Best way to attach rope to u-bolt?

[nola mike]

kind of a strange setup on my boat. it has a wakeboard tower (see pic), though i'm not sure how that will do for waterskiing. otherwise, there's a single u-bolt in the center on the rear--this is normally the kind that is on either side of the rear and a pulley system attaches to. since it's mounted vertically and i don't want to drill, i can't really replace it with a traditional tow hook. so, my 2 solutions seem to be:
1. get a spring-hook or
2. tie a bowline knot around the bolt.

probably doesn't matter i guess, just wondering how people did it. and does skiing off of the tower work, or will i get launched every time i cross the wake?

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Best way to attach rope to u-bolt?

You could just buy a snap-hook for the end of the ski rope and attach it to the middle u-bolt just like you would on a ski-tow ring. You can ski behind the wakeboard tower (don't pull tubes) but the angle of the rope to the boat makes it difficult to make hard cuts since your hand/arm position is elevated.

Edit: I just saw that you mentioned a sping hook, so that was what I was talking about. seem like the easiest and cheapest solution unless you want to drill new holes for a ski eye, and exopy the old holes. Less than a $30 fix with either option really.

 

[nola mike]

Re: Best way to attach rope to u-bolt?

yeah, that's what i was worried about with the wakeboard tower, plus getting launched crossing the wake. i definitely don't feel like drilling/filling holes; i don't think it would get me much, if anything.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Best way to attach rope to u-bolt?

You wouldn't be able to tell the difference in the hook vs. the ski tow eye. It's just a cosmetic difference.

 

[nola mike]

Re: Best way to attach rope to u-bolt?

cool, thanks for the input. new bindings on the way, new waterpump in outdrive this weekend, giddyup!

 

[Utahboatnut]

Re: Best way to attach rope to u-bolt?

My last boat had an eye bolt in the tower so I just used the spring hooks and it worked great. I even used spring hooks when pulling tubes(2) from the transom hooks, never had an issue with strength and the ease of hook up was way nice.

 

[ndindy]

Re: Best way to attach rope to u-bolt?

I've always used climbing carabiners (biners) on tow lines. If they're strong enough to keep me from plummeting to my death on a hard fall, they're plenty strong to pull a tube. Actually they're rated high enough to suspend my tow rig if I remember right. And I like having to tie a knot only once for the life of the rope.

I don't think that the ones you find at wally world are actually rated for strength, but they seem to do fine as well. I just happen to have a lot of climbing gear

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Best way to attach rope to u-bolt?

Could you run the rope through the stern eye then up to the tower hook? That way your rope can be used as is.

 

[timdan94]

Re: Best way to attach rope to u-bolt?

why not put the loop end of the rope through the eye and then pull the other end of the rope through the loop on the rope.. pull tight and presto rope is attached....

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Best way to attach rope to u-bolt?

Post is several months old guys, he probably figured it out by now.