Wakeboarding with 150/215hp and no tower - position of rope?

[Spinner]

Hi all.

I'm about to purchase a Speedster 150/215hp, and the salesperson told me something I want to check on. We don't want the tower as we're trying to keep costs down, and have been wakeboarding behind a friend's GTX 155 (so we're used to using a rope connected low), and don't intend to do many air tricks. I had assumed we'd be using the pull-up ski pylon on the 150, but the salesman today mentioned that for wakeboarding and tubing we'd want to use a towrope harness that connects between the two attachment points on either side of the rear of the boat, which is down near the waterline. I know that tubing is stressful and shouldn't even be done on a tower, but thought that wakeboarding would be okay.

Can anyone provide me more info on the strength of the pull-up ski pylon, and if it can be used for wakeboarding? For those of you wakeboarding without a tower, where do you connect your rope?

Thanks.

 

[08-150]

i've had no problem with tube pulling and/or knee boarding with our pop-up ski pylon. haven't tried wakeboarding.

 

[CypherAZ]

Hi all.

I'm about to purchase a Speedster 150/215hp, and the salesperson told me something I want to check on. We don't want the tower as we're trying to keep costs down, and have been wakeboarding behind a friend's GTX 155 (so we're used to using a rope connected low), and don't intend to do many air tricks. I had assumed we'd be using the pull-up ski pylon on the 150, but the salesman today mentioned that for wakeboarding and tubing we'd want to use a towrope harness that connects between the two attachment points on either side of the rear of the boat, which is down near the waterline. I know that tubing is stressful and shouldn't even be done on a tower, but thought that wakeboarding would be okay.

Can anyone provide me more info on the strength of the pull-up ski pylon, and if it can be used for wakeboarding? For those of you wakeboarding without a tower, where do you connect your rope?

Thanks.

I've wakeboarded behind both my speedster and now my challenger off the tow hook.

 

[ablackway]

From what I've read in here, do NOT use the pull-up post for tubing. It's fine for wakeboarding or skiing or whatever, but tubing puts a lot more strain on the post and in some cases has actually bent it. Some people have replaced it with a stainless steel post. I tried tubing on my Challenger the first time last weekend and I used the post and it was fine, but we were only pulling 1 person at a time. I imagine that the more you tow, the more strain it causes and the more chance you have of ruining it. So basicly, for wakeboarding, you have no issues. For tubing, be a little more careful, but you should still be okay if you're only pulling one person.

Adam

 

[scooper77515]

I made a stainless pylon. Works great.

I never tried to wakeboard on the aluminum one thinking it didn't feel strong enough.

I am 195 lbs, and the stainless one has held up fine.

Prior to that, I used the hook down by the ski platform, and it worked fine, but I notice I can get up quicker using the pylon, and get a little more pop off of the wake.

 

[Spinner]

I made a stainless pylon. Works great.

Thanks, everyone, for the replies.

Scooper, how did you attache your stainless pylon?

 

[scooper77515]

My stainless one was just an exact replica of the aluminum one, so I stuck it in the original pylon mount. I can use either the red top or the original black one. Trying to sell the original pylon and top, so using the home-made red top for now. If it doesn't sell, I will put the stock black on one to keep the color scheme correct.

 

[Spinner]

Thanks, Scooper! That's a nice looking replacement.

 

[scooper77515]

Thanks! :cheers:

 

[arnolds8903]

what is the point of having the tower if you shouldn't wakeboard or tube from it?

 

[scooper77515]

what is the point of having the tower if you shouldn't wakeboard or tube from it?

I don't know. That is why I made sure mine can handle my 195 lb butt without damaging the boat or pylon.

I guess they made these boats with kids skiing in mind, and the adults would be holding beer cans and driving :reddevil: