Arnall's Laser Arch Support System for Pontoon Covers-5 Sets

We purchased the Arnall's Laser Arch Support System for Pontoon Covers 2 years ago, along with the Vortex Tan/Beige 24' Ultra Pontoon/Deck cover NEW VORTEX *TAN/BEIGE* 24' ULTRA 3 PONTOON/DECK BOAT COVER, BEST AVAILABLE, TRI-PURPOSE, FOR STORAGE, MOORING, OR TRAILERING, HAS ELASTIC AND STRAPS FITS 22'1" TO 23' TO 24' FT LONG, UP TO 102" BEAMWe strongly recommend Arnall Arch Support System product. Our 24' pontoon was being stored west of Seattle at Lake Quinault (in the Olympic Rain Forest) where it rains a whole lot - average of 130" per year, so this was a good test of this system. Once we got the whole arch thing figured out, the system worked great! If it's not obvious from the product description. What is included with this product is just the metal `arch supports' and the fasteners that hold them in place on the pontoon railings. You have to purchase PVC piping for the arches on your own. What you are trying to do is create a `tent' effect to keep the water off the cover and out of your boat. To do that, we also purchased and did the following:* Purchased 1" diameter PVC piping (it comes in 10' lengths) and cut it to the lengths needed to form the actual arches. As the metal arch supports (and several other things along the boat railing) were somewhat sharp, we also purchased pipe insulation to `pad' the sharp edges (the polyethylene self-seal kind that looks like a swimming noodle). We cut short lengths of the insulation and wrapped it around the metal arch supports, then taped the ends with duct tape to hold them in place. The insulation comes with one side open and is very easy to mold into the shape needed.* Purchased 1.5 inch PVC piping and cut it in lengths to place vertically between the highest point of each of the 5 arches and the floor of the boat.* To keep the verticals from slipping out of place, we drilled a hole in the top end of the 1.5 in PVC and also through the highest point of each PVC arch, then used a zip-tie to secure them together.* We also purchased rubber leg tips (like you would see on the tip of a cane) to keep the floor end of the vertical PVC pipe from slipping.* The last thing we did before putting the cover on was to string a piece of rope the whole length of the boat along the top of the arches. We secured the rope at the bow and stern ends by creating a triangle between the arch and the exterior railings. The rope created a pointy `tent' effect and also helped to support the weight of the cover.With the rope now in place, we put the cover over the arches and rope. The cover made it through the first winter fabulously. The following year, we had to move the pontoon down to the Seattle area and the Vortex cover traveled well (without the arch system in place) - much better than we expected. The cover then made it through the second winter - the boat was even drier than the first year. The only trouble we had the second year was that we let the pontoon sit with just the cover on (no arch system) for a week prior to putting the arch system back on and that caused water to pool on the cover. When we tried to remove the cover without getting the inside of the pontoon wet, the weight of the water caused the cover to tear in one area - dang! But, we got out the old duct tape and taped up the tear inside and out. Low and behold 5 months later the tape held up great and the pontoon was extremely dry inside - even better than the year before.Recommendations: 1) buy the arch support system! 2) get at least 5 sets - the more sets the less sag between arches; 3) pad the sharp edges and install the vertical PVC pipe and rope for a tent effect; 4) make sure you put the cover on in dry weather or when the boat is under cover; 5) Don't try and travel with the arch system - cover only!If you put the cover on when it's wet out, the cover seems to trap the moisture inside and stays a bit moist.Because of the rip, we are going to go ahead and purchase another cover this year, but the arch system can be used again and again. We strongly recommend this system!1/2019 Follow-up: Four years later and cover is still working well. You might want to consider adding a vent for the cover. Amazon has them. Just search for: Boat Vent Cap II for Boat Cover by VICO. This will help with venting the inside of the enclosed tent area.

The single bolt on type that is the flat iron type work great. I removed the canopy to get the Brackets to work in the back. This was easy to install followed the instructions and worked out well. A little trial and error on where to install brackets fit well in the end.

These work great and are easily "custom fit" to any boat or cover. Look good and attach easily. Looking back I would love to find something that folded down to avoid having to use a ratchet to remove these before actually hitting the water.Pros:-Durable-Nice finish-Easy to installCons:-Need to be removed before hitting the water.

This product works great. The product is very durable and should last many years. It fit our pontoon perfectly and the price was very reasonable. You can adjust the size by cutting your pipe to the length you want. We tried to make one ourselves and it always sunk in the middle and water would stand. This one does not let that happen. Great investment to protect your boat!

The arch support system works great. The reason for only 3 stars is I feel it costs about twice what its worth. Just my opinion.

I purchased a set of these for my boat in July 2015 after trying several different systems. This is the first system I found which worked properly right out of the box. I used the PVC pipe stated in the description and a couple of bungie cords for the areas where the nut/bolt system wouldn't fit and everything dropped right in. The system takes about 5 minutes to install/remove and is the first to successfully keep water off and the cover above my boat.

The item was very durable. It didn't work with our boat due to the sides of the boat. But what little we worked with the supports, they were very sturdy.....nothing cheap. Absolutely great customer service when we had to return them. This company is fabulous. Really wished the supports could have worked on our boat.

So easy to install and has made our pontoon cover easier to use. We had problems with snow and rain collecting in pockets of the cover but thanks to this support system we no longer have those problems. I would recommend these to anyone with a boat that stays covered and is stored outside.