Tower Weight Support

[n_ikkon]

Hi Everyone.... if this question has been answered please point me in that direction, I am more than happy to read it. But my question is, can things or people hang from the wake tower? if so, is there a max weight? I have a 2016 242 Limited S and now my wife wants to add a hammock to the tower.

 

[Texatl]

Great question... I had to go look. I Have an after market tower (Samson Reverse Arch) on my '11 242 Limited, and couldn't find anything on their site or Monster's site. Odd. I figured they would post something...

Next I went to my Owners/Operators Manual as it has info on all the 24 foot boats from 2011. SX240, AR240, 242 Limited and Limited S. And viola- it actually has it in there . In my manual (2011) its on Page 2-23. Unfortunately, your wife will be disappointed... See below:

 

[Nightmare]

I would assume a 'static load' could be MUCH more than 350 lbs. You get a 200 lb guy on the wakeboard and I bet he exerts at least 500lbs on the tower.

I've been considering towing 2 kids from the tower. The rear point is so low for the tube it drags in the water much of the time.

One problem I see is the Bimini, the rope goes under the top, so it will contact the side arms and straps unless I keep the tube almost directly behind the boat.

 

[Texatl]

Agreed on static load. But that would be almost laterally not perpendicular tower to boat floor. Hanging a hammock, seems like they are saying vertically it cannot support weight. Just horizontally. I’m not a mechanical engineer so, I dunno.

I have towed my kids on a tube from my tower. I have to put the Bimini down all the way. Next time, I will go from the tow eye “cleat”, which is pathectically small on my boat. Next time.

I’m concerned with the dragging line as well. But they make a booster ball which keeps the line afloat. Which is funny since I couldn’t for the life of me why that was an issue… but I was towing from the tower. Towing from the cleat… I get it now. LOL

I’ll leave the tower for wake boarding. And, no pull ups, swings seat, hammocks. LOL

 

[2kwik4u]

Disclaimer first.......While I am an engineer, and I would do this myself, you must assess you own risk here and make the decision that is right for you. The manual CLEARLY states to NOT do this. I can't stress that enough. Your warranty (if remaining) will be void, and you will be liable for all your own actions and the results of those actions including potential bodily harm, and damage to property. Be careful, and be safe.

NOW.......IMO, You'll be fine to hang a hammock from that tower.

Here's a guy hanging on the tower of an Axis A24. I got the idea from him, and have a similar setup on my AR190. I took this picture back in 2017, and he still uses that tower most weekends. Tons of other issues with the boat, but the tower has been fine.

<--Click for larger image

I wouldn't use the tower like a diving board, but you should be able to hang a hammock from it without doing any significant damage. I would hang from the lowest "rung" that you can on the side of the tower. This is from a picture I found online. Use the red circled rungs if you can. Make sure the pins are fully seated, and the tower is locked in place appropriately.



The biggest issue is that you are loading it in "reverse" from a wakeboarder. Think of the moment applied to the base. It's "clockwise" at the base from a wakeboarder, but "anti-clockwise" with a hammock. The torque applied is a function of mass and distance. you have a much lower distance from the pivot with a hammock, but the pull force (mass) is much higher. I would wager the pull force of a wakeboarder to be under 100lbs. I know I can pull myself forward while on the board with one arm, but I can't do a one armed pullup. I weigh 220lbs, so I'm guessing the pull force from the board is under 100lbs. I can really lean into the board and produce some serious tension in the rope though. Maybe, I'll grab a fish scale next time I'm out .......Anywho.....moral of the story here is that your tower should be just fine to support the weight of a person in a hammock as it will be along the same magnitude as what a wakeboarder would create, but in the opposite direction.

 

[HangOutdoors]

I would assume a 'static load' could be MUCH more than 350 lbs. You get a 200 lb guy on the wakeboard and I bet he exerts at least 500lbs on the tower.

I've been considering towing 2 kids from the tower. The rear point is so low for the tube it drags in the water much of the time.

One problem I see is the Bimini, the rope goes under the top, so it will contact the side arms and straps unless I keep the tube almost directly behind the boat.

I know you have a different Bimini, but when I tow the tube from the tower I go over the top of the Bimini and then lower the support brackets 1 or 2 notches. I don't have issues and the rope clears just fine.

Interesting point of note. The kids preferred being towed from the tower on the tubes and it keeps the rope pretty high away from the engines and at that angle when they hit a good wave it pops them out of the water. It also keeps the front of the tube pulled up just a bit and makes gliding across the glass much better.

This year I did an outing where I just towed from the lower tow point on the stern. The rope gets caught up in the wash at times but it gives them a different ride which now they say they prefer that better. I do have the booster ball, but don't like using it.

 

[Texatl]

I do have the booster ball, but don't like using it.

They’d be easier to accept and use if they didn’t look so damn awkward.