Got a "new to us" boat for the cottage, and we do have a ski pylon. There is a warning sticker on it not to tow tubes from the pylon, but we have done it with no issues on a single tube. As we move up to 2-3 person tubes and heavier riders, should we avoid the pylon? Do we go with one of those 3 point ropes attached to the 2 rear transom eyes and then out behing the outboard? Are tubes that much heavier than towing skier(s)?

Click to view attachment

i wouldn't worry about it to be honest, just be careful when you pull people in the tube they really can be dangerous especially if there's a lot of boats out there - the whip can be bad.

I don't think the warning is because of the strength of the pylon - a good slalom skier puts more pressure on the pylon than any tuber would. Its probably more to do with the fact that the tube can whip around the boat when its attached to the pylon. Keep doing what your doing and have fun.

hey rev i sureiy would not do that get a tube harness for the back of the boat they are much heaver then ski ropes, when the tube sticks you are looking at a very dangeros situation for a couple extra bucks do it the right way :div20:

issue with the harness is they put the rope in the wake too much unless you tow at 25 mph which is too fast for kids, my tow points so low on my Chaparral I'm looking for a new boat and a higher tow point is a requirement. I'd tow from the tow point, I'm assuming when you have multiple people on a tube they are kids and now a couple of 250lb guys.

I have had great experiences with my ski pylon. It is secured through the top fiberglass done into the boat floor. When I purchased the boat (2005 Glastron SX with a 150 Merc) it was an option and the dealer installed it prior to pick up. The pylon is roughly 4' long and must weigh 30+ pounds. It's solid, rock solid and I have had "zero" isses pulling 3 tubes ( 4 people) at a time.

I can pull at 10 MPH and the rope stays out of the water....Typical speed for us when towing is 18-22 MPH. The ropes are key, they must be good quality. See pics below, any other questions, PM me or reply.

John

Hey jamminZRT, how does your pole attach to the floor? Looks similar to my set-up, it is screwed/bolted to the floor, then runs up through the top fiberglass in front of the motor. It is a factory installed set-up on my boat. I see you have a warning sticker, probably says the same kind of thing?

I think like Sled Dude mentioned, it is probably just more for control reasons then for weight issues. As I said I don't see how a skier or two or three, is putting less weight than a tube. They all have to be pulled up and on to plane.

My other thought is that the transom eyes are simply secured through the back of the hull with the 2 bolts. Not like that is going to be all that much stronger in my opinion.

Still undecided...

the differance is most boats only have a 1/2" layer of ply and fiberglass over that for a floor and the transom is a solid piece 1,1/2" of wood sandwiched between inside and outside layers of glass, BIG structural differance.

Good point Mach, as I said I am unsure of the best set up. That is a good point though. I think for the $10-15 it costs for the transom rope, I might just grab one, then use it if the riders/tube #'s get bigger, and keep the pylon for the lighter riders, or single tubes.

REV,

My boat has no plywood, it's 100% fiberglass. The base where the pylon receiving bracket bolts is built up a bit with additional filerglass which creates a solid mounting area. But, yes, there is a hole drilled in front of the motor (with another bracket ) which is screwed in. The rod goes through and into the bottom bracket and attaches with a solid pin. The warning basically says for use with tubes and other towable equipment only. I saw a rating I believe of 700 lbs. NOTE, the carpeted area by the base mounting bracket is 1" think fiberglass covered with fabric to deaden any noice.

John

I just noticed you attaching area has what looks to be a "finger" to put the rope around correct? Mine is a bit diff. than that, it's a very thick area where the rope goes on.....

Ya, its a circle with the finger in the middle, kind of pointed towards the bow. I wouldn't trust just putting the loop over that finger, we usually go two wraps around the pole, then secure the loop on the finger to finish it off.

My mount looks like yours at the bottom, minus the pin to remove it.

When we were looking, before we decided to go used, we looked at Glastron and the sales guys told us about them being all fiberglass. We actually were looking at an MX 170 at the dealer, gorgeous boat !! As it turns out Silverline used fibergalss stringers and a composite material for the floors as well (before they ended up OOB. So I'm not mounted in wood at the bottom either.

:div20: I really like my Glastron.....Looks nice, rides great, plains in 3 seconds, and fly's with the 150. Almost too much top end for me, she gets a bit squirley @ 60...

You may want to look for a bar like mine....just a thought.

And BTW, your boat is very nice looking :div20:

The biggest thing with pulling with a pylon is that some tubes tend to get a bit flighty especially with light loads but if you pull with some common sense there is no problem. Probably safer cuz the ropes are not sticking in the waves.

Gust Dont get one of those flying tube. Had someone die at my resort this summer because of those things.

wait, you ski pole bolts directly to the floor like in the pic, is that all the support its got???

ares it removable and is like an upside down "T" that fits into a slot and you turn it 90* and then there are some stabilizer bars that go to the back of the boat on Ilets and hook over.

the only thing i dont like about ares is if you sitting in the back seat, it s real easy to nail your head off the stabilizer bars.

I wouldn't chance it. Guess it depends how it's attached. I've seen tubes rip pylons off and crack fiberglass around pylons that aren't designed to handle heavy loads. Chances of tubes destroying your pylon exponentially increase if you're pulling tubes around slalom courses... :lol2:

The "T" is bolted through 1" thick fiberglass. The pole fit's into the inverted "T" and connects with a pin. The pole is roughly 2-3" into the "T" so it has nice base support. There is a cutout in the fiberglass (behind the rear seat) with a stainless guide that is screwed into the fiberglass and the pole is kept tight in place there. Mine has no side stabilizer bars, just the base lin and upper guide. Works great for me :div20:

My grandpa has a 17' baja with a pylon and when my cousins and uncle were using it pulling two tubes, the pylon didn't break but it ripped the fiberglass right out of the back of the boat. There was a huge chunk missing where the pylon ripped out, it has since been repaired but they only use the two tow eyes on the rear of the boat now for tubing.

I am with most guys as well. I never tube of my ski bar I only use the transom hooks. The use a bungee robe as well whick really whips the tube plus absorbs all the reall hard "snaps" so I do not worry about ripping off a hook.

Andy,

I have done lots of pass's at 28 off, 4 off us jumped off Gannons narrows bridge and gone barefooting but the only damage I have ever done to a pylon was pulling tubes. The kids may be no problem but get Kevchev on it and stick the front your into a mess IMO.

Tubing for safety and control requires good tubes (ie.O'Brian), slightly overinflated and a 60' max length heavy duty toe rope. The tow strap is a good option to upgrading pylon but they tend to drag in water.

I like Jammin's set up for a runabout. The XR6 is 165 HP at min rev's, a lot of nice performance for a 150 sticker.

Bingo, and you are 100% correct about the XR6, very powerful at low rpm's, love it!


Click to view attachment

Towing from the pylon ^^^^^^

Click to view attachment