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Folks,

I need to purchase a Bimini for my new boat, but need some feedback.....

Is it worth the 1,000 price for a Mills top or will I be ok with a top from Taylor Made through West Marine.

From what I gather the Mills set up is 3x the price.....

Thanks
Ed

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There are a lot of good canvas makers but not many that compare to the fit and quality of the Mills.
If you have one made, you can save some money and probably get a decent fit.

However, I have yet to see any 'ready made' generic fit canvas that can even come anywhere close to Mills.

Mills is the best in my opinion. You get what you pay for.

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Where did you get that price from?

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Ed -

Regardless of which top you decide to get, shop around. West Marine is called "Theft Marine" for a reason.

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I was recently quoted over $840 for an inside mount bimini from Mills and $960+ for a gunwale mount with stainless steel tubing. There was a discount offered to help defray shipping.

I finally ordered a Carver bimini from Coversdirect.com. Stainless steel tubing, fittings and sunbrella canvas for just over $500. If you don't mind aluminum frames you can get one for $300+. I went with Carver because there are quite a few others of that make on boats at my marina and they looked good.

If you look at my personal page you will see the fit; a little loose. I can't get it to fit tight. However, I complained to coversdirect and Carver is making me a new one. All they asked were photos and a description of the problem.

I don't know what the final result will be but so far I am very happy with the service and basic quality of the bimini, stitching, the frames and tie down straps. They have great instructions for installing the bimini. Check the coversdirect.com website for the video etc. (No, I don't work for them or have any connection).

Obviously if you want an original boat Mills is the way to go but for one half the price mine keeps the sun off and looks decent.

I'll keep you posted when the new one comes in.

Jack

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For the Bimini top by itself just to provide shade, either should suit you fine. If you want down the road to build it into a complete enclosure system then you may want to think about the Mills route or, find a good local shop that you can work with over a couple year to build the set out as needed. I prefer locals shops because you are able to customize and add details that are built into your canvas set while the boat is right at the shop. Personally the work I have had done as well as my father had done by a Local Canvas shop is darn good and tough to pick at as far as quality. Mills does have the OEM templates from whaler and has been a long time OEM for whaler. That say something and the name is recognized by many.

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All boat's are a little different, your best shot is to have a local canvass maker do the job (get an estimate). What fit's you better, a suit custom made by a tailor, or a suit off the rack ?
mw

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I agree with MW all boats are different. When the time came for my canvas I looked local (had the Fisher-Peirce drawings with me) and had a shop start the job. Two days later I had them stop as they wanted to make "some changes"! I placed a call to Bob Mills who said he had the patterns and in 2 weeks a truck arrived to the house. With great excitement I found the Foward shelter went right on meeting the factory fittings perfectly as did the Flying top. Now putting the peices together that was a different story,they weren't even close the aft curtian was short , the side curtians missed their connections by 3 inches and the windshield hung loose. Another call to Bob Mills found me on the Port Jefferson Ferry with my boat for the 1 hour crosing and onward to Greenport another hour East to the Mills Greenport location. Here Bob explained to me of a new computer driven fabric cutter being used and the amount of old pattern info being manually loaded has resulted in misfitting peices. Upon return 2 weeks later my boat was spotted from the road out infront of the shop with a Full set up truely a tribute to their workmanship ! Couldn't be happier with what I have and the trip over wasn't bad almost local. My experience with Mills made my into a return customer.Your need for just the Bimini should not require the fit I was after as it is a stand alone peice the Carver will work out just fine.

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Ed,
I've never seen a Mills to my knowledge but the pics look great. As an alternative I bought mine through "iboats" and got a product that I'm happy with. I don't use it much unless my wife and daughter are with me so it's not an important part of my accessories. The price from "iboats" was great.
Mike

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I never use my bimini, it's in the way for fishing but, It's a "Life Saver" if you are out in the sun and it's close to 100*F, makes a WORLD of difference ! and if you get caught in the rain, you actually have "Some" shelter on an open boat. Even folded it takes up too much room for me (I'm only 15 ft.)
mw

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The main reason is for the top is shade only when out with my family etc. The boat came with a custom enclosed wheelhouse that looks it was never used so I always have that set up for foul weather usage. Any input on the the Taylor Made tops?

I hope to get my personal page together soon with some pics of the boat. It is a unique set up

Thanks.