Adding ski pole or tower etc.

[Hofty]

Hey folks,

I have a 1989 18ft Searay boat. She has a 150hp 2 stroke blackmax on her. I am wanting to add a ski pole to tow a tube or for wakeboarding etc. and am having trouble figuring out what kind of product to purchase and/or if it is a good idea in the first place. There's aftermarket products which bolt on to transom and others that Bolt onto Gunwale etc. Boat is older (1989) but has a solid transom and solid floor.

What should I do? See pictures attached. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[jbcurt00]

Most (all?) Ski pole makers expressly state not for use for towing tubes.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Use the tow eyes on the transom for towing tubes

 

[Hofty]

Use the tow eyes on the transom for towing tubes

Really? That will hold up? I mean they have some sturdy backing but towing off the transom? Is that risky ?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Really? That will hold up? I mean they have some sturdy backing but towing off the transom? Is that risky ?

The two tow eyes and a bridle. That is what they are designed for

 

[JASinIL2006]

We pull tubes off the transom eyes all the time. it’s the strongest place that you can attach tow line to. Pulling a tube from a ski pole or pylon is a good way to tear the thing out of the boat when the tube submarines.

 

[Sparike]

There are some threads in Towables & Stand up paddleboards. I put a pole in my 1850 Tyee & did not notice any more issues with submarining than I did using the tramsom eyes. It did make the boat less stable when I turned, I think someone without experience pulling tubes could acutally roll the boat. My pole goes all the way to the bottom stringers of the hull, has another attachment at floor level, then were it goes through the splash well I double laminated 2--1/2" pieces of marine plywood wrapped in fiberglass . I also use a 4K rated rope with a strech cushion.

 

[briangcc]

My '99 Bayliner came with a ski pole and I'm fairly confident there was a warning right on it not to pull a tube on it. I used a bridle instead and hooked to the transom eyes.

Current boat I use a bridle for tube duty.

 

[JASinIL2006]

There are some threads in Towables & Stand up paddleboards. I put a pole in my 1850 Tyee & did not notice any more issues with submarining than I did using the tramsom eyes. It did make the boat less stable when I turned, I think someone without experience pulling tubes could acutally roll the boat. My pole goes all the way to the bottom stringers of the hull, has another attachment at floor level, then were it goes through the splash well I double laminated 2--1/2" pieces of marine plywood wrapped in fiberglass . I also use a 4K rated rope with a strech cushion.

I don't think the problem is that the tube attached to the ski pole causes the tube to submarine.

The problem is that you have basically created a lever that wants to rack your transom. I'm sure it's possible to mount a ski pole so securely that even a tube burying itself under hundreds of gallons of water at 20 mph won't rip out of your transom, but I'm guessing most pylons just aren't designed for those kind of forces. That's why most of them, and most tubes and tube ropes, instruct you not to attach the tow rope to a pylon.

 

[todhunter]

Forgive my ignorance here, but when you guys say "ski pole" and "ski pylon", are you talking strictly aftermarket for ones that are not rated for tubes, or are you also talking about the attachment point that comes stock on some boats? For instance, my boat has the round "eye" with a "finger" sticking about halfway into the "eye". This is attached to a pole that is lag bolted to the transom. The pole passes through the cap of the boat (and a glassed in double layer of 3/4" plywood), which also has a metal ring on the surface that the pole passes through. My boat also has "transom eyelets" as well, so I'm sure a bridle is an option for me.

Sorry for the newb question, but I'm a boat newb and I don't want to break my newly restored boat. I plan on pulling a tube at times.

 

[Scott Danforth]

transom eyelets are the strongest (rated to support 3X the boat's weight)

the ski hook (round eye with finger) is basically rated for about 400# of pull (the most you can generate by holding a ski rope

a wake board tower is basically rated for the same 400#.

now when a tube submarines, the tube acts like a giant parachute underwater and the tow rope can generate up to the breaking strength of the rope. with a tower or long pylon, if the boat is negotiating a turn and a tube submarines, the resulting force on the rope will flip the boat. been first on scene to such an accident.

hence the reason towers and ski pylons have a warning not to pull tubes.

Its just physics. as Archimedes stated: "Give me a lever of sufficient strength and a place to stand and I can move the world"