Pylon or no pylon?

[FirstRealBoat]

I have an older, 1977 Tri-Hull, with 115HP motor. I want to be able to do water fun with the family and friends. Here is the issue, I'm fat, so being able to pull me out of the water I am going to need a tower or pylon to get the angle right for lifting my big butt up on a skis or wakeboard.

What is the right way to install a ski pylon in a boat that doesn't have one? Can I? I am replacing the deck and repairing a soft spot, which means a full rebuild, it is most likely rotten all the way to transom. While I have it torn apart I want to add a pylon or even a tower if I can. It would look funny, but I'm going to do what I need to make this boat work for now.

Thanks

 

[gddavid]

Using a tower or pole to get skiers and wake boarders up behind a small boat can be a double edged sword. While the height provides a better angle for the skier, it also can make it hard for the boat to plane out because the tower or pole acts like a lever pulling the bow up. You can counter this with horsepower or in many cases moving passengers to the bow when taking off. Pulling a wake boarder requires a lot less power than a slalom skier and in my experience a skier with two skis. Technique of the skier is also a critical factor, a skier or wake boarder who straightens their legs out with their toes pointed to the sky will plow through the water till their arms give out, if your skier or boarder stays in proper positioning with the board at a shallower angle to the surface, they will ride the board or skis up rather than trying to pop up with brute strength.

My 19' bow rider with a tower and a 3.0 mercruiser pulls wake boarders with a boat full of people without a problem as long as the weight is distributed around the boat but to get me up on a slalom, the tow line needs to be on the transom and it takes everything that has to get me up and I weigh less than 160#.

 

[FirstRealBoat]

gddavid,

Thanks, that is the personal experience I was looking for. I don't see any of us doing slalom skiing. Two skis or a wakeboard is it. I don't think a tower is what I want to deal with. To much money, but a pole should work.

How should I build the decking and bracing under the deck to mount the pole?

 

[Frank Acampora]

Nah! You don't want a pole either. The question becomes: How Fat are you? Are you really fat or heavy and in good shape, calling yourself fat--there is a difference. You need the upper body strength. If you are over 250, the judging from the photo your boat will always have trouble pulling you out. On a 16 foot boat with a couple of people and equipment that tower of power is going to struggle a little. However, you can help it on ski days by switching to a prop with 2 pitches less.

Search for bigger skis. They do make them for bigger people. Lacking that, try wakeboarding. The extra area of the board makes it way easier to get up once you learn the technique. The transition from water skiing to wakeboarding is very much like the transition fro snow skiing to snowboarding.

When I first started wakeboarding It was very frustrating because I am a very good slalom skier and I could not get up on the board--took me about 10 tries and then I learned the skill. And, BTW: A lot of it is attitude. If you think you will have trouble, you definitely will have trouble. Understand: I am close to 70 and just by nature am losing some strength. However when I can find a spotter I am on a slalom--yeah, I can't ski 5 or 6 miles like I used to do but I can still get my licks in.

 

[FirstRealBoat]

Nah! You don't want a pole either. The question becomes: How Fat are you? Are you really fat or heavy and in good shape, calling yourself fat--there is a difference. You need the upper body strength. If you are over 250, the judging from the photo your boat will always have trouble pulling you out. On a 16 foot boat with a couple of people and equipment that tower of power is going to struggle a little. However, you can help it on ski days by switching to a prop with 2 pitches less.

Search for bigger skis. They do make them for bigger people. Lacking that, try wakeboarding. The extra area of the board makes it way easier to get up once you learn the technique. The transition from water skiing to wakeboarding is very much like the transition fro snow skiing to snowboarding.

When I first started wakeboarding It was very frustrating because I am a very good slalom skier and I could not get up on the board--took me about 10 tries and then I learned the skill. And, BTW: A lot of it is attitude. If you think you will have trouble, you definitely will have trouble. Understand: I am close to 70 and just by nature am losing some strength. However when I can find a spotter I am on a slalom--yeah, I can't ski 5 or 6 miles like I used to do but I can still get my licks in.

