to be very sturdy, when I tried pulling the boat with the top folded down on the struts and the boot cover on the thing was wobbly as all get out, I ended up folding it all the way down out of fear i was going to break it.

DBreskin - I noticed yours is mounted different, looks like you used the horizontal brackets. I am curious how sturdy yours is and anything you discovered in mounting the top.

 

[Lou C]

Re: 90 Four Winns Bimini

I have a 6' Taylor made one on my '88 FW 200 Horizon which is nearly the same as yours...what I did was mount slider rails on the coaming panels and that puts the frame on the inside of the windshield frame of the boat. I did it this way for several reasons...one it allows me to move it back and forth as I need to for fishing...and mounting it on the inside allows me to have an enclosure made in the future (harder to do if mounted on the outside) and also since the bows are on the inside, it seems to stablize the top from wobbling...it's much more stable than I thought it would be...I think this top is 46" high....
This model of FW is not that easy to mount a bimini to because of the shape of the gunnels so you either have to put the mounts on the outside or use the slider mounts on the inside like I did....
As far as shade it's great and I love being able to stand up when driving...here you have to stand to keep an eye out for lobster pots...kaykers and jetskis....

 

[79Rude115]

Re: 90 Four Winns Bimini

A bit of advice for anyone considering a Bimini, go with the larger size, 8? works well on a 21? boat. Also...upgrade to stainless fittings, not only do they look better but they secure the top much better and are more durable.

After a weekend at the lake I regret not going for the stainless fittings, I am considering adding them now which is more expensive.

As far as the mounting situation on my top, I have a hypothesis that forcing the top to ?flex? inward to get the desired mounting position actually made my top less sturdy. For this reason I am going to change the mounting of mine so that position does not force the top to narrow. I also found that the current mounting position makes it very hard to board the boat so I am going to move the top forward as DBReskin suggests in a previous post in this thread.

 

[DBreskin]

Re: 90 Four Winns Bimini

DBreskin - I noticed yours is mounted different, looks like you used the horizontal brackets. I am curious how sturdy yours is and anything you discovered in mounting the top.

Mine seems very sturdy, with virtually no side to side shake at speed or when in chop. I did mount the top at it's natural width, meaning I did not have to flex the bows in or out to fit.
Also, as I mentioned previously, my front strap mounts are about 6 inches inboard of the main bow mount. This helps stabilize the top side to side.