pulling inflatables

this is my first post, bare with me. I recently bought a 99 centurion 22ft. not everyone in my family boards yet, so we bought a tube. when pulling the tube the rope seems to get buried in the wake right behind the boat and doesnt allow any real whip unless I turn really hard. the boat is a dd and the pylon has been removed. I was pulling from the tow ring at back of boat. What can i do? Is it safe to pull from tower. (Proflight)?? Any advice?

DO NOT PULL FROM THE TOWER!!!!! That is a great way to destroy your tower. I have seen the circular mount on the top of the tower litterally yanked off pulling a tube. I would reinstall the pylon. We use the pylon for that all the time.

Crappy tower if that happened Teddy. Kevin if you have a good tower there shouldn't be a problem. I have pulled tubes with at least 500 lbs. worth of passengers in it with no problems and have been doing so for years. Mastercraft with Zeroflex if you are curious what brand I have.

We pull off of the tower but only one person at a time. As long as you keep tension on the line ( no jerky starts or quick pulls with slack in the line ) you should be fine pulling off of the tower.

I agree with Tedday - towers can bend. Someone once said - a skier can let go of the rope, a tube can't...

I agree, don't pull off the tower. Have everyone learn to ride then throw the inflatable out.

I agree, convincing everyone to ride. Had never boarded before two weeks ago. skied when i was younger, wife never anything. I actually got up my third pull and my wife on her 8th. my son is 3 years old not quite ready for boarding, that's why the tube. what about kneeboard? same thing...don't go off tower??

A kneeboarder can go off of the tower because the forces are much less. (you can only hold on so hard). Kneeboarding (the way I do it) uses less strength than even wakeboarding.

We have an 04 Sanger V215 and proflight tower. We pulled everyone from the tower on the tube. Even 3 BIG guys on one of those monster tubes and whipped them so hard they begged to stop. NO problems

I have done some serious tube pulling with the tower, and have never had a problem. I do have the FCT on my SANTE though, so some lesser towers might have a problem.

If your tower has no flex when hanging or swinging on it I would not worry, but if you can flex it like I have seen the towers on supras while running down the road, I would not tow a tube with it.

Ya that's was happens, it's pretty normal. I always pull fromt he rear center mount ski eye, I guess this is just something ya have to deal with.

Just for the record tho can you pull off the pylon?

I have seen many cases where people pull from the tower. I agree with people in the post. If your tower can take it do it. Mine cam from Tops ad Towers in Houston in 99 becasue Zero Flex was back ordered. Anyway my tower is a tank and does well pulling anything.

On antoher note anything that bends one way can be reformed with the proper tools. HAHAHAHAHA


Another thought. If you are worried about too much stress get a "trick release" from back in the day trick skiing and those old fart three eventers that are still around. Rig it to your tower and just pull the rip cord if you think that the tube is causing a problem.


Re install the origiinal pylon you will want it down the road

hope that helps

Preston

Don't pull from your tower! Bending of the tower is not the issue! I've never seen a bent tower, but I HAVE seen stress cracks around tower feet. The week point in our boats in not with the aluminum tubing as much as the fiberglass it's bolted to. If your tube gets burried in the water from a wake or whatever just imagine the forces the tower is encountering. A ski pylon is bolted to the strongest part of the hull and the forces are usually distributed by an aluminum frame depending on your boat. It is very very strong and bolted very close to the engine which exerts the power.

Would you pull your boat with your truck by hitching it to the top of your cab?

(Message edited by kraig on April 07, 2005)