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Pulling tubes - where to find a bar?

Long Ear Brewery

Long Ear Brewery

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My wife wants to pull tubes with our 20SF. I see under another topic from Bennington the engineers advise against using the U-bolts on the stern. How does anyone else pull tubes, and can I get a tow bar for my boat?
 
What hp engine do you have?  If small, you might want to think about spending the money on a tow bar.  Small engines mean boring tube rides.
 
You'll get the agony of defeat.
 
You can use a harness with a pulley on boats with the U bolts on each toon.

But when I tow a tube, I want it to be a challenge for the poor soul(s) holding on for dear life.
 
Before I purchased my GBR I had decided that I would never own another boat without a bar. So I respect the upgrade. Stocking the bar...that's where engineering turns in to art. :)
 
My older pontoon used the pulley cable hooked to each pontoon. The new boat has the tow bar. The kids love the tow bar a lot more. It gives them more control. On a smaller engine it would also help because it pulls the front of the tube up and keeps it from plowing the water.
 
CTays said:
CTays, on 29 Jul 2015 - 12:23 PM, said:On a smaller engine it would also help because it pulls the front of the tube up and keeps it from plowing the water.
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True that!
 
Long Ear Brewery said:
My wife wants to pull tubes with our 20SF. I see under another topic from Bennington the engineers advise against using the U-bolts on the stern. How does anyone else pull tubes, and can I get a tow bar for my boat?
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I'm not sure I go along with "advise against using the U-bolts" to pull tubes.

Bennington might advise against it, but surely it's not because they aren't strong enough for the job. After all, I'd hate to think those things weren't strong enough to pull a child, or even an adult across the surface of the water, yet they are placed there to pull the full weight of the boat upward, sliding on a trailer, and even extra stress after pulling the trailer to tighten it against the stops at the front of the trailer, not to mention holding my boat down to the trailer, bow and stern, at highway speeds. The front winch U-bolt is the same as the two rear "hold down" U-bolts on the rear of the boat, and from what I can see, it looks like the ones one the back are mounted a little better than the front. Just my thoughts on that subject.
 
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Can't you use the bimini like a tower and tie the rope to the anchor light?
 
I have an arch that is meant for towing  ,it states "No Inflatables " 
 
The hooks should be strong enough but you will be surprised how much weight drag some designs of tubes will have when they fill with water or submerge under water.
 
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