Tow rope to Talon bracket?

[brandhr]

Warming up and kids want to tube. My tie down eye on the starboard side is located so that the tow harness rope is going to rub against the sharp parts under the Talon bracket. Wondering if I could just attach the harness to the Talon bracket arm (see picture). Would probably tow 2-3 kids at a time or possible two adults at one time. No more than a handful of times a year so not worth the hassle of adding new stern eyes. Other thought was to drill a hole near the top of the jack plate and attach a heavy duty carabiner. Thoughts or better ideas?

 

[JASinIL2006]

Warming up and kids want to tube. My tie down eye on the starboard side is located so that the tow harness rope is going to rub against the sharp parts under the Talon bracket. Wondering if I could just attach the harness to the Talon bracket arm (see picture). Would probably tow 2-3 kids at a time or possible two adults at one time. No more than a handful of times a year so not worth the hassle of adding new stern eyes. Other thought was to drill a hole near the top of the jack plate and attach a heavy duty carabiner. Thoughts or better ideas?

That bracket will destroy your tow rope in short order. And when it breaks, that metal hook will go flinging back toward the kids on the tube. Not a great solution, I'm afraid.

 

[briangcc]

Couple passes and I see that bracket cutting right through the rope as you have it now. You need a different solution. 2nd boat just for tubing?

 

[flashback]

Yea, the Sharp edge on the talon will cut the line in a heartbeat..I like the idea of a carabiner. Or maybe just an eye bolt..

 

[brandhr]

That bracket will destroy your tow rope in short order. And when it breaks, that metal hook will go flinging back toward the kids on the tube. Not a great solution, I'm afraid.

Rope isn’t going directly to the bracket, it would be the harness attached to the bracket on starboard and stern eye on port. Rope attaches to the harness. So if the harness did break on the starboard/bracket side, it would still be attached on the port side and the hook wouldn’t be flying back more than a few feet. Maybe a steel cable harness with carabineer attachment to the bracket?

 

[brandhr]

Couple passes and I see that bracket cutting right through the rope as you have it now. You need a different solution. 2nd boat just for tubing?

“Honey, I need to buy another boat because I can’t figure out how to rig up the tube on the current boat”. Yeah, that would go over like a fart in church

 

[04fxdwgi25]

Maybe a big Stainless eye bolt through those holes and some backing plates and S/S Nylock nuts?

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[fatlenny]

I dont believe your harness would survive many passes if the bracket didnt get ripped off the back of your boat. That bracket is not designed to have that much force on it. There is a lot of forces applied when pulling a tube. A solution is to purchase a TurboSwing. Expensive but will work and you would not need to use a harness. https://www.overtons.com/turboswing...VpfvjBx1CYgBwEAQYASABEgIA8vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds The much less expensive alternatives would be to remove your bracket or purchase new tiedown Ubolts and relocate. Myself, I would love to have a turbo swing, but price keeps me away, so I would find a way to remove these parts when I want to pull a tube. Although I dont know what this bracket is actually for.

 

[garbageguy]

we've dealt with this for many years, have a few solutions (including operational considerations (no cost)) - as I'm sure many do

one thing we've used (small boat, small outboard), about $30 at a certain online retailer that starts with A


difficult to tell what you're working with, maybe post a few pics that start further out of your rig, then pics getting closer to where your question is

 

[brandhr]

I dont believe your harness would survive many passes if the bracket didnt get ripped off the back of your boat. That bracket is not designed to have that much force on it. There is a lot of forces applied when pulling a tube. A solution is to purchase a TurboSwing. Expensive but will work and you would not need to use a harness. https://www.overtons.com/turboswing-xl-330114.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign={Campaign}&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0-PL-4jK_wIVpfvjBx1CYgBwEAQYASABEgIA8vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds The much less expensive alternatives would be to remove your bracket or purchase new tiedown Ubolts and relocate. Myself, I would love to have a turbo swing, but price keeps me away, so I would find a way to remove these parts when I want to pull a tube. Although I dont know what this bracket is actually for.

