towing from the wake tower

[31BVeteran]

has anyone had any issues with pulling a 3 person tube from the wake tower? Tried from the transom but the rope gets dragged under the wake way too much and creates more drag than I'd like. Any tips or informative information?

thanks in advance!

 

[NORCAL-GAS]

I use the booster ball.

 

[MidnightRider]

has anyone had any issues with pulling a 3 person tube from the wake tower? Tried from the transom but the rope gets dragged under the wake way too much and creates more drag than I'd like. Any tips or informative information?

thanks in advance!

Here's some facts
1. Yamaha's official statement is Do Not Pull Tubes From The Tower.
2. Yamaha has produced promotional material that contradicts this by showing a Yamaha boat pulling tubes from the tower.
3. Many people pull tubes (1,2,3 person) from the tower with no bad effects. I personally pull two tubes from the tower and it works great, not worried in the slightest of the integrity of these towers - they are beefy. Been pulling tubes from towers and pylons on multiple brand boats for 30 years.
4. Many other people will say that this will cause your boat to flip over or it will rip your tower off or that you will surely die. (in other words think its a really bad idea)
5. This WILL solve your problem of rope getting caught in the wake.
6. Some do it, some don't - you have to make your own decision on the risk if any.

 

[Scott]

^^^^^^^^What MidnightRider Said^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[Ancient canoe]

I know many here do it, and Murphy's law of anything that can go wrong will/has gone wrong, but are there any catastrophic experiences towing a tube? When I search the topic it's just a mixed bag of I do it's fine and I don't because I prefer to play on the safe side.

I tow a big mable with a few young kids from the tower, but am hesitant with adults. The younger kids are <10, so I'm not doing any crazy whipping or trying to get them airborne. It's just mainly to stop rope drag and help me not suck up a rope.

 

[AlphaKap]

I typically tow from the transom but towed last weekend from the tower. We have a 3 person Connely Raptor which is more rectangular in shape and almost has little wings. I will say that it gets some air and at times was concerned it was going to take flight. We switched back to the transom.

I think it depends on the tube and the how hard you go at it. Just be careful that you don't get too much air and dump the kids.

 

[Peelz]

I typically tow from the transom but towed last weekend from the tower. We have a 3 person Connely Raptor which is more rectangular in shape and almost has little wings. I will say that it gets some air and at times was concerned it was going to take flight. We switched back to the transom.

I think it depends on the tube and the how hard you go at it. Just be careful that you don't get too much air and dump the kids.

assuming they are physically capable and athletically can handle it...isnt that THE point of tubing? lol <only half kidding>

this is one of the ?'s on my mind as well. wife STILL dead set on yammie. but the swim platform will likely house the "lily pad" so no towing.

 

[Cory]

I watched someone pull 3 tubes with 9 people on them from the tower all weekend. Appeared to work ok, but I wouldn't have done it.

 

[B0at1n]

assuming they are physically capable and athletically can handle it...isnt that THE point of tubing? lol <only half kidding>

this is one of the ?'s on my mind as well. wife STILL dead set on yammie. but the swim platform will likely house the "lily pad" so no towing.

Get one of those inflatable ones so you can stow it when your not using it.

 

[Sbrown]

I tow from the tower and from the transom. I'm not too worried about the tower handling the load, even with multiple tubes and riders like I tow regularly. Three tubes with 4 to 6 riders. You do have to be aware and use caution however, because when a large tube submarines it can exert a tremendous amount of pressure on the boat and when you combine this with a high tow point, well you can do the math. I just make sure to pay attention and get out of the throttle quickly if a tube starts going under, which has happened. No problems so far.

 

[31BVeteran]

So many mixed responses lol, but I’ll proceed with caution. I do have the booster ball but it didn’t seem to do the job

 

[MidnightRider]

So many mixed responses lol, but I’ll proceed with caution. I do have the booster ball but it didn’t seem to do the job

Yeah I tried the booster ball too and from my perspective it was almost worst in some ways.