I did my first tubing on our boat over the weekend. It was awesome, but dealing with the harness that goes around the motor was a pain. I'd really like a sky pylon like the factory Bennington one that comes up through the middle cup holder on the live well table in my 22 SSX. But I don't want to spend $600 to make that happen. I poked around the interwebs looking for any kind of alternative to get the line up over the motor and didn't find anything. Any suggestions out there?
Ski Pylon Alternatives
- Thread starter bcpnick
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FarNorth
Well-Known Member
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If your dealer is close by I would visit and see if you can handle one of the Bennington pylons. I cringed a bit buying ours but it is really well made and actually slots into the motor pod of our center pontoon below the floor. Considering the amount of leverage on a post standing that high and pulling a tube you are going to need something really solid.
Others may have ideas but handling the Bennington one will give you a good frame of reference.
Others may have ideas but handling the Bennington one will give you a good frame of reference.
cwag911
Moderator
I think your best bet for an after the fact install would be a ski tow bar. I think there's a lot of engineering that goes into the pylon.
http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Pro-Ski-Pylon&i=18747&r=view&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=googlebase&s_kwcid=googlepla&cvsfa=2587&cvsfe=2&cvsfhu=3138373437
This is what we have in our bass boat and pull a 4 person tube with the kids and have pulled 2 adults have had it for over 15 years. If you have the rear deck you might be able to mount it with the braces. We ordered the ski pylon on our 22ssx and it does flex a bit but does work really well I wonder how big of a pain it would be to install. now?
This is what we have in our bass boat and pull a 4 person tube with the kids and have pulled 2 adults have had it for over 15 years. If you have the rear deck you might be able to mount it with the braces. We ordered the ski pylon on our 22ssx and it does flex a bit but does work really well I wonder how big of a pain it would be to install. now?
I think it wouldn't be a problem to install after the fact. I noticed it's a clear shot from that middle cup holder all the way down to what appears to be the bolt on point for the pylon. I'm not sure how I could make any other pylon work with my 22 SSX though. Maybe this is just one of those things to remember when PADs strikes. I was thinking the tow harness might not be such a pain if I fed each end of it through a pool noodle to keep it sort of rigid and floating behind the motor. I was having issues with it sinking down around the engine when we were loading/unloading tubers. Has anyone tried that?
TomS
Well-Known Member
A couple other things to consider that might work for you:
http://www.turboswing.com/en/home/
Also these booster balls work great to keep the tube from diving and keeping the rope where it should be
http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?i=14181
http://www.turboswing.com/en/home/
Also these booster balls work great to keep the tube from diving and keeping the rope where it should be
http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?i=14181
I have the same fishing station on the back as you and I also did not want to spend the 600 on the pylon, so working with the dealer found a scratched factory one and got it for 200. way cheaper than the 600.
good luck.
That's awesome. Did you install it yourself? Was it as simple as removing the cup holder and bolting it in from below?
Yes I did install it my self. Takes about 45 min to an hour. If you take your cup holder out and look down the hole you can see it just slides in. Put the lock nuts on the bottom then I took the back cover off behind the gas tank to install the floor lock. Slide the beauty ring on. Put the black cover back on behind the gas tank then your all done.
Ugh.. my dealer quoted me $750 + $150 in shipping for the 46" pylon that is listed at $617 on the build site. Guess I won't be getting that! At what point is a dealer so awful that you start considering a different brand for your next boat, even though you love the brand they sell? 
1Tiredlady
Well-Known Member
We have the ski bar (not sure if thats what its called), not the pylon. We chose it because it makes a nice rail to hold on to when you are walking around the back and protects the outboard so no one sits or falls on it. It is as high as the pylon to help hold the rope up. We also have the ball on the rope that someone mentioned earlier. The ski bar looks like it would be easy to install and it was cheaper.
I don't think the Bennington tow bar works on the 22 SSX. It's definitely not offered as an option in the builder. I think I'm just going to suck it up and do the tow points and harness. I'm going to try adding pool noodles to the harness to keep it up and sort of rigid. Might end up buying the float ball rope too. I did order a new towable, the Big Brawler 2 person, so we'll see how it works out next weekend. Thanks for the input everyone!