Tubing from the tower?

[blackhawkpilot]

Can you pull a tube from the tower? Will it do any damage? I've heard "no" and "yes". We just bought the Body Glove Manta Ray 3 and tried towing it from the tow point on the stern. It only wanted to submarine and go under the water. I'm thinking that since the tow strap is low on the tube, the tow point should be higher, i.e. from the tower.

 

[arew~SX230]

The general consensus seems to be not from the tower for bigger heavily loaded tubes. Fill the tube as much as possible, and have the riders get as far back as possible when you take off

 

[Scottintexas]

That's certainly a different manta ray style, for a minute I thought we were going to start that Darwin discussion!

Your manual probably says not to tow from the tower and I don't know about the build of the Chaps but we have many Yamaha members that tow multiple tubes from their tower without any problems. I personally pull a mega slice 6 person disk tube from my tower for 6 years with no noticeable issues.

 

[LTM1964]

Make sure you aren't using too large of a rope. My wife's cousin bought a new pontoon boat and the package included a tube and rope. The rope was huge, probably over 1" diameter. It drug in the water, spraying the riders, and would go slack so the tube didn't respond to throttle at all. I loaned him my tube rope that was similar to a ski rope and all problems were solved.

 

[sysinu]

Tubing from the tower isn't a "will I break it" concern... it's more of a "will I flip it" concern. our boats have a less pronounced hull (with a more flat bottom at aft) than other wake boats do so not only is it ill advised in general to do this, it's even less safe with our boats. Huge capsize concern.

That said... I tow 2 and 3-person tubes from the tower, nothing that flies though and I'm super careful going into turns.

 

[buckbuck]

Yep, every time all summer long.

 

[blackhawkpilot]

Next question...over the top of the bimini or underneath it?

 

[swatski]

Next question...over the top of the bimini or underneath it?

Over the top. The boat's attitude will change so the rope won't even touch the bimini/frame once it pulls.
Unless you use a very short rope, that could be different.
At least that's what works with a standard 60ft rope in an AR240, what seems a fairly similar tower/bimini setup.

--

 

[Bryan mazanec]

I've been towing one rider on a tube from the arch, no problems but I would be careful with the load

 

[Bruce]

Do you guys feel there is a benefit to towing the tube from the tower?

 

[robert843]

Do you guys feel there is a benefit to towing the tube from the tower?

based on @buckbuck pictures I'm assuming air time is a benefit lol those pics are great!

 

[Bryan mazanec]

Do you guys feel there is a benefit to towing the tube from the tower?

When it's time to dump someone off, I like being able to see the line and if there's slack in it. Also like the fact it's not near the intakes, every little bit help to keep from sucking it up.

 

[swatski]

Do you guys feel there is a benefit to towing the tube from the tower?

Most definitely, but it would also depend on the tube and the rope length. Some tubes like to "dive" which can be super dangerous as far as potential damage to the boat. Under-inflated, too. Short rope and a tall tower/attachment point will generally equal a more aggressive angle that helps pull up a skier/boarder/tuber out of the water.

Incidentally, I must say those Yamaha JB ski hooks do not really inspire confidence when you see how they are only very lightly enforced on the inside. Moreover, the tie-down eyes (or whatever you want to call those, LOL) under the transom - are NOT ENFORCED on the inside of the hull at all! I found that out from a @McMark post. That is shocking as those are normally meant to be used for any kind of heavy-duty towing, including towing a disabled vessel, etc. but would not want to do this in a Yammie.

So, I don't think there are any great options for towing heavy things behind those boats, really.

--

 

[Ronnie]

Been towing tubes with up to four adults from the tower for years no problems what so ever. The tube gets airborne a lot easier and rarely subs on take off (but the latter is easily controlled by positioning the riders to the rear of the tube on start up).

As for over or under the Bimini, it depends on what model and year your boat is. For the the 242s anyway. The 2010 and 2011 biminis seem to be set up so that the rope rides under them but the newer models have biminis that can be lowered at the rear so the rope rides over the top. Not sure about the fixed biminis on the new 242 x models but it looks like the rope is meant to go under them.

 

[biffdotorg]

Tubing from the tower isn't a "will I break it" concern... it's more of a "will I flip it" concern. our boats have a less pronounced hull (with a more flat bottom at aft) than other wake boats do so not only is it ill advised in general to do this, it's even less safe with our boats. Huge capsize concern.

That said... I tow 2 and 3-person tubes from the tower, nothing that flies though and I'm super careful going into turns.

I'm glad you stated that you have towed from your tower, as the physics lesson to be learned here is that towing a 3 person tube with even 3-200lb adults at the end of a 6oft rope at 25mph will not flip a 3500lb boat. Maybe my math is off because the dumbest thing we ever did was tow a 4-person tube with 4-200lb guys off of our tower and I will never do it again. But the chance or even the thought of flipping the boat was never experienced.

Hearing the tower creak at full swing was enough to scare me. But towing two tubes with a few 100lb kids does not phase our boat and the glass around the base of the tower doesn't even show the slightest of spider cracks in the gelcoat. The ability to keep the rope out of the water, get better lift, and center the pivot point of that tow rope are worth towing from the tower.

Good luck guys. Do what makes you feel safe. Just keep in mind, that Yamaha and other MFG's only put those warnings out there to cover their own asses. Even the Yamaha boats brochure a couple seasons ago showed an AR towing a tube from the tower.

 

[biffdotorg]

I had to go to the entry level boats overview video. Yamaha even shows the 2300lb dry AR190 series towing from the tower. Good thing they didn't have 4-drunk adults on a tube off that tower. Good chance it may have gone over. (smile)

Please take my tone lightly, I'm not picking on anyone. But this topic is a fair concern for those that have not done it, and actually read the warning labels.

Sorry, you can only see the rope on the Youtube video at full screen at high res.

Fast Forward to 1:30

 

[ZIRB3L]

Just throwing my thoughts out there for anyone who cares. I was in a boat where the tower cracked in half while pulling 2 tubes, 2 people each. That being said, the boat was an '01 Tige 21i, not Tiges greatest year by any means and definitely not the greatest tower build. The driver didn't help either when he tried to snap the line at every start.

Hearing the tower crack scared the crap out of me and it could have ended up much worse. I would definitely pay attention to your weight and your driving. Not saying you cant do it, just pay attention to where the tubes are at and try to not kill yourself or the people on the tube.