Building a Ski/Tube tow bar

[ronb]

On the way home from work on Friday I stopped by a local store calld Fleet Farm, they sell a lot of stuff, so I picked up some 4" x 3/8" grade 5 bolts and nuts and enough grade 8 flat and lock washers to bolt it in place. Also while I was there I passed the Krylon display and they had a color called 'Aluminum', so I spent another $11 ($5.50 for each can, 1 "aluminum" and 1 white "primer/sealer") When I got home, I used some 80 grit dual Action sander discs to sand it down by hand, then wiped it down with mineral spirits and started spraying on the primer. I let that 'flash' for about 15-20 minutes and then started applying the 'aluminum' color. That paint is a bit weird, it seemed like it was spraying metal flake, just the pattern it made and the immediate appearance like tiny wet metal flakes sticking to the primer (of course this was my second can of spray paint inside a building with inadequate ventilation )

But here is the final product. I ended up using 2 bolts per mounting plate, all 8 bolts are passing through 2"x2" aluminum deck bracing. And the tow hook ring is drilled/bolted intot he center. I hope to try it out tomorrow, results to follow..

Finished product about to be bolted into place

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First look as I stepped back to view my handy work..

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From the side, you can appreciate the 'lean' toward the rear and see how high it is compared to the sun deck, it should give me great visibility to what the rope is doing..

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And a final shot right up the backside..

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These are really just the highlight pictures, I took many more, 110 as of right now. If you have any questions/comments or see anything that I did wrong let me know, I'll do what I can.
2007 South Bay 922CR Ski Bar
http://s689.photobucket.com/albums/vv25 ... Ski%20Bar/

-ron

[woolznaz]

Nice work, ronb and a really nice post of how it came together. I'm sure a lot of people looking to solve this same issue will appreciate it. Let us know how your test rides work out.

I like how the bar is up high. In addition to rope visibility and riding advantages as you pointed out, I bet you will find many other uses for having such a nice, strong bar to attach things to. Flags, hanging towels life jackets off of it to drip dry, tying off ropes to keep float toys near by, etc. If you don't already have one, you may find that is a good place to attach a grill someday, too.

[curtiscapk]

Nicer than Mine damn!!

[ronb]

It worked great, it really works fantastic to keep the roap out of the water, occassionally it would dip in as we crested some waves or the pontoon would slow down a bit, but then it came right back out again.

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I think my next project will be underskinning.

Good idea to use it for a drying rack though..
-ron

[Mr Geets]

anyone try

SportsStuff 4K Booster Ball Towing System.

I'm not advertising but had a dismal weekend with our 3 person tube. My daughter suggested this. Forgot the 60' tube tow rope and used 5/8" yellow propylene (?). It sucked. Every time I tried to get some wake action the rope went under and blah. Oh and did I mention how much I miss my inboard open bow boat for this activity?

Kids are coming for July and I think $100 might be a cheap fix ($79 and up). The tow bar looks great. Not sure I have the rear deck space.

[ronb]

Those booster balls have been highly recommended in a few places and if this had not worked out so well I would be considering one. It sounds like you would really benefit having something hold up the middle of your rope. When we used the lift eyes 90% of the rope was in or under water.

I didn't really have the deck space either. My costs were so low due a lot to luck and planning.

-ron

[D.L.]

I use a powerball and it works great... got it at http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/store ... =359272169

[Mr Geets]

Thanks for the power ball comments. I'll try that first

-Bob