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inflatable, tow from which tow point ?


uk_exile

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Firstly let me say we rarely tow a ski biscuit, normally trying to slaom the cours e or wakeboarding. But we are taking my son's friend out this weekend & he doesn't ski or board. In fact never been behind a boat so we're going to use our biscuit to get him used to movement first.

We just picked up our first Malibu, a 2002 Response LX last week. Biggrin.gif

Where would we tow a biscuit from ? Ski pole is obviuosly the strongest but that limits passengers numbers. Is it ok to tow from the centre stern handle or one of the side stern towing rings ?

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The center grab rail will be fine. I believe in discussions long ago, on a site far away, it was suggested that 400lbs was the limit at the center grab handle. This should be fine for pulling your tubers. I regularly pull two tubes, each with two people on them from the center handle.

It does clear up the passenger area nicely, but you gotta check on the ropes when you are changing riders, etc. Wrapping a tubing rope around your prop is not lots of fun...

Also, I believe your are able to lift the boat from the side rings. So no worries there, either...

You sound a little leary admitting to pulling a tube. Don't be...whatever it takes to get your son's buddy out on the lake is what it takes. It has been my experience that younger kids love to tube, and if that's what they like to do, then that's what I'm gonna give 'em! (of course, I'm always suggesting they "step up" to some combo skis, and once they do, they find they enjoy that also)

BTW, Congratulations on the Malibu, and welcome to the site

Edited by rts
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What is the skinny on pulling a tube from the tower? I have never tried it in fear of stress cracking the gel at the tower's feet. Not that I tube that much, but with a 3.5 year old in the boat I am affraid we will do our fair share of wallying this summer.

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My dealer says you are good to go with no problems from the tower. Just beware that if you whip someone Yahoo.gif across the wake the pull is going to be up so tubes will go airborne. Use your best judgement. Yahoo.gifYahoo.gif

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We so tube from the tower...

We tow from the tower...unless you are going to really toss a two person tube around...then we go to the pylon...

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What is the skinny on pulling a tube from the tower? I have never tried it in fear of stress cracking the gel at the tower's feet. Not that I tube that much, but with a 3.5 year old in the boat I am affraid we will do our fair share of wallying this summer.

We regularly hang 200+ lbers from the sides of our tower in the "sling" and never have had any gel issues so a toob would be a non issue

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We'll try towing from the tower.

It'll be first tower usage for us. Took the boat out for several hours last weekend but spent most of our time learning slow speed manevering (spelling ?). Didn't feel confident enough to tow either of our kids but I did have a quick ski. Felt great to ski behind compared to our previous boat. Howevet his weekend it'll be 2 full days of slalom, wakeboarding & inflatables :)

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We've pulled one of those large Big Bertha (4man) Costco units, plus another 2+ man from our tower. I think we had 12(+-) kids (all were under 12 years of age) on those two tubes a number runs. They had a total blast all getting on one tube and then jumping to the other.

No stress issues. Titan, of course.

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we've done um... 3 double tubes off the tower.... we got too good for dad on the old boat, so he had to buy a new boat with a bigger wake to knock us off, and even then it takes 20 minutes or so.

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are we proving a point. on the tmc site I saw a comment something like, "you can't go tubing without a bu"

we dont tube behind the bu, we dont even know what a tube is Innocent.gif

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are we proving a point. on the tmc site I saw a comment something like, "you can't go tubing without a bu"

I sure feel sorry for the 2-4 year old children of those MC owners who are too vain to pull a tube behind their boat, thus denying their young children (and older children who may lack the physical skills required to waterski or wakeboard) some fun out on the lake. :(

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My daughter was very upset last weekend when we "forgot" to take the tube to the lake with us. The water was 47 and we had a hard time keeping more than just the feet being dangled in the water. I think we will hit the local Academy store to look for a kids wetsuit today to keep peace in the family. And yes, we might be the idiots pulling a tuber wearing a wetsuit.

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FWIW, towing from the tower enables you to give the kiddos a good thrilling ride at less speed if you know the technique. Usually towing from the rear you have to get enough speed going to get them in a good whip & can often end up scaring them. By towing from the tower you can do "s turns" or "figure-8s" & combined with a little knowledge of how to use the throttle at the right time will get them airborn off of the wake without the high speed whip.

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Tubing in wetsuits--done all the time!!! They want to get in so bad and you can't let them feeze. Just had to upgrade my 7 yr old to a new size. He can't wait to try it over spring break!

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What about towing the tube from an extended pylon? I don't have any experience with a Skylon ext pylon, but the boat we are buying has one.

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We now tow all my kids and their friends from the ski pull on top of my IllusionX tower without any problem. If it's strong enough to pull 2 barefoot skiers, a tube is easy duty. For those that go fast enough and get air across the wake, the higher pull makes the air bigger. They love it and so do I.

I know there are some "pureists" here that don't like tubes. I totally understand and we do our best not to chop up good water. However, all of my kids started in the tube behind my Sea Ray (pulled it from the transom mounted ski hook). None wanted to ski @ first, but all ski or wakeboard now. They learned @ 4 or 5 on a boom after a year in the tube. Any chance to get them on the water reduces fear of the unknown and further allows mom & dad family time on the water, so enjoy the tube. :)

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Any chance to get them on the water reduces fear of the unknown and further allows mom & dad family time on the water, so enjoy the tube.

Well said.

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All this time I have been pulling the tube from the back of the boat because I was told that it would cause too much stress on the tower. I guess if you guys have been doing this for a while with no issues I will switch. I do like the lift provided by the tower.

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What about towing the tube from an extended pylon? I don't have any experience with a Skylon ext pylon, but the boat we are buying has one.

We pulled the kids (2-3) and or adults (2) all the time off a skylon all the time on my last boat... had great time . Never had any problems

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What about towing the tube from an extended pylon? I don't have any experience with a Skylon ext pylon, but the boat we are buying has one.

I was pulling two tubes last summer on my extended pylon and when one of the people fell off, the tube tipped over and caught some major drag on the tube covering. I am glad nobody was standing behind the drivers seat because that is the angle the pylon bent. Cry.gif I am talking about a 45 degree angle bent. It took a sawzall and a grinder to get it off. There was no repairing or bending it back to get it off...it was a b****!! I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND PULLING FROM AN EXTENDED PYLON. At least there was a lot of beer to drink my problem away Beer.gif and I finally got the tower set-up that I always had wanted. Yahoo.gif

Edited by sldavis
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