Tom, The deck on the 18 where the "T" bar touches is very..very thin. I made a brace structure out of stainless steel tubing that went up under the deck and down to the floor. I glued it in with Plexus adhesive. All that work for nothing when Karl invented the new "Boom Buddy" Bob
I have a Boom Buddy on my 18, works great. The one thing I would do is have the bracket that attaches to the pylon machined differently so that it can be left on the pylon when not in use (like how the boom is attached) . If I remember, it was kinda pricey Rob
dynebob1 or anybody - How does the "boom buddy" work with a Dyne 20 with the bent boom? The KW boom I have attaches to the pylon and then curves down to rest on the outer topside deck and then goes straight out. I am just not sure how tight the boom buddy would be compared to the solid foundation of the deck?
Dennis, if you have a deck resting boom, the boom buddy wouldn't strictly be necessary so long as you're getting the height at the boom end that you want (that's where I like the adjustable height at my boom clamp). If you have a very low freeboard deck like the 18's I could see the boom buddy being very handy to get the boom at the proper height for the skier, and keeping any potential damage off your deck, that could happen from a bouncing boom after a hard fall. Personally, I would prefer my boom not ride on my deck, as even with the protective sleeve it still marks up occasionally, but I'm also too cheap to fork out for a boom buddy. I lash mine to a handrail to keep it from moving too much, and occasionally throw a boot cushion in between for on-the-fly height adjustment.
Thanks for the comments about the boom buddy. I think for the dyne 20 what I have is just fine. Rests nicely on the deck. I do lash it down to the cleat. I also use a cushion for a nice resting of the boom. DennisDyne