Well, now you can. Available through participating dealers, Schwintek is offering the PWR-ARM Hydraulic Bimini Top. The guys at Schwintek thought of everything. Will the cords look out-of-place? Not if you get the right pontoon, where the design allows the wiring to be hidden.
Will your kids get their fingers pinched when the bimini comes down? Not unless your kids are really trying. The bimini arms are fitted with three feet of pressure-sensitive safety strips that act like your garage door sensor. If the strips detect anything in the way as the bimini is coming down, such as a child's hand, the arm will automatically stop and reverse for three seconds. It takes as little as 8-ounces of pressure to make the arm reverse.
More of a retractable awning than your average bimini top, you don't have to just put it all the way up or all the way down. When you need to put the boot on, you can stop it in a radar position-a position in between-and put in on at a convenient angle. You can even raise and lower the top while the boat is in motion-whether pulling into a boat lift or passing under a bridge. The wireless key chain remote enables you to control the position of your bimini top from up to 100 feet away, allowing easy access on and off your boat.
PWR-ARM was developed after thousands of engineering hours and extensive testing, including a 70 mph wind test and life cycle testing of two thousand cycles per day. As a matter of fact, a simple accident helped improve the top when one individual accidentally left the top up going into a boat lift. The subsequent collision caused hydraulic fluid to go all over the place. Schwintek used that accident to improve their product, so that the second time this same man accidentally left the bimini up pulling into his boat lift, fluid didn't spill.
"We want boaters to beat it to death so we can know how to improve it," says Mike Schwindaman of Schwintek.
If the boat battery goes dead, no need to fear: there's a second override switch. The remote is water resistant, in case it's dropped in the water. And if someone bumps against the button, it won't work. The button must be held down constantly for about 1 or 2 seconds in order for it to work.
"We're probably being overly cautious," Schwindaman says.
It's those safety features, which require a circuit board, that are the most expensive additions to the overall cost of the top.
The PWR-ARM is offered in two standard sizes. The 10-foot length offers a large coverage area that is a comfortable size for most boats. The 12-foot length boats the largest coverage area in the industry.
For more information visit www.pwr-arm.com.