Now I am wondering if I should even mess with this boat?! I figured a 16 foot boat with 115 HP would do the trick, learning something new everyday.

I'm 300 lbs and have been out of the Army for two years, I can still hold my own when needed. Upper body strength is still there, I just like beer and whiskey to much. It's called the DD-214 give a shititis.......:clap2:

How do I measure what pitch prop I have? I need a new one anyways, this one is beat up.

 

[southkogs]

Prop pitch and diameter is typically stamped into the side or end of the hub.

A 16' with a 115 should pull a 300LB guy up on two. You might fight with it a little, but it'll do it. Wake boarding will be a bit tough on that boat ... you'll not have a big wake, and by adding enough ballast to get get one, you'll load the boat out. You'll get up on the wake board, but you won't have much of a wake to work with. That said, a knee board would be a jolly ride behind your tri-hull.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Here's yet another angle... A full rebuild on a glass boat will cost more than you can buy a better boat for.... Why not shop hard and find something with a lot more hp like say 18-20' with a 260 I/O

 

[FirstRealBoat]

Here's yet another angle... A full rebuild on a glass boat will cost more than you can buy a better boat for.... Why not shop hard and find something with a lot more hp like say 18-20' with a 260 I/O

I was planning on $2000 for working on this boat and another $500 just for extra is needed. So $2500, I am not seeing ANY bowride boats even close to $3000 that they themselves don't need a floor or new heads on the motor or a complete interior. I would love to have a 18-20 foot boat with a nice inboard engine, but without $5000-10K it's not going to happen in my area. Not to mention most the people here want gold for their beat and abused turd. I am willing to drive but again, for $3000, it's not getting much.

 

[smokeonthewater]

If it's a chevy v8, the engine can be replaced cheap

 

[FirstRealBoat]

Here's yet another angle... A full rebuild on a glass boat will cost more than you can buy a better boat for.... Why not shop hard and find something with a lot more hp like say 18-20' with a 260 I/O

On second thought, you might have the right idea.

What motors do I need to be looking for? From what I have read some inboard/outboard motors and drivers are hard to work on and hard to find parts for. Last thing I want is to trade one nasty beast for another nasty beast.

Plan is Ski, wakeboard, Kneeboard and tube. Little to no fishing, I have a 16' alumacraft for that.

There are so many options and so many different motors and boat combinations.

Thanks

 

[Tnstratofam]

You're gonna want to look for something with a chevy v8 with a mercruiser outdrive. Or a newer volvo penta. Even though I have an omc cobra set up with a 350 chevy in our Stratos ski boat I don't recommend one. Mine runs and shifts fine For Now, but it's an outdrive combo with parts becoming more scarce every year.

 

[FirstRealBoat]

You're gonna want to look for something with a chevy v8 with a mercruiser outdrive. Or a newer volvo penta. Even though I have an omc cobra set up with a 350 chevy in our Stratos ski boat I don't recommend one. Mine runs and shifts fine For Now, but it's an outdrive combo with parts becoming more scarce every year.

The one think I have noticed in this area we live in, it's hard to fine something that the owner doesn't want an arm and a leg for but only's worth the little finger.

 

[smokeonthewater]

That's pretty much everywhere.

The trick is to shop craigslist 2-4 times a day every day and when you find a possible deal drop everything, grab ur cash, and go,,,,

You may look at a dozen or more junkers but the deal is out there somewhere.

 

[Tnstratofam]

Smoke is right you have to wade through a sea of rotten boats to find that one good one. Unfortunately this is the worst time of year to be looking for a deal. It's funny we bought our Stratos 3 years ago in the spring for $2500.00 knowing it needed work and thinking it was still a good deal. If we would have been a little more patient and done a little more research we could have had our pick of several good bowriders that fit our needs for just a little more money. Including a 18 foot Stratos ski boat in better condition than ours for only $1000 dollars more. Patience and constant searching will pay off although it may be fall or even winter before the best deals show up. You may also want to expand your search outside of the Tri Cities to include Knoxville, Asheville, Hickory, or even Chattanooga and Atlanta. Those are all areas within decent driving time and distance to us.