Where do you tow your tubes from?

brad56

New Member
Mar 15, 2009
23
Australia
Boat Info
2004 185 Sport
Engines
4.3l Mercruiser Alfa 1
Hi we have just bought a 3 person sit in tube and we are towing it from the tow hook on the back of the transom but it tends to submarine sometimes when we take off and when we do get it going it shakes. The salesman said to tow it from the tower but i was a bit worried about how much drag the tower was designed for. Our single tubes tow fine from the hook and we have towed up to 3 at a time.
 
Back side cleats with a tow harness. You may want to do a quick search. There was a good thread a while back about it. Somebody was talking about a line that had a big float ball on it that sounded interesting.
 
Back side cleats with a tow harness. You may want to do a quick search. There was a good thread a while back about it. Somebody was talking about a line that had a big float ball on it that sounded interesting.

The ball is only so-so, as it tends to get caught outside the wake. The salesman is an idiot. Don't tow the tube from the tower unless you don't want to keep the tower. Just have the riders lean back when you start out.
 
from the rear tow eye!

RiverCamp298.jpg
 
The smaller the boat, the better the ball works (smaller wake, obviously). The larger the boat, the less need for the ball (typically higher towing point, compared to the water). Plus the larger the boat, the less the boat is affected by the drag of the rope through the wake - tends to pull the tube through better.
 
I've also found that the quicker you can get up on plane the better. When I tow the 3 man tube at slow speed it tends to submarine, I thing all the turbulance in the wake before getting to plane creates less bouyancy in the water.
 
One other general tip... the #1 reason for tube failure is it not being pumped up enough. It needs to be really tight and firm. The softer it is, the more likely it is to submarine, as well.
 
I've also found that the quicker you can get up on plane the better.


This has been my experience too. Even towing a boat type tube (with the youngins in it), the slow pace was the only time it ever started to submarine. After it was back up on the top of the water, the kids loved it since the boat got filled up!
 
Is it safe to use a tow harness from the rear two cleats? That would be a great solution as we also have issues with the line getting "caught" in the wake on the back of our 240SD. It would seem to be less pull on the two cleats then the center ski eye?
 
Is it safe to use a tow harness from the rear two cleats? That would be a great solution as we also have issues with the line getting "caught" in the wake on the back of our 240SD. It would seem to be less pull on the two cleats then the center ski eye?

You can certainly use the lifting eyes, but that will only make the problem worse as the rope would be closer to the water.

The Tow ring is plenty strong - you won't pull it out.
 
Back side cleats with a tow harness. You may want to do a quick search. There was a good thread a while back about it. Somebody was talking about a line that had a big float ball on it that sounded interesting.

Is it safe to use a tow harness from the rear two cleats? That would be a great solution as we also have issues with the line getting "caught" in the wake on the back of our 240SD. It would seem to be less pull on the two cleats then the center ski eye?

As stated earlier that is what we do sometimes.:thumbsup:
 
Sorry... you said "cleats" and I thought "lifting eyes". :smt101
 
Simple "moment arm" dynamics.....the lower towing point, equals less stess on the boat...the higher towing point, equals more stress on the boat. The the earlier reply said it best, that salesman was an idiot to suggest pulling tubes (especially multiple person tubes) using the wakeboard tower!!
 
As stated earlier that is what we do sometimes.:thumbsup:

We use the tow harness attached to the rear cleats with our 3 person "cockpit" style tube. Our kids love it. Only submerged it once and it was at a "slow speed". Other than that we've never had any problems.
:thumbsup:
 
We usually tow tubes from the tow ring, but I have used the ski pole on the Sea Ray before.

The only problem I've had with submarining the tube has been when the tube wasn't inflated enough and/or the tuber was leaning too far forward.

Funny...we had a guest that wanted to try the tube. He was a bigger guy and wanted to show the kids that he could do it.
A few seconds after taking off, my spotter(wife), signaled me to "STOP". I came off throttle and looked back to see nothing but a submerged rope.:wow:
He had never let go and had ridden the tube about 15' down.:grin: He popped back up after a second or two.
I gave him a little remedial class in tube riding and put another couple of pounds of air in the tube. He did well from then on!
 
Thanks for the input guys, I have found that from still towing from the hook I needed to keep the speed up and take off a lot faster. But the thing still shudders in the wake so I am wondering if the high five prop is creating a lot of turbulance, if I thought on the weekend I would have lengthened or shortened the rope and see what happens. what length rope do you use for these type of tubes?
 
Thanks for the input guys, I have found that from still towing from the hook I needed to keep the speed up and take off a lot faster. But the thing still shudders in the wake so I am wondering if the high five prop is creating a lot of turbulance, if I thought on the weekend I would have lengthened or shortened the rope and see what happens. what length rope do you use for these type of tubes?

We use 60' "multi-rider towable" rated ropes. I believe they are 1/2" but they might be 3/8".
 
My dealer specifically instructed me not to attach towables to the tower and after using it for a year I would agree. You can see the tower flex a lot while pulling skiers and boarders I'd hate to see how much flex it showed with a tube attached.

+1 on making sure the tube is fully inflated.
 
Is it really OK to pull tubes (or other towables) using the back cleats? I've heard of using the lifting eyes but didnt think the cleats would support towing.
 
As stated earlier, be doing if for years and never had a problem.
 

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