Pulling a skier or tube with a outboard motor boat

[H20Rat]

Re: Pulling a skier or tube with a outboard motor boat

Please don't use the cleats. They aren't designed at all to handle that kind of weight. When they break they could fling back and seriously injure the rider. Bad, bad idea.

I grew up with trihulls very similar to that, had about half a dozen of them. Not a single one had issues with the cleats pulling out, and they were HEAVILY used. Again, your mileage may vary, but as I mentioned above, if a skier can rip it out with human strength, there is no way that cleat is safe to tie up to a dock in a storm and should be fixed. That will impart far more force than a skier would.

As far as flying back, that will only happen if you use a cheap stretchy rope. A good watersports rope has zero stretch. When something breaks it just drops straight down.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Pulling a skier or tube with a outboard motor boat

but as I mentioned above, if a skier can rip it out with human strength, there is no way that cleat is safe to tie up to a dock in a storm and should be fixed. That will impart far more force than a skier would.

I disagree. Also, we're talking about tubing as well which exerts so much force that many aftermarket ski pylons even strictly advise against using them with a towable. My cleats have like 1/4" screws in them and the body of them is plastic. They are anchored into sheet metal on my aluminum and just fiberglass on glass boats often without a back versus stern eyes which are like 1/2" at least bolted through the transom. I think it's dangerous to advise anyone to use cleats as towable attachment points.

 

[Ned L]

Re: Pulling a skier or tube with a outboard motor boat

I don't even know if they are available any more, but you used to be able to buy (for lack of better words) sort of a cast aluminum two piece collar that would fit/clamp snuggly aroung the outboard lower unit (right above the water) with an 'eye' on it that you could clip the tow rope to. They were great because you added absolutely no extra strain to the boat when towing skiiers and steering was not affected at all.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Pulling a skier or tube with a outboard motor boat

I don't even know if they are available any more, but you used to be able to buy (for lack of better words) sort of a cast aluminum two piece collar that would fit/clamp snuggly aroung the outboard lower unit (right above the water) with an 'eye' on it that you could clip the tow rope to. They were great because you added absolutely no extra strain to the boat when towing skiiers and steering was not affected at all.

Are you kidding me? How would a skier cutting NOT yank the motor in one direction or the other????

 

[craigman]

Re: Pulling a skier or tube with a outboard motor boat

Wow, getting to be a lot of opinions on this subject!
Like i mentioned, i will only be towing a tube so i think i will give the cleats a good reinforcing (if not already) and give that a go.
But please keep the ideas and thoughts coming!

 

[LongLine]

Re: Pulling a skier or tube with a outboard motor boat

For years I've pulled skiers & tubers with my 75 hp/18 ft'r. What I have is a "harness" which is a length of rope hooked to both cleats with a pulley. The tow rope has a hook that attaches to the pulley. About a ft from the hook I tied on a small float so the pulley can't sink. With the pulley, no matter how hard the skier pulls to one side, both cleats always take the pressure.

Tom B.
(LongLine)

 

[pokefan7790]

Re: Pulling a skier or tube with a outboard motor boat

If you get a tow bridle with a pulley it distributes the pull on your tow eyes in turns. m2c