8 Best Light-Weight Folding Adjustable T-TOP Canopies (Shade Rooves) for Center Console Boat

TOP T-TOP Canopies Comparison Table

1. The Best Boat T-Top Canopy for Center Console [Fishmaster]

Folds twice for storage. Can be installed on a boat with ease. Marine-grade UV Resistant Sunbrella fabric.

2. The Best Light-Weight Retractable T-Top for Center Console Boat or Bay Boat [Oceansouth]

3. The Best Heavy Duty Boat T-Top for Standard Center Console (Aluminum Tube) [Oceansouth]

4. The Best Collapsible Center Console Fishing Boat T-TOP (Tower Bimini Canopy, Fold Down Shade Roof) [Dolphin]

5. The Best Collapsible/Folding Center Console Fishing Boat Tower/Canopy (Marine Fold Down Shade Roof) [Dolphin]

6. The Best Folding Center Console Fishing Boat Tower/Bimini Canopy (Marine Collapsible Shade Roof) [Dolphin]

7. The Best Fishing Half Tower Designed for Walk Around Boats (Fully Adjustable) [Dolphin]

8. The Best UV Resist Economic T-Top Fishing Boat Tower (Canopy 1.5") for Center Consoles up to 43" Wide [Dolphin]

How To Install a T-Top for Center Console Boat

Start by parking your boat such that the deck will be level. Lift your uprights on board and lean them against your console. Check that you can access all your console openings like the fuel cap and access doors. You may need to shift position to make everything clear. now mount the canopy cover by loosening all four 1/8 inch allen key set screws in the sidebar ends. Slide the canopy slide bars to the same width as your upright channels and center the bar to the canopy midline. Next, you will choose standoffs and their mounting locations. Lightly clamp the standoffs on to the upright frames and test your standoff length and style selection. As you do be sure to assemble the standoffs with the removable cap on top and be sure to turn all four spool feet so that the cap is to the outside. That way if you ever choose to remove your T-TOP for storage you can remove the caps and lift the top free of the feet. Take a good look at the different styles of lengths of standoffs available to you. Standoffs may clamp anywhere on the uprights. Choose your locations and standoff styles so that the base of the standoff lands on a good mounting location on your console. You may find a combination of standoff styles and lengths that works best on your boat. We recommend four standoffs - one for each corner of the console. Choose the shortest standoffs you can so the room you have to walk around your console is maximized. Position your standoffs as high on the console as possible. Higher mounting provides increasingly better support to the T-TOP canopy. Be sure to leave at least one and a quarter inches of handhold grab clearance especially around the front upright tube near the windshields. Position the swivel feet close to the console base. You may find you need to shift the uprights for or aft to find the best combination of standoff mounting locations and foot mounting locations. The mounting basis of the standoffs you select should land squarely on the console. On boats with extremely curbed consoles, it may be necessary to fabricate tapered mounting shims to achieve a flush mounting base fit for your standoffs. Starboard is an excellent material to use for this purpose. Fit your front and V braces. These braces are an important part of your top structure and are not optional. Take out your front V brace bars and to console mount castings. Remove the clamp caps from the brace bar and clamps. Hold the clamp up high against an upright tube and hold the flattened end near the centerline of the console. Look at the clearance between your windshield and the brace bar. You may need to move the uprights for or aft to get the best windshield clearance for the V braces. You can mount your V brace clamps on the front or rear tubes of the uprights. Your windshields angle and console thickness will determine if you should mount your V braces behind the windshields or in front of the windshield. If you use the console front casting choose your location as high as possible on the front of the console. For the best appearance, your V brace center casting must be mounted at the center of the T-TOP as measured between the uprights. Mount the casting at the T-TOP center which is not necessarily the console center. Find the true center by assembling the V brace bars to the console casting and checking that both bar and clamps are at the same distance down from the T-TOP canopy. Locate your console casting accordingly. Mounting the V brace bars to one center casting is best but space limitations may dictate that each V brace bar land on its own casting. You may need to bend the flat end of the brace bar slightly to align with the console mounting casting on your console. A large adjustable wrench is a great tool to do this. On most boats, screws must be used to mount the feet to the deck because there is no access to the underside of the deck to allow through bolting. However, if you have access it is best to through-bolt and backplate. It is the purchaser’s responsibility to determine if the deck is adequately constructed to hold screws. Be very cautious when drilling holes in your deck and always know how thick your deck is and what is directly under where you are drilling. Be very careful not to disturb the feet as you move from foot to foot using a permanent marker to mark all 16-foot screw holes. You will use the feet as drill guides to avoid drill bit walking which is a problem on textured decks. Put your drill in reverse. Drilling in reverse will wear into the gel coat and there is no risk of the bit accidentally catching and biting into your boat deeper than you intended. Using the quarter-inch drill bit, hold the foot firmly to the deck and drill for shallow hole center indentations into your deck into each place you marked. When all 16 holes center indentations have been made set the uprights off to the side of the boat. If at this point you are using the screws supplied with the kit to mount the fie. Drill holes using the 3/16 drill bit and carefully drill the 16 screw holes being very careful not to let the drill bit run through the deck where it could damage something hidden underneath. Very carefully use the countersink bit to shave off only the deck gel coat around all 16 deck holes being careful not to cut into the fiberglass underneath. This will prevent future spider cracking to occur. Pump all eight-deck holes full of sealant. You may find it easier to mount the feet if they are detached from the uprights and individually installed. Run all four screws 90% in then go back with a low torque setting to finish tightening the four screws taking care not to over tighten and strip out the holes. Screwing in by hand will give you a feel of just how solid your deck is so you can anticipate how well the screws will bite. Now that you have the feet attached to the deck reconnect the upright to the feet and turn attention to the standoffs. Check the standoff locations one last time. Press the upright to the console and hold the standoff mounting flange firmly and squarely as possible against the console. Use the long quarter-inch drill bit to drill through the standoffs screw flange holes straight through the console. If you have a sizable gap under the flange due to the curvature of your console fashion and taper chin from material like starboard to level the flange. If the mounting location is a slightly flexible place on the console a small gap will close when the bolts are tightened. A small gap is okay and can be dressed up with a marine sealing. don't try to tighten the closed gap on a stiff section of the console as you will likely crack the gel coat. Install the screws backing plate and nuts and tighten down this standoff. Repeat the process on the other side. With both uprights now fasten solidly. Mount the front V brace casting as planned earlier. It is easiest to lace the canopy with the frame on a table at a comfortable working paint. This process will take about 45 minutes. Center the canopy on the frame using the eight ties supplied. Orient the cover with the label down and aft. The navigation light bracket on the frame is located towards the front. Begin leasing from any eyelet and just lightly snug the cord as you go so as to keep the canopy centered on the frame. Place only one grommet at a time. Pull the cord through each grommet before moving to the next grommet. As you lace to a grommet with a tie remove the tie and just card it. don't try to lay several eyelets and then pull the cord through them all at once. If you do the cord will kink. The nylon cord and the Sunbrella fabric will stretch and you will need to retighten the cord to take a foot or two of cord off in a few days. Lift and place the canopy into the upright channels. Coat the first half an inch of the threads of the canopy bolts with a small amount of heavy grease to prevent the large nuts from possibly seasoning on the large bolts. Reinstall the four canopy bolts and double-check the set screws to ensure they are all tight.

Don’t buy cheap t-top canopy

If you buy cheap products, you will end up buying twice. There are some very cheap t-top canopies on the market, but these are the ones made from poor quality material and components, and they can break down after a few months. Buy more quality model as it will be worth price that you pay.

FAQ

Let's go over some frequently asked questions about t-top canopies.