LLSkier

oxmach Yes I do have a Word document that details out all the tasks that were required to install our Wallysinkerized ez-slalom course. I also have a couple of Powerpoint drawings, and some pictures that provide some visual aids on what is required. I am in the process of trying to verfify what I have written with Wally to make sure what I am advising makes sense to him as well. I will be happy to share these materials. Is there a server associated to this forum where I can post files to for everyone to access?

SeaGlider, First let me appologize for the length of the posting, but it does give you a pretty good description of what it takes to do what you are thinking about...I'll keep future postings much shorter. Our ski club retrofitted an ez-slalom permanent course kit to work with WallySinker, and placed it in our lake last year. Ed was as you said a pleasure to deal with, and Wally has been just as pleasurable. Our ski club has been using the Wallysinker enabled course since March, and it has worked flawlessly for the most part...By the way it came right up after sitting on the bottom for months. We have had to replace an air bladder or two when the fishermen tend to troll deeper than 10 feet of water, but beyond that it has worked as Wally advertises. The key thing is to follow Wally's instructions...Don't make the mistake that some have made in the past (including us initially), which is thinking you have a better way to install the system. I can't tell you how many times I have asked Wally on the phone...Why not do it this way instead?...He truly has been there and done it. To answer your question you posed...What is needed to convert the ez-slalom course to sink with Wally?. You will need to purchase the WallySinker kit, which goes for $1440.00, and then you will need to buy the WallyPlate conversion kit which costs $135.00 (we don't have pre-gates), which is an option that WallySinker supports...Get it if you can afford it. We also bought some extra adjustable plastic hooks, which really made adjustment of sand bladders an ease, as well as adjustment of the buoys an ease. You will also need to build some anchors for each end. We initially had two 80lb concrete filled plastic buckets on each end, but found this moved around a bit, so we now have three 80lb buckets on each end of the course, which have kept our course rock solid...Thing is straight as an arrow everytime the course raises. What you need next depends on where you are putting the course. Specifically you are going to have to create a filling station area (nothing more than a weighted air hose going from the course to either the shoreline, or an anchored buoy). I also advise you to buy a bunch of fishing weights that you can zip tie to the filling station hose - Keeps it snuggly on the bottom. You will also need lots, and lots of anchor rope for anchoring the course, as you don't want a steep angle from the floating course to the anchors on the bottom of the lake. We also have pull ropes attached to both anchors that are attached to the gates...This allowed us to tighten and slightly tweak the course location during initial installation...Was well worth the extra rope and installation time. The key to converting the ez-slalom course is using Wally's system for attaching the buoys to the course pipe, and be sure to attach the wallyplates to the boat guide buoy points. Beyond that you simply build the ez-slalom course as Ed's instructions guide you, and you should be very satisfied. Do as much pre-build as possible. We had all our pipes built, ropes cut, hoses installed before attempting lake installation. You also have to ABSOLUTELY follow Wally's instructions and use completey dry playground sand (buy the sand, don't try to skimp on cost here). Make absolutely sure you follow Wally's instructions on weighing each bag, and most importantly get all the air out the bag before sealing (use a big bucket of water if necessary)...This will save you a lot of headaches later...Remember this whole thing works off the buoyancy principal, so a change in one area is going to impact something else...Don't worry Wally has worked out all the calcs, so just follow his instructions...call or email him, if you get confused...Don't guess or assume answers to your questions...Make sure you get a solid answer. Back to the pre-build, we actually assembled all the piping and the air-bladders on each arm prior to loading on a work boat. Also make sure to inflate the balls no more than Wally's ball gauge indicates. We used a pontoon boat to install the course, and it worked perfectly. We also have a jon-boat, which has worked well too. You certainly could use a ski boat, but you had better have another boat to store gear upon, as it is too much to put in one ski boat...Your biggest enemy during installation is dropping something, waves from other boats, and the wind. Best to install early morning on a weekday with no wind. We first installed the course with the Wally air bladders, hoses, etc. attached to the arms. We were very careful to not let water get into the hoses during this process, and put a cap on the hose where we were going to create the filling station from. The course floats like normal with air bladders empty, as long as you have not installed the sand bladders. We then got the course dialed in with the anchors - We did this by running though the course with ski boats, and pulling some skiiers. It really is important that you get the course where you want it before installing the sand bags and the filling station. That took us a day. We then spent the next day first establishing the filling station. Once the filling station was established, and all the lines were secured, we pumped up the air bladders to about 7 PSI, and made sure everything was holding air. Doing it this way kept us from fighting the weight of the sand bladders. We then began installing the sand bladders starting at one end. You do this by simply attaching the rope to the sand bladder, drop it to the bottom at the location of where the ball is, and then pull the rope up to the surface 15 feet. We made it fifteen feet, because our course piping is 5 feet below the surface of the water when the course is up, and that means the turn balls will sink 10 feet below the surface water when you attach the rope to the wallyskinker adapter plate. Repeat this throughout the course, and then try sinking the course. Then try pumping it back up.  I think I actually created a set of written instructions outlining the above steps, as well as some illustrations to help other club members undestand what we were building. It helps to be very patient, and it does not hurt having some easy-going friends to help you. We had three guys during the course installation on day 1, and two guys on day two to handle sand bladders. We also had our wives in another boat providing equipment supply support, keeping us fed, and occassionally ribbing us on whether or not we knew what we were doing...We didn't, but we did not tell them. Darn good thing it worked the first time, otherwise we would have never heard the end of it.  Probably more detail than you wanted, but that's how we did it. By the way, it is now over a year since installing the system in the lake, and we are still happy with our decision to use Wallysinker. I Cannot begin to describe how pleasurable it is to see your slalom course pop up onto the surface of early morning glass water, and then smile when it sinks safely below the surface when you are done using it.  Good luck