Bridle for towing

Anyone know of a bridle that is longer than 12 feet.

My dad has a Suntracker fishin barge 21 and because the motors are mounted so far back the 12 foot is still too short. Could make one pretty easily, but he's looking for something off the shelf and I'm a few hours away from his lake place.

It'll just be used for low speed tube pulling with the younger grandkids.

Ideas?

Re: Bridle for towing

I think the "make it" idea is the way to go.

I was in Cabela's the other day and they had two styles (Airhead as I recall). One was a typical braided nylon rope, 12', with a pulley. I think it was around $16.

They also had a coated steel cable, 8', also with a pulley. This model was $12.

Both had floats to keep the parts out of the water.

I would think picking up a steel cable version, then a trip to Lowe's or Home Depot to buy a longer piece of coated steel cable would be a very cost effective solution. Just be sure to buy the ferules (?) for the new cable. Then just use all the other hardware.

FYI, here's a 16':

http://www.iboats.com/Airhead-Heavy-Duty-Tow-Harness/dm/view_id.483763

Since this too is an Airhead, you might be able to find it locally.

Personally I like the harness with the self-centering pulling so the load is shared on the back of my (pontoon) boat.

Re: Bridle for towing

Thanks, I'll pass that link on to him. I'm not real worried about the load sharing, we're talking about a pontoon that goes 20mph if you have some space to accellerate and the kids using the tube will be maybe 60 lbs.

Re: Bridle for towing

That's funny. 20 is my top speed too. I guess it's the engineer in me showing, as the way the U-bolt "stern eyes" are on my pontoon boat, they just don't look that sturdy. They are also vertical, not horizontal, which means more stress due to torque.

I liked the looks of the coated cable model better (used carabiners, not hooks with safeties), but opted for the longer harness. Still have not used it as I literally just bought it. If it does not work out, I'll go the cable route (maybe 8' would have been OK, but I liked longer too).

I'm also waiting for a new prop. Should be here Friday, which hopefully means I have plenty to play with this weekend.