Thanks. I saw the Turboswing when looking at options before I made this post. Would be a good solution but will probably only have 3-4 days of tubing per summer so not worth spending that much money.

The bracket is for a Talon power pole. I was thinking if I connected it fairly close to where it connects to the jack plate it would be able to handle the force. I’ll try to post some more pics later this morning.

 

[brandhr]

What if I just connect the tie rope directly to the port side eye and skip the harness? I would probably put a foam swimming noodle around the rope to protect the motor. The motor already has some rope rash/scuffed paint from the previous owner’s tow rope.

I assume connecting to just one side would double the force, but is that a concern? Transom must be three inches thick and there looks to be about a 4x4” 1/4” thick backing plate on the eye. For reference, this is a 2000 Triton 198 walleye boat.

 

[ScottinAZ]

the transom tie down points are among the strongest points on the boat. If it were me, I would go with the cheap rope bridle between the two points, and have some chafing gear (some form of replaceable cover to protect the rope) on the bridle where it passes by the bracket and monitor for wear on the rope, bending on the bracket.

IIRC tubing places a LOT more forces on the boat (a lot more wetted area on a tube you need to drag) than a skier when starting off so I wouldnt try to get by with just one tie point.

 

[brandhr]

the transom tie down points are among the strongest points on the boat. If it were me, I would go with the cheap rope bridle between the two points, and have some chafing gear (some form of replaceable cover to protect the rope) on the bridle where it passes by the bracket and monitor for wear on the rope, bending on the bracket.

IIRC tubing places a LOT more forces on the boat (a lot more wetted area on a tube you need to drag) than a skier when starting off so I wouldnt try to get by with just one tie point.

Thanks. The previous owner said he used the tie down eyes and a bridle and just lived with the wear from the bracket.

Maybe an old garden hose over the harness rope where it will rub on the bracket?

 

[ScottinAZ]

Thanks. The previous owner said he used the tie down eyes and a bridle and just lived with the wear from the bracket.

Maybe an old garden hose over the harness rope where it will rub on the bracket?

that will work to protect the rope. When it gets chewed up, replace it with a new piece. For as much tubing as you say you are doing, that is what I would be doing....

 

[Scott Danforth]

The tow eyes are rated to hold 2.5 - 3 times your boats weight

The talon bracket will rip off the boat from the forces of a tube

A tube that gets submerged will go from 400# of force to 2500#+. A 3 person tube would impart more force

Products like turboswing or rent a boat

 

[dubs283]

Pretty sure talon states somewhere in the paperwork/online their product is not mean for tow sports. That releases the liability on their end

If you love your children, don't use this setup to tow.

Install a proper setup and have fun or prepare to witness one or more of your kids visiting the er

 

[Scott Danforth]

Or unbolt the thing and use the tow eyes

 

[stresspoint]

??? , how hard is it to drill new holes in a more appropriate place for towing IE: a solid area on the transom and fit new tow hooks or eye bolts.
get a $50 bridle like the ones used on outboard boats for skiing , you can use them for tubing as well.

if you are not confident enough to drill into your hull , i am sure a boat repair shop will indulge you for a couple of cartons of beer

no need to reinvent the wheel .

 

[04fxdwgi25]

Thanks. The previous owner said he used the tie down eyes and a bridle and just lived with the wear from the bracket.

Maybe an old garden hose over the harness rope where it will rub on the bracket?

Take a ride to your local fire department. They usually have some old unusable fire hose laying around that they will happily part with.

 

[brandhr]

I always say that I am not lazy— I will work really hard to avoid having to do additional work. But I think you all have convinced me to do the work of adding new tow eyes. Drilling is the easy part— removing the trolling motor batteries (and everything else that’s in the way of accessing the inside stern) and contorting my body to get into position to tighten the nuts is the work I wanted to avoid .

Thanks to all who took the time to respond.