Triumph 190 Bay 2006 TTop Install (Dolphin Pro Economic)

DevonD

Registered Member
State
MA
I've seen people ask for T-Top ideas for the Triumph 190 bay boat. Many people have cut the front legs off about one foot from the base and welded new feet back on to mount to the side of the console next to the rod holders with the Fishmaster Original T-Top as seen here.. https://fishmaster.com/customer-gallery/triumph-t-tops?product=636

This option looks great, but the Fishmaster is an expensive T-Top & unless you know how to cut thick aluminum tube cleanly at an angle and weld on new feet, this option requires a professional metal fabricator. By the time you get done with that, you're looking at a $2k + job which I couldn't justify.

I have the 2006 model & came up with an idea to make the Dolphin Pro Economic T-Top work with my Triumph that was really straightforward and didn't require any expensive tools.

Tools needed:
Tube cutter that accepts 2" pipe $28.00 on Amazon
Hand operated hack saw: $15.00 on Amazon
Vice Grips
Drill

My plan was to cut the feet off the front legs as close to the base as possible with a tube cutter and insert the front legs into the rod holders nearest to the bow. The rod holders were just under 2" diameter so it was critical that I chose a t-top with a 1.5" tube diameter that fit into the rod holders. The Dolphin Pro Economic is 1.5" tubing and well priced at only $700, so I went with it.

When the ttop arrived, I assembled everything per the on line directions. Once I had the bases assembled I cut the front feet off with the tube cutter. This was quick and requires no skill, if you haven't used a tube cutter before anyone can do it. I inserted the front legs into the fishing rod holders leaving them just resting in there. I assembled the rest of the ttop and then caulked and screwed the back feet to the deck. Everything went quickly except one part which was cutting down all the short side supports for the ttop.

The side supports dolphin provide are apx. 1.25" solid aluminum and difficult to cut thru. After trying a sawzall and butchering my first attempt, I decided to go with the hand hack saw. I started cutting the side supports with a tube cutter to get them going, then switched to the hand hack saw which I'll admit was a bit of work but the best option imo. The top will be pretty wobbly before you install the side supports, but once you do it becomes extremely sturdy.

When I ordered my ttop from dolphin, I added the 20" vertical standoffs to my order. I figured I would need them since I wasn't screwing the front legs down to the deck at all. After cutting & installing just the short side supports that come standard with the ttop, I realized I probably didn't need the long stand off braces at all but I put them in for peace of mind anyways.

The T-Top came out extremely sturdy with this method. I can prove it because stupid me not being used to having a ttop, left two of my rods up top after leaving the boat ramp... out of sight out of mind I guess. Not used to having them up there. Anyways they hit a tree branch towing and snapped two 25 lb rods in half and my ttop didn't budge, bend or break. It's real sturdy. Learned my lesson quickly there!

The only downfall to using this T-Top for the Triumph 190 bay is on the console side with the fuel cap, the cross bar is the same height as the cap which makes it difficult to get in there. I may need to use a funnel to fuel up now. I haven't had to fuel up yet so I'm not sure if it'll be necessary or not. Either way I'm very happy with how this project came out, I did not expect the dolphin economic ttop to be so durable, and had my own doubts about my plan but it came out concrete.
 

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I really need to move this to the Triumph 190 section, but when I do you will no longer be able to view it...

You should become a Premium member, you can really access a lot of information for that hull, as well as a lot of other related topics as well as some great savings on related products!

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Tight Lines!
Dave
 
